House

Today's prompt in Writing 101 is, "Where did you live when you were 12 years old? Which town, city, and country? Was it a house or an apartment? A boarding school or foster home? An airstream or an RV? Who lived there with you?"

Reading the first sentence, I answered, "I've lived in my house in Surakarta since I was born." All right, I was born in hospital but after that I live in my house.

When I read the last sentence, I got that strange feeling. When I was 12 years old, my grandma was still alive. She lived in my home. Now I live with my mother, father, and aunt.

My house changes a lot through the years. I remember there was an empty area near the living room. There was soil, some plants, and grass. It is now a dining room, or not. It was supposed to be dining room but later it became my mother's work space. And my father's, too.

We still had a mango tree back then. It was later cut. Why was it cut? There was caterpillar outbreak in some cities and my mom was worried of it so she asked someone to cut the tree. It turned out that the caterpillar outbreak didn't reach my city. Now I sometimes see mushrooms grow near the tree stump.

My grandma had a bed near the television. There she read or created paper boat. She also watched soap opera. In the night, she slept in my room. After she passed away, the bed was moved to somewhere I didn't know.

Those are what I remember from my house when I was 12 years old. I've lived in this house for a long time and I have no idea when I will leave it.