CIGARETTES AND ROSES

Mina, where are you?"

The house answered with silence, except for the soft creak of old floorboards, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath.

Her mother's eyes narrowed. Mina was many things-quiet wasn't one of them. This kind of stillness always meant trouble.

A sigh slipped from her lips as she paused in the hallway, one hand pressed to her hip, the other massaging her temple like she could already feel the headache blooming.

"Mina, sweetheart, if you're stuck in a cupboard again, I swear-"

No response. Just the faint hum of the house settling.

Her mother's footsteps quickened as she checked the living room, the kitchen, even peered into the half-shut laundry room. Nothing.

Her voice sharpened now, not quite angry-but laced with the familiar thread of worry.

"Mina, answer me! Don't make me call your full name, young lady!"

Finally, a faint voice floated down from somewhere above.

"I'm upstairs, Mom!"

The attic. Of course.

Her mother groaned, already making her way up with the heavy determination of someone who'd danced this dance too many times.

"What did I tell you about that attic? It's old, the ladder's barely hanging on. What if you fall? What if-" She stopped herself. "You think I've got time to visit you in the hospital every weekend?"

When she reached the attic, Mina was perched cross-legged on the wooden floor, half-swallowed by shadows, flipping through a weathered box of old photo albums.

"Found something," Mina said, her voice unusually quiet, almost reverent. "Did you know Grandpa used to have a motorbike?"

Her mother crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow, but something about the way Mina clutched the old photographs gave her pause.

"I also know Grandpa used to have a daughter who didn't sneak into places she wasn't supposed to."

Mina looked up, a spark of mischief in her eyes, but there was something else too-like her mind was still half-lost in whatever she'd just discovered.

"Yeah? She sounds boring."

"It was peaceful," her mother tried to scold, but her voice softened as she caught the distant look in Mina's eyes.

"What else did you find in there?"

"Just... stuff." Mina dusted off her jeans, but her fingers lingered on a particular envelope, one she quietly slipped back into the box when her mother turned away.

Her mother shook her head, already walking toward the stairs. "Well, since you love the attic so much, you're officially on dust duty for the week."

"What?!" Mina scrambled after her. "Unfair!"

"House rule: you find the dust, you clean the dust."

Mina groaned dramatically, but her grin betrayed her. As they descended, her mother's voice trailed back to her.

"Seriously though, if you find something strange up there-something that doesn't feel right-you tell me, okay?"

Mina blinked, startled. "Why wouldn't it feel right?"

Her mother hesitated, then smiled a little too quickly. "Oh, you know. Old houses. Weird energy. Nothing to worry about."