Shake My Hand

#12

Truth or Dare

“Truth or Dare?”

Hah, I'm no chicken! “Dare! Let’s do this.”

My friends chuckled evilly. I put on a brave face, but was screaming on the inside. Hopefully they don’t make me do anything embarrassing.

Oh man I hope…

The next thing I knew someone blindfolded me, without giving me any heads up. “Guys w-what are we doing?”

They shuffled me to... a table? My hands felt the texture of the wooden table in the kitchen. They made me sit down.

“Put your right hand on the table.” I heard Connor’s voice.

“Hehe, couldn’t you guys just tell me what’s going on.” I said as I slowly put my hand on the smooth, cold surface of the table.

“Spread out your fingers.” Connor ordered again.

I obeyed, nervous.

There was silence for the next few seconds.

Then I heard Miso say, “If you really are our friends, then prove yourself, do not resist.”

Before I could even get a word out, I felt something go “thunk” on the table.

Right between my fingers.

“Guys no! You don’t have to do this!” No one responded. The only sounds were the “thunk thunk” sounds of the knife stabbing the table, right between my fingers, and my heavy breathing. Cold sweat formed on my forehead, and my eyes were filled with hot tears, threatening to let loose! I shook my hand, desperate to stop this but it was no use, someone was holding my hand down like an iron shackle. I used my other hand to pry loose of that iron grip but all efforts were in vain, I was going to be dead meat.

Why did they have to do this?

I lost all hope...

Then, a plan formed in my head.

I timed the knife plunging into the wood, and as soon as I heard the next ‘thunk’, I immediately shot my head down and bit as hard as I could into the ‘iron chain’, I heard a familiar screech and finally, my hand was free!

But.. maybe I should have timed the knife better...

The knife plunged into the flesh of my finger, I immediately started screaming. I tumbled to the floor from my chair, shrieking my throat raw. I clutched onto what was remaining on my injured finger. I could feel warm liquid spilling on to my left hand. “Please guys! Help! Call an ambulance! Do something!”

They made the most horrifying response.

They laughed.

“You thought we were your friends?”

“You’re a good for nothing to us.”

“Good luck, and good night.”

“No please!”

And just like that… they left.

“SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!”

But no one came.

End~

#6

My Imaginary Friend

I always had a wild imagination. And it was no surprise that I had a imaginary friend. Her name is Natalie. She’s great. My father left and my mother didn’t care too much bout’ me, and she worked lots of shifts, so Natalie kept me company. She was cold to me at first, but after talking to her, playing with her, and entertaining her, she warmed up to me. She. Was. Great.

Let me describe Natalie. She had long, and messy (the cute kind of messy) black hair. Dark-skinned. Cute blue eyes. (Like me!) The outfit she always wore was black and white striped t-shirt, blue pleated skirt with black leggings, red sandals. Lovely outfit.

She was always with me for 8 years, since I was six years old. I forgot about her after that since, well you know, school. It was very lonely after that, I had no friends at school. But I occupied myself with homework and music. I liked my school. However, two years later when I was 15, my mother decided to move houses, moving houses means moving to another school. Ugh. What’s wrong with our own house.

My new school was much, much worse. People were constantly picking on me. I try to ignore them.(Easier said than done) But I have other stuff to think about than my haters, so whatever. (Again, easier said than done.) My mother is still working a lot, thus not paying much attention to me. Thus I’m lonely again. But, at least I have food to eat and a house to live in, so hey, ain’t that bad.

I’ve been having the same weird dream every time I go to sleep, eversince I moved. I just see this silhouette of a person in front of me, as I stand in water, unable to move. And that’s practically it, I would wake up again, calm but confused.

Pretty weird if you ask me. (Even if you don’t.)

My mother had been distant lately. I mean, she was always distant, but she has this look in her eye that I can’t decipher. But who am I to care! (Just kidding I did care. I just didn’t wanna she her.)

Even the kids at school had been shooting me weird looks lately! Everytime I passed by, they would always shift further away from me, as if I had some sort of deadly virus. Ridiculous. I ignored it. (Okay, I lied again.)

My mother hadn’t returned from work. I don’t care. I fell asleep eventually.

I woke up...not in my bedroom. Instead I was strapped to a table in the basement. Huh, this was a different dream. This time though, I was able to move. Good sign. This dream though, felt uncomfortably real. I looked around and realised that the shelves were cleared, replaced by lit candles. Their glow was too real. Suddenly I heard someone coming. It was my mother. I giggled, (I don’t understand how I could be so calm) and said, “Hi mom. Quite a weird dream eh?” She looked at me and said, “This is no dream Elisa. Nor is this a nightmare. I’m killing you tonight.”

I froze. No way. My fear turned into anger. I shook violently, trying to free myself! My mother just looked on, with no emotion in her eyes. “LET ME GO TRAITOR. WHATEVER DID I DO TO YOU TO DESERVE THIS!?” My mother smiled, (She had the gall to smile) and explained calmly, “Oh dear Elisa, though you’re gonna die, I’ll tell you anyway. You had a sister, Natalie.”

Natalie. That name sounded familiar. But I had a sister? “Where is she then?” My mother, no I can’t even call her mother anymore, the traitor’s mouth contorted into a frown.

“She’s dead Elisa. I killed her. If she wasn’t disgustingly black, maybe I would change my mind.”

What the hell! “What kind of woman are you!? Killing her just because of her skin colour. What does this all have to do with me anyway!?” The traitor’s from deepened. “You...remind me too damn much about her. I can’t afford to have a guilty conscience. You have to go.”

My anger turned into panic. “NO NO. Why can’t you just take me to an orphanage?! You won’t have to see my anymore!!!” She just silently narrowed her eyes. I tried all I could to free myself, yet all my efforts were in vain. Then, she revealed the knife that had been behind her back the whole time, and slowly advanced up to me.

My panic meter broke.

She lifted the knife above my heart.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

And I heard the knife clatter on the floor.

My eyes flew open. And there standing in place of the traitor, was a messy haired girl, dark skinned, wearing black and white striped shirt with blue pleated skirt and black leggings. Natalie, my imaginary friend, my dead sister.

“N-Natalie! Please untie me!” She looked at me sadly. “I’m sorry Elisa. No one would find you here. Even if they eventually do, you would be dead by then. I can’t untie you, but we will play together again, soon!” Tears rolled down my cheeks. Natalie stares down at me sadly. “I’m sorry.” She whispered. She took my hand, and my vision went black.

End~

photo courtesy of New York Times

The Painful Truth                                                                   

“BANG!”    “BANG!”    “BANG!”

Three swift kicks was all it took for the rusty hinges to break and the cobwebbed door gave in. As it crashed onto the ground, breaking the eerie silence, dust particles danced in the air as Lucas shone his only source of light- his phone- in all directions. A three-legged chair appeared in the powerful beam along with a silhouette of a piano in a distance. Lucas took one step in, and a plume of dust danced up at where he stepped. The tall, lanky boy coughed, and slowly walked in. His footstep inaudible, due to the many layers of dust in the abandoned house. A drip of sweat rolled down from his forehead.

A shimmer of light caught Lucas’ eye. He whipped around and saw......

Another Lucas staring at him, the light illuminating the impostor. Or so he thought. Lucas approached the impostor and saw brass. It was a large mirror. Lucas was looking at his own reflection. He groaned in annoyance. He stared at his reflection for a while.

His reflection smiled. Lucas’ eyes widened.

A bloody hand immediately shot out of below the mirror and gripped Lucas’ ankle tightly. Lucas’ shrieked and fell back. His phone clattered onto the floor, his shadow dancing on the walls of the house. He frantically shook his leg, trying desperately to free it. But the bloody and bruised hand had an iron grip on his ankle, like a chain connected to a metal ball. Slowly, another as bloody and bruised hand appeared out of the mirror. A leg, the other leg. Then, the whole body appeared, towering over Lucas’ immobilized figure on the floor. 

It was a boy that looked exactly like Lucas. Except that this boy was bloody, and his clothes were stained with dried blood. A large bloody stain stained the middle of the boy’s chest. A wide ‘Cheshire-cat’ grin was plastered on his face. He stared hard at Lucas, and said in a deep voice that filled the room, “Hi, my brother.”

Leo!? Lucas was dumbfounded. “W-what! Leo! What happened to you? Where have you been?” Leo’s smile vanished immediately. He laughed a humorless laugh and said, “Oh. Mother murdered me. Just because I found out her littllleeee secret.” Lucas shook his head in disbelief. “NO. This is a hallucination. You’re not real!” Leo sighed, shaking her head. he knelt down in front of him. “Tell me Lucas, my brother. Why do you think Mother comes home late? Huh? Don’t you see a drop of blood anywhere on her? She’s an assassin Lucas. An assassin.” He emphasized those two words,and smiled. Lucas couldn’t move. He remembered the other day when he saw a red stain on her blouse. He widened his eyes. Leo never lie. 

Leo got up and held out a hand. Lucas shakily held out a hand and placed on Leo’s icy hand that send cold shivers down his spine. Lucas got up and followed Leo uncertainly. Leo opened a door Lucas had never seen before. A rotting, putrid smell immediately wafted out that small room. What Lucas saw made him run. Out of the door of his abandoned house. With rage fueling him.  

Lucas burst through the front door, and ran to the kitchen. He held something that brandished in the moonlight. Once he held that cold brass handle, insanity possessed him. This is your punishment Mother. You Killed Leo! KILL. KILL. Those words repeated in his head as he stealthily approached a wasted woman on the couch, surrounding it were alcohol bottles. 

“Bye Mother.” Lucas lifted the knife.

He stood over her body. Her eyes were shut, almost as if she was she was sleeping......peaceful. 

He smiled and aimed the knife at the center of his chest. 

______________________________________________________________

One sentence summary: Lucas stumbles upon his very old house and finds out the truth behind his brother’s death.

One paragraph summary: The twin’s mother is an assassin who killed Leo without Lucas knowing as Leo found out his mother’s dark secret. Lucas and his mother moved into a new house and Lucas soon forgot about Leo and runs away in tears when he got into a fight with his mother. He stumbles across his previous house and meets the spirit of his brother who told him everything. Lucas returns home, filled with rage and had no self-control, killed his mother and then himself.    

Photo courtesy of New York Times

Moving

          “Isn’t it boring here, Noah?” Elijah complained.

          “Patience Elijah. Soon enough, a huge wind is going to blow us away from here.” Noah reassured him for the umpteenth time with an exasperated sigh.

          Both Elijah and Noah had been in Antarctica for many years, standing in the great vast of water, only moving a little by the winds that could have knocked any human down. Due to their great size, they haven’t been moving a lot recently. Elijah had been very impatient. He was just a bit smaller than Noah, he really wanted to explore the world.

But the winds weren’t cooperating.

          “Seriously Elijah? It’s better here. We can survive here before those dreaded humans come and destroy us.” Peppy piped up indignantly. She was the smallest ice berg there was. She was always annoyed with Elijah, for all he kept talking about was to explore the world and complain how boring Antarctica was.

          “I don’t think all humans are that bad! And I hate all the boring white here...” Elijah continued on and on and on. Peppy and Noah sighed in defeat.

          One day, Elijah and Noah were just chatting about their day. It was one of those rare days where Elijah wasn’t complaining the ice off about how boring Antarctica was.

That was when the howling started.

          It wasn’t audible at first, the wind wasn’t too strong, nor was the water current. But slowly, is started picking up faster and faster. It was like a blizzard, Noah and Elijah could barely see anything. Then they started moving little by little. They saw Peppy speeding past them, screaming as she went. Elijah and Noah started moving faster and faster. It was the biggest storm they ever had.

Then all light had disappeared.

          “Elijah! Wake up! Look where we have arrived!” Elijah groaned and woke up to bright light and warmth. It was really unlike Antarctica. Elijah gasped upon finding out where they were.

          They were floating in warmer waters next to colourful land! Well, not really colourful, but it wasn’t white! At last! Something other than blue and white! Elijah stared in awe. A red house stood further away, and another white house peeked from behind. What humans called ‘cars’ were standing around on the land. Human were looking at us and talking muffled words. “I think they’re talking about us!!” Elijah exclaimed excitedly. Noah didn’t say anything.

          They floated in the warm waters, not moving. Soon, night came and all the human went home. Elijah and Noah stood floating in the waters all alone. “Hey Elijah, I think I’m starting to melt...” Elijah looked over in a panic just in time to see a small chunk of ice falling down from Noah. It dropped own and splashed loudly in the sea.

Both looked at each other in horror.

Photo courtesy of New York Times

Sneakers

           Timothy walked down the pathway of his neighborhood, which was on Kangaroo street. Colourful leaves littered the pathway and danced along with the wind. Timothy wore a black cardigan and a red scarf and blue pants. Typical autumn evening.

          “Garage sale! $20 for one sneaker!” Timothy’s friend, Nate, yelled out from across the street. He was holding a garage sell, again. He always held that every month, that sneaker-head. Timothy shook his head and headed towards his house. Nate spotted Timothy immediately and motioned him to come forward. He has eagle eyesight, I swear. Timothy grinned at that thought and pushed his way to Nate through the crowd. Nate then yelled, “Alright! Garage sale is closed! I repeat, garage sale is closed! Make your purchases now!”

          Soon, everyone had parted like waters and the streets were almost quiet. Rustling of leaves and the sound of the wind whistling were the only sounds to be heard. Only a few cars would pass by, breaking the almost peaceful silence. 

          “Quiet. Isn’t it?” Nate commented. “Yeah... It’s peaceful.” They sat at a nearby bench and watched colourful leaves fall ever so slowly, carried by the wind. It was so quiet, and that was how it was in autumn. Timothy closed his eyes and immersed himself in the almost-silence. I wish it would be this silent. Timothy thought, grinning slightly to himself.

Till Nate ruined it.

          “Alright. Quit the drama, you idiot. I wanna show you something cool.” He got up and started walking to his house. Timothy sighed, annoyed, but eventually followed, unwillingly.

          They entered the sneaker-head’s bedroom, which was full of the different kinds of sneakers you could ever imagine. Nate had shelves and shelves of sneakers, enough to open a small store of his own. He even had a small storeroom to keep extra sneakers he can’t wear anymore, which he then put up for the garage sell to sell them. “Wait here, I’m gonna get something.” He then disappeared into the storeroom. Timothy sat on the bed, and looked around the room. Nothing had changed, but he swear that he did not see the ‘10+ sneaker’, which was one of the many sneakers Nate adored the most. You grow out of em’ real fast. Timothy looked out of the window, apathetic.

          “Here they are! Thought that you might fit in these.” Nate rushed to Timothy, in his hand holding a pair of shiny sneakers. Blue edged the sole of the shoe and on every side of the shoe was a strange symbol. It had a two snakes coiled up, eyes closed like they were sleeping. It was in good condition and a really nice one. Timothy’s style. He tried them on, it fitted! “Nice shoes dude! Where did you get em’?” “Oh, some lady sold them to me, surprisingly cheep.” Timothy looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. Nate held up his hand and gestured to the shoe. “What? It’s good. And glow-in-the-dark!” ”Whatever. Thanks dude, how much?” “Nah. It’s for free!” Timothy jumped up from the bed. “Thanks a lot dude.” They shook hands and Timothy headed home.

          What Timothy didn’t know, was that these shoes were magical. An he’ll be take for a ride.

#3

Headphones

Ah! Such sweet music, flowing through my ears! Nothing was more amazing than such beautiful music. Free from the dreadful city noises that gave me horrible anxiety. Music is awesome.

I recently got a shiny new headphones, which was great. The headphones help me avoid daily gossip, news from strangers I don’t care about. If I didn’t get headphones anytime soon, I might’d lost my mind! Once I put them on, I was immediately in heaven, any noise around me would be muted, and the only noise I would hear is my own.

I brought it everywhere. The train, on the streets, in school. Everywhere. Especially in places that were always crowded.

My headphones saved my life. No one could take it away from me. No one.

I was a loner in school, which immediately made me a target by bullies. Music always made me happy though. During recess and breaks, I would go up to the school roof with my headphones and listen to music. No one goes up there for some reason. It may be dusty, but the view was breathtaking. No people, no bullies, means sweet silence except for my own music.

I was always up there, alone. No one went to the school roof. Yet.

It was like any other day. During the lunch break, I sneaked up to the school roof to listen to music and enjoy the fabulous view. Like usual. Except...

They found me.

“Hey twig!” I heard a far off voice which could be covered up by my music if I turned up the volume a bit higher. I froze. I recognised that voice, and it was the last thing I wanted to hear. I didn’t know what to do! I continued standing still, pretending not to hear him. Maybe they’d think I’m another person, maybe they’d walk away-

Suddenly, my beloved headphones were yanked off my head. All the sweet sound was gone. I was hysterical. In an instant, I turned towards Randy and kicked him, screaming over and over again, “GIVE IT BACK. GIVE IT BACK!” My headphones were in his grubby hands, they were screaming for help! I have to save them, I needed them. Randy smirked evilly, he shoved me aside and walked forward to the edge of the roof. I screeched and tried to run after him, but his friends held me back.

Randy stood at the edge of the roof. He turned towards me, laughing at my struggle. He had the nerve to laugh. I screamed at him again to return my headphones.

And then, he did the worst thing that broke me.

Randy stretched his hand over school roof fence... AND DROPPED MY HEADPHONES!

“NOOOOO!!!” I kicked and punched Randy’s friends, and I was finally free. I rushed forward, screaming like a maniac. I pushed Randy aside and without thinking. I jumped off the roof after my headphones.

Everything was in slow-motion. Everything around me blurred. I grabbed my headphone. I felt the leather of my precious headphone. I put them on. I smiled.

No one can take my headphones away anymore.

End~

#1

Family of four

“Ugh, your taste in hotels is garbage.” Ugh, this woman. “ DADDY, I’M HUNGRY!” “MOMMY WHERE ARE WE!?”

You could just feel the love radiating out of Edward’s family. Edward’s family consisted of Edward, his wife Peppy, 8 year old Peter and 6 year old Cassandra. Peppy had the idea of going on a family overseas trip. Harmless, right?

The family was chaos. Peter and Cassandra were restless throughout the plane ride and the journey to the hotel. It wasn’t a good time for the family. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Peppy complained about the design of the hotel, criticising Edward’s taste in hotels, even though it was Peppy who chose the hotel. While Edward was trying his best not to loose his patience, the family of four went up to the front desk.

“Edward Orsion and Peppy Orsion?” The tired-looking front desk person, whose name tag said Bob, asked in the most mundane voice. Edward nodded. Bob searched around in his desk drawer, and froze suddenly. Peppy tapped her foot impatiently. Knowing Edward will never hear the end of Peppy’s complaining, he leaned forward and politely questioned, “Sir? Is there something wrong?” At the sound of his voice, Bob snapped back from his stupor. He sheepishly grinned and said, with finally some emotion in his voice, “Sorry sir, my mind just drifted off a little.” Peppy scoffed. Bob handed Edward the keys and said, “Room 4, on the second floor.” Edward grabbed his suitcases and dragged his kids and wife towards the old lift.

Room 4 was beautiful. In Edward’s eyes anyway. The only thing that captured Peppy’s eyes was a painting of a beautiful family of four. A male and a female holding hands, with two beautiful children by their side, a boy and a girl. “That family is so perfect. Why can’t we be like them. Why can’t you be like the....” Edward tuned out of his wife’s rant. He walked around the room. A living room, a small kitchen and two small bedrooms, with even smaller toilets in each bedroom. It was pretty decent to Edward. Cassandra and Peter were on the tattered sofa switching between channels on the television to find something entertaining to watch. Edward sighed. He just hoped that the next day would be better.

Edward woke up, surprisingly later than the rest of the family. He washed up and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Peppy was drinking some coffee, while the kids drank milk with two packets of chocolate beans beside their mugs. Wait, I don’t remember bringing any chocolate beans. He questioned Peppy about it and she said, “That front desk guy gave us some chocolate beans, and I figured the kids would like it.” Edward thought nothing of it and continued the day.

The city tour later that day was a disaster. Cassandra and Peter were really nauseous and sick. They kept vomiting and complained about headaches. Eventually the disastrous day finally came to an end. Edward tucked the children in bed, but they took a very long time to fall asleep, causing Edward to stay up coaxing them to sleep. He was exhausted. On the way to his bedroom he passed by the living room. The picture of the family of four caught his eye, it looked different. Terrifyingly different. The four members began to show some signs of...decomposition. It was frighteningly real. Too real. Edward shook his head in disbelief and horror. Refusing to believe what he just saw and concluded that it’s the cause of his lack of sleep, he rushed to his bedroom to sleep.

“EDWARD!!! THE KIDS WON’T WAKE UP!” Edward snapped awake at Peppy’s cries. He jumped out of bed and stumbled towards the kids’ bedroom. Sure enough, the kids lay in bed, motionless. Peppy knelt beside the bed trying to shake them awake. Their eyes won’t budge. Edward stayed calm and walked towards Peppy. He shook the kids, coaxing them to wake up, like how he would have done if they try to feign sleep. They wouldn’t wake up. Edward was unsettled by this. Then suddenly, he was reminded of the picture he saw the night before. He gulped. No, it can’t be. He epresvhed out two fingers and placed them on both children’s necks.

No heartbeat.

Edward slumped onto the bed, silently crying.

“Their dead Peppy. Their dead...” “Now’s not the time to make jokes idiot!” All the same Edward could feel Peppy lean forward. Then he heard her wailing. Everything clicked though. It had to be that darn chocolate beans. It was the first thing Cassandra and Peter ate before they started showing symptoms.

And it was all caused by Bob.

Edward gritted his teeth. He stood up and grabbed blankets, laying them on the children. He then grabbed Peppy’s hand, helped her stand and both of them rushed to the front desk to confront Bob.

Down at the front desk, Bob stood there as he suddenly heard a woman’s wail. He smiled. That was fast. He smiled. He took out a photo from his desk drawer. It was a family of four. Bob, hand in hand with his wife, with his children by his side, a boy and a girl. He had a flashback to the dreadful car accident. His smile faded.

Suddenly he heard the lift coming. Bob smiled again. He gathered two knives and got ready.

End~

#2

My Friends

I have friends in my head. I’m sure everybody has them.

They can be good, they can be bad, or maybe even both. It also depends on how you handle them.

I have many friends in my head, but I can only introduce a few of them. I’ll be very glad to introduce them to whoever is reading this!

Joyce is one of my best friends. She was always there to make me smile, and remind me of the wonderful things that happened to me. She always tell me things like, “You can do it!” Or “Good job!”. She allows me to look at the positive side of things.

But sometimes, when I don’t handle Joyce well, sometimes people will call me selfish. When people play tricks on me that I don’t like, she will tell me to go along and smile, to not be mad at them. I don’t like that, so I will have to handle Joyce well.

Sam is another friend I have who lives in my head. I don’t quite like him, since he is quite the opposite of Joyce. He reminds me of the bad memories I had, like the time I was in a competition and lost, and I cry. He makes me cry. And I don’t like it. People will call me a ‘crybaby’.

But Sam can also be nice. Sometimes Sam will motivate me to do better, and because of that, I will be happy with the result.

Joyce and Sam work together from time to time. Sometimes they remind me of a memory which both sad and happy. Remember the memory I told you about that competition I lost? Well even though I was sad, Joyce told me that at least I had fun! Which looking back, I did have fun. Which makes me happy. Even though I was sad that I lost, I was happy that I had fun preparing for the competition.

I want to introduce one last friend: Fran

Fran is helpful sometimes. Sometimes my friends urge me to go on a scary roller coaster ride. But Fran tells me not to, as it is scary. I listen to her no matter what my friends say. In the end, my friends might come out crying or sick. Fran helps me avoid these situations from getting me into trouble.

Somethings though, when I listen to Fran, people will make fun of me, taunting me and calling me a ‘scaredy-cat’. I don’t like that. So I will tell Fran that I can do it. Though she might urge me to stop, I won’t listen to her and will face my fears. There may be good and bad outcomes, but at least I have the experience.

Well that’s all the friends I’m able to introduce you to. I would love to introduce the rest of my friends, but their not ready yet. For now, you will now know Sam, Joyce and Fran. Thanks for reading!

Photo courtesy of New York Times

The Secret Room

          When Janice turned eight, she was at the age where she was curious and adventurous. She loved to run around and poke around with her sister and brother. Out of her 4 siblings if you ask them who was the most active and curious they would simultaneously point to Janice. She was also very clumsy, often tripping over her own feet, tripping over invisible rocks on the ground. She had gotten use to the pain of scratches and bruises on her legs and arms. Her mother always thought that her curiosity would be put into good use in the near future so she encouraged Janice to be more curious. Her father said otherwise. Janice did not care, she continued being curious and adventurous just like what her mother said.

         One day, the family decided to move into a new house about a state away. Janice wasn’t particularly happy about it but she also saw it as a chance to explore the house and neighborhood. As soon as they stepped into the new house, Janice rushed around, opening doors and exploring them. Her father rolled his eyes playfully while her mother giggled at Janice’s reaction to every room she opened up to. 

          But nothing could compare when Janice opened a door to what seem like heaven itself.

          Shelves and shelves of books filled the room. There were two bean bags, a table and chairs and even a window seat! It was like a paradise to Janice. One look at the books, the warm and inviting room and the sweet smell of books, she knew that she was meant to be in this house. Janice rushed up to her mother and father, who were unpacking their luggage, gave them a big hug and screamed, “THANK YOU! THANK YOU!” Her four siblings came up and wondered what the commotion was all about.

          A few months later, when the clock strike twelve, Janice immediately threw down her pencils and raced to the ‘Library’. She shut the ‘Library’ door behind her and roamed the shelves, looking for the perfect book to transport her to a wonderland. As her eyes roamed from title to title, her eyes glued to one captivating title. ‘The Secret Room’. It sounded like the book ‘The Secret Garden’ which was Janice’s all time favorite books. Her eyes lit up and she reached out a hand to take the book out.

          It wouldn’t budge. Janice raised an eyebrow and tugged at it. It still wouldn’t budge. Janice forehead wrinkled in confusion. Is this book glued to the wall? She gripped the book with both hands, took a deep breath and tugged hard at the stubborn book.

          CLICK!

          The book tilted abruptly but stopped all of a sudden, sending Janice stumbling back and falling on her butt. “Ow...” She got up and dusted herself just in time to see something extraordinary.

          The bookshelf with the tilted book swung open to her very slowly. Like a door. Janice’s eyes widened in both fear and excitement. She took a tentative step towards it and peered inside and gasped.

          It was a room! It had a blue bed and a picture of cherry blossoms on the wall. Janice couldn’t breathe. She stepped inside and swung her head wildly. There was a desk at the end of the room. She tiptoed towards the room and found a purple velvet book with a rusty key next to it. She picked up the purple book and blew the dust on it away. Janice started to open it but realize there was a strange lock on it, the same colour as the key......

          Janice sat on the blue bed and flipped to the first page. “The Secret Room. Wait, it’s that book!” Janice exclaimed excitedly, just as her mother called her for lunch. Janice reluctantly got up and turned the key, locking the book. After putting the book back at where it belonged, she stepped into the familiar ‘Library’ and shut the bookshelf. Janice grinned.

          No one will ever find that room. No one will ever enter the room. No one will find out what is hidden. Because it is mine. And mine only.

1. One sentence summary: Janice was a thirteen year old girl who found a secret room behind a bookshelf in her new house.

One paragraph summary: Janice was a clumsy, adventurous and curious thirteen year old girl who unintentionally stumbled upon a secret room behind a bookshelf a few days after she moved in her new house. She decided that this room would be hers and no one should find out about it.

#5

An Unusual Emergency Call

I had been working as a police officer for quite long. One of my jobs was to respond to the emergency calls. I would respond to the call, and send help where necessary. Everything had been going quite smoothly. But I still do remember one very unusual emergency call.

As usual I picked up the phone.

Me: 999, what’s your emergency?

Unexpectedly a little girl’s voice responded on the other side of the phone.

Caller: H-Hi. Um, my mummy collapsed. And she’s not waking up.

Me: Your mom collapsed! Is she breathing?

Caller: I’m gonna check.... She is breathing. She is breathing! When are you going to come?

Smart kid. I thought.

Me: Help is on the way, don’t worry! Could you tell me where you live.

Caller: I-I don’t know...

Oh no... what was I going to do... no location at all. Then I remembered that this was a really small town so I asked:

Me: Sweetie, could you please go outside for me? There should be a sign there showing your street. Could you please tell us the street and describe your house?

I didn’t quite hear much but I now knew she was on Queen’s Street, and she had a wind chime on the front door. Thank god. I hope I could locate the right house.

Me: Thank you! We are very near it’ll only take us about 3 minutes. What’s your name dear? How old are you?

Madison: Madison. I’m 6 years old. Is mummy gonna be okay?

Me: Okay Madison. Your mummy is gonna be just fine be calm my dear. Help is on the way! What’s your mummy’s name? What happened to her?

Madison: I-I don’t know what happened. Just heard a loud sound. And then I saw her on the floor sleeping with some blood on her head.

Me: Your mummy is going to be just fine. What’s your mummy’s name Madison?

Madison: Um.. Mika.

Me: Okay. You are taking care of mummy right? When you hear the police sirens please tell me okay Madison dear?

Madison: O-okay. Oh! I hear sirens!

Just like that, the line went dead. All heard was the beeping of the phone. I thought since she said the police arrived, I assumed that they would be fine, I hoped.

The next day, the news about Mika was shown on television. Thank god she was okay. But I never got to see Madison. I asked my friend about it. She was confused. She said, “There was no little girl in the house, we only saw Mika.” I told her, surprised, that the person who picked up the phone was a 6 year old girl named Madison. My friend suggested we go visit Mika, see if she was able to tell us anything about Madison. I told her maybe it was just her neighbour. My friend raised her eyebrow. I sighed.

My friend and I visited Mika in the hospital. After some small talk to make Mika comfortable. My friend went straight to the point. “Mika, do you have a daughter name Madison?” Mika froze at that question. She smiled sadly. “Yes I do have a daughter. Madison died at the age of six. I miss her so, so much.” Wait what. “But Mika, I just heard your daughter call for help when you were unconscious.”

Mika smiled even more. “Madison may have passed away. But she will always be there to protect me, like my own little guardian angel.”

End~