"Harper, I'm leaving!"
I rolled my eyes and set down my phone. My mother had been calling me for a good minute. Denial stopped me from saying goodbye. I hated everything about being alone.
"Coming mom," I grumbled as I walked down the stairs.
My mother awaited me at the bottom of the stairs. She had a chic business suit on. I would have complimented her outfit choice if she wasn't leaving me alone for hours.
"Is April able to come over?
I shook my head in disappointment, "She has a soccer game."
"Did you ask Willow?" my mother asked.
I scoffed, "Mom, you know we're fighting. She told Marissa that I wasn't going to invite her to my summer party."
My mother sighed, "I'm sorry Harper, it looks like you and Reggie are going to have to stick this one out."
I glanced over at my small hedgehog. My parents had given him instead of a younger brother a few years ago. I guess my parents had felt a bit guilty that they were too invested in work to give me a sibling. I had gotten over it though. Reggie was better than nothing.
"Oh good. I get to hang out with a hedgehog," I said sarcastically.
My mother grabbed her work bag and keys and made her way to the door.
"You know I feel bad leaving you alone. When I get home later we can have a nice dinner. Maybe we can even get our nails done over the weekend?"
I smiled, "That sounds good mom."
I loved my mother, so I wasn't about to fight with her over something as silly as leaving me home alone. There was nothing she could do about it anyway. Her boss had called her for an emergency meeting on one of her very few days off. I knew she didn't want to go to the meeting just as much as I didn't want her to go.
"I love you," I said.
"I love you too," she said, pulling me into a tight hug. "I'll see you later."
My mother then grabbed her bag and walked out the door. I watched her car drive up our driveway and get smaller and smaller until it had disappeared.
I quickly made sure to lock all of the doors. I was not going to be made into Harper stew by some creep.
"What now?" I asked myself.
I turned to Reggie, "Any suggestions?"
Reggie just kept eating, ignoring me completely
"So that's how it is? I feed you and you ignore me?"
Reggie squeaked. I chuckled at the situation and began to walk up to my bedroom. I might as well spend three hours on my phone.
I walked into my teal room just in time to hear my phone chime. I picked up my phone to see a text from my father.
"Hey honey, can you get my old suitcase out of the attic? I might need it for my next trip since my zipper just broke," I mocked in a low voice.
The last thing I wanted to do was haul a stupid suitcase out of the attic. I could be cyber-stalking Carson. Although the only picture on his profile is of him fishing, I'm sure he'll post something good someday.
I inwardly cringed at my thoughts. Maybe I'd be able to find something cool in the attic anyway. What if mom had an old family heirloom worth a million dollars? What a find that would be. Not to mention the bragging I could do to my friends.
I texted my dad a quick 'sure' before walking to the pull-down steps to the attic.
I reached as high as I could to reach the dangling string. It was like you needed to be six feet tall to reach the thing. With much effort and stretching, I was able to reach it and yank it down halfway.
"You didn't tell me I needed to be a six-foot-tall bodybuilder to get into the attic, dad."
I used both hands to grab the string and yanked as hard as I could. Sure enough, the stairs came crashing down. They looked old and rickety.
"There better be a diamond ring up here," I said stepping onto the ladder-like stairs.
Surprisingly they didn't shake as much as I thought they would. I was able to quickly climb up the stairs, happily staying in one piece.
My eyes scanned over the mounds of boxes and junk. They were placed randomly as if nobody ever cared to clean up out here. That was hypocritical since I had only been up here a handful of times.
I moved my way around boxes full of old clothing and found a box titled honeymoon.
"This will be good," I mumbled.
I pulled out numerous pictures of my parents looking much younger. My mother's hair also looked much lighter than it does now. I guess aging does that? Other than a couple of painted rocks, nothing was interesting in that box.
Another box was full of old stamps. What in the world do you need hundreds of old stamps for? I had never realized how truly boring my parents were until that very moment.
"Okay, no family heirloom," I sighed, swatting a spider. "And now there are bugs. I'm so done with this place."
I looked to the right and a bright green suitcase caught my eye. I scrunched my nose at the color but walked over to it. Only my father would pick a bright green suitcase. I swear he wouldn't know fashion if it roundhouse-kicked him in the spleen.
I pushed back my frizzy hair and walked over to the ugly suitcase. Boxes were closer together over here nearly making me trip. I heard a cracking sound as my clumsy foot landed on something. I looked down to see a box full of old VHS tapes.
"Why would they keep these things?"
I looked at the one I had just crushed under my shoe. The black tape side of it was now visible. I couldn't read the title anymore. To be honest they were pretty cool looking. Maybe I could use them for an art project or something.
I began to dig through the box. Movies titles and family videos fulfilled the title section of every tape except one. This tape looked different than the others. It was a little dirtier and the tiniest bit smaller than the rest.
"Static?" I questioned out loud.
The handwriting on the front was different from the others too. On the other tapes could recognize the mother's neat and flowy writing. But on this tape, the writing was gnarly and just plain ugly.
Possibilities of what could be on the tape filled my head as I stuffed it in the green suitcase. I masterfully navigated the maze of boxes before dragging the suitcase down the stairs. I had to awkwardly balance the suitcase on the forearms and I climbed down the ladder. That view made me glad I was home alone.
Sitting at the bottom of the stairs I opened the suitcase and studied the tape. I'd have to ask my mother when she got home how to play it. I wasn't exactly an expert on how to play ancient VHS tapes.
I placed the tape back in the suitcase and shoved the ladder back into the ceiling. I heard my phone chime again so I quickly grabbed the suitcase and tape and walked into my room.
"Yay, a spam email. I could save ten percent of stickers today." I said skeptically, "Yes because all I ever wanted was to save money on stickers."
I exited my email account and took a picture of the suitcase to send to my dad. Maybe he knows what the tape is all about. Instead of texting him I dialed his number and let it ring.
"Hey kiddo, what's up?"
Hey dad," I greeted, "I found the suitcase."
"That's great. Hey, I uh, have to go. I have a meeting soon," My dad said quickly. "Can we talk later?"
I inwardly screamed. Why did this man never have time for me?
"Uh, yeah. I just have one question." I said.
"What is it?"
"I found this old VHS tape in the attic. I mean there were a lot of them, but this one is weird."
"Oh, you mean good old static?" my dad asked before I could finish.
I furrowed my eyebrows, "That's the one. How did you know?"
"Well, that tape has only ever played static, hence the name," he said simply. "I honestly forgot we had the thing."
He must be lying to me. Why would anybody keep a tape that just keeps static? Maybe there's something on there he doesn't want me to see. Now I need to play it.
"Thanks, dad. I'll see you when you get home. I miss you."
"I miss you too. I hate being away for this long."
If you hate being away then why are you never here?
"Oh, and about the tape Harper," he said, calling my attention back to him. "I'm sure the old player is attic. Maybe you can see if you can figure it out. I know you're good at all that technology stuff."
He wasn't wrong. I had always had a knack for technology. Maybe the tape wouldn't work because it was so dirty. CD players work like that so maybe VHS tapes do too.
"Thanks again, dad."
"You're welcome, goodbye, honey."
I hung up the phone and picked the tape back up into my hands.
"You're a mysterious little guy aren't you? Let's find your player."
I internally groaned as I thought of going back into the attic, but I had to know what was actually on this tape. What if there was a murder on it?
I yanked the ladder out of the ceiling and climbed up it again. I quickly navigated to the box full of tapes and searched for the player. Thankfully it was placed neatly in a box next to the tapes. The remote laid peacefully next to it. There were also countless cords in the box. I was positive that all of them didn't belong to the system, but I figured it was better to take all of them so that I didn't have to come back up here again.
"I will not miss you, attic," I said before grabbing the box.
Another episode of me awkwardly going down the ladder later and I had the VHS player out of the attic. I slammed the stair-ladder thingy one last time and walked back into my room. I grabbed the tape and my phone and threw them into the box before walking downstairs.
I dropped the box onto the sofa before taking the VHS player out.
"I have no idea how to use you, but I do have the internet."
I grabbed my phone out of the box. After some quick research and mild frustration, I was able to figure out which cables I need to hook up the player.
"Please function," I begged as I turned on the player.
To my displeasure and it didn't turn on. I sighed and flopped onto the couch. All of that work had been for nothing.
"Looks like you were productive today," my mother said, making my heart leap out of my chest.
"You scared my half to death," I exclaimed, getting up to hug my mother.
"Sorry," she laughed, hugging me back. "Couldn't get the player to work?"
I shook my head and gestured to the mess of cables I had created.
"Wow," she cooed, "That could be an abstracted sculpture."
"Yeah," I agreed.
She looked at the cables I had hooked up to the old player.
"These cables are fried Harper. Maybe we can go out to dinner and go to the store after. They might have cabled that'll work there."
And the plan is back on. I will know what's on that tape even if I have to spend a fortune online to get those cables.
"That sounds great mom," I said hugging her.
"What tape are you trying to play anyway? An old home video?"
I shook my head, "It's called static. Dad said that's exactly what it played; static."
My mother took the tape from my hands and studied it for a minute.
"I forgot all about this tape. Nothing would ever make the thing play. I guess that's to be expected of a tape you find inside the player you buy from a yard sale though."
"Why didn't you guys get rid of it if it only plays static?" I asked.
She thought for a moment, "That's a good question. I guess we just kind of forgot about it. I guess that also makes me wonder why you want to play it so bad."
She had a point. Both of my parents had confirmed the tape didn't work. Why did I still want to play it?
"I'm stubborn, mom. I think I can fix it. Who knows what could be on the tape?"
My mother chuckled, "Okay if you're that serious about it I'm sure we can find a cable. Maybe we can even watch a few of our old home videos!"
"Sounds great mom," I mumbled.
I had no interest in watching some poorly filmed home videos, but if that's what it took to get the cables then I'd have to suffer through it.
"Then go get ready, kiddo. We'll go to the Maven's Diner and then to the store," my mother said while walking up the stairs.
I picked the tape up in my hands and an odd feeling filled my chest. It was a heavy feeling that I didn't like. It made me feel like I was getting an uncomfortable hug. It also made me feel like this tape might not be as innocent as it looked.
"I'm going to figure you out," I muttered before walking up the stairs to get ready.