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Our third place middle school entry was written by seventh grader Kalindi Mehta who attends the Alachua Learning Center in Florida. |
"No please no!" I screamed, as the creature grabbed me from under my bed. It was a horrible, slimy, hideous, pitch black, tall, terrifying creature. This creature has been haunting me since I was ten years old! I was now turning thirteen two days after Halloween! My worst holiday! If you want to no why it is my worst holiday, believe me, you will find out one way or another… anyway back to the story… The creature pulled me under my bed and started scratching me. Then it made a big "x" across my left cheek, when all of a sudden my dad yelled, "Michelle, it's time to get up!"
And then in a creepy, whiny, screeching voice, the creature whispered in my ear, "Believe me, I will be back."
I whispered back, "Why are you after me? What did I ever do to you?"
But I said it just a second to late; the creature had left. Then my dad walked into my room and opened my blinds.
"Honey, are you feeling alright? Oh no honey, tell me you didn't have another nightmare about the creature! Please, tell me you didn't!"
"Hey dad, how did you know about it? I never told you!" I asked suspiciously. Then I realized it wasn't my dad at all! He walked to me and sat on my bed and all of a sudden everything was blurry and then blackness. That's all I saw was black! "Ahhhhhhh!" I screamed.
I sat straight up in bed and realized it was all a dream, a horrible, terrifying dream. Every October, the creature would haunt me, and guess what? It was October!
"No please no! I just can't go through with this again! Who knows who it's going to be this time!!!?" I wept to myself silently. Last year, my older sister Carrie was the third victim of the creature. The year before that was my sweet little sister Sammy. Sweet Sammy, I loved her so much! But the one that really broke my heart was the year before Sammy's death. It was…my mom. I loved her more than anything: her sweet smile and her wonderful cooking. Just to think I will never taste her food again makes me feel so empty inside. I haven't eaten much since her death; I only weigh 70 pounds. But the point is; the creature attacks my family every year. It's really weird, but the creature only seems to be after the girls in my family. And now my three month old half sister, Cathy, and I are the only girls left. Cathy's mom left my dad, Cathy, and I, right after Cathy's birth. My dad got over it easily because I can tell he is still in love with my mom.
I am tall, slim, with shiny long blondish brown hair and hazel eyes. Cathy is adorable, and I am determined to keep her safe! Even if it means I have to sacrifice myself!
"Michelle, it's time to get up!"
I heard footsteps approaching my room. For just a split second, I was scared the creature had returned, but then my tall, slim, brunette father walked in with a caring smile, and right away I knew it was him.
"Michelle, are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine. I just had a bad dream, that's all." I replied.
"Ok, your pancakes are ready downstairs if you're hungry. But you'd better hurry; school starts in 20 minutes!"
"Okay, I'll get ready, but I'm not that hungry. Bye dad! Love you!" I said in a sweet tone.
"Michelle you have to eat! You've barely eaten since…" he didn't finish the sentence, but I already knew what he was going to say. Then he hurried downstairs to go to work.
**********
"Michelle! Wait up!" Megan hollered as she raced up to me. Megan and I have been best friends since we were babies! There was nothing about me that she didn't know (except about the creature).
"Hey Meg!" I said.
"Oh my god, you will never believe what I am about to tell you!" she said excitedly.
"What?"
"Ms. Smith just quit!"
"Seriously?!" I asked, amazed. Everyone hated the science teacher. "Meg, how do you always find this stuff out before me?"
"I have my ways." she said mysteriously, with a twinkle in her aqua eyes as she flipped her long golden hair behind her shoulder.
'Ring' the bell rang.
"Bye Michelle. Catch you after class, ok?"
"Uh, I have art now! You're so lucky you're going to P.E!" I exclaimed. I hated art.
"Ha-ha, yeah. Well, later!" Megan said loudly as she turned the corner.
"Ok see you!" I yelled, as hordes of students pushed and shoved to get to class.
**********
After school Megan came over. "So what do you want to do?" I asked her.
I don't know. Do you want to play soccer?" she asked.
"Yeah sure, let's go get my soccer ball from the attic."
"Hey Michelle what is all that stuff?" Megan pointed to a bunch of boxes on the other side of the attic.
"I don't know. Let's check it out" I replied. We walked over and I tried to make out what the writing was on the boxes. The light was dim, the air felt sort of damp, and it smelled sort of sour. We opened a box and found tons of photos!
"Hey look at this one! It's from my 5th birthday party!" I said excitedly.
"Michelle what's up with this photo?" Megan asked me. She pointed to a photo of me when I was a baby. I looked at it and wondered what she was talking about, and then I saw the whole thing. Right next to me was another baby that looked exactly like me.
"I guess the camera was just screwed up I said trying to think of a logical explanation.
"Well, I guess you're right. Oh well, let's just forget about it. Come on, let's go play soccer." Megan said, trying to change the subject.
"Are you coming, or not?" she asked me.
"Yeah, I'll be there in a second," I said as I slipped the photo in my back pocket. I ran out the room just as Megan flew down a flight of stairs. Once we were downstairs we went to the backyard and started playing soccer.
**********
"Ok ok, you win!" Megan said as she collapsed onto the grass.
"Ha! I beat you 10 to 7!" I said laughing "that makes up for last time when you beat me!"
We had been playing for a couple hours, and now we were exhausted. We went inside and found my dad in the kitchen making French Fries and Veggie burgers.
"Are you staying for dinner, Megan?" my dad asked. As he turned around I could see a twinkle in his big brown eyes. It was easy to tell I was his daughter; we had the same tan skin and light brownish hair.
"No, I'm sorry, but my mom is expecting me home for dinner," she replied. "I'd better get going; I should be there in like 5 minutes. Bye Michelle, see you Tom." (I've known Megan so long my dad is like a second father to her.)
"Ok bye Megan," he replied as he stared into space.
"Bye Meg, I'll call you!" I replied as she walked down the driveway.
"Michelle, can you set the table?" my dad asked distractedly.
"Uh-huh, yeah sure," I replied.
About 10 minutes later my dad and I were sitting down eating. "Hey I almost forgot, what are you going to be for Halloween?" my dad asked me.
"I'm not sure, I haven't really thought about that," I replied. The truth is I have been thinking about Halloween, but not about the costume, I've been thinking about what the creature will do next.
"Well you better think fast because Halloween is this week!" my dad exclaimed.
"Wow it's really soon! I have no idea what I'm going to be!" I cried.
I can't believe that it came this fast. If it is this week, then I really need to think fast! The creature might strike any day now!
"I'm going to go upstairs and get some rest. Good night." I said finishing up the last French fry.
"Ok good night" he replied.
**********
The next morning after eating breakfast and showering, I said good-bye to my dad and left for school. When I got there, I looked all over for Megan. I didn't see her until lunch though. I ran over to her and exclaimed, "What are you going to be for Halloween?"
"That's exactly what I was going to ask you! Do you want to go shopping for a costume today after school?" she asked me.
"Yeah sure" I replied.
"Ok see you later!" she called to me as I turned to leave.
**********
"Dad!" I called. "I'm home!"
The house was quiet and dark. I waited for a reply, but there was none. I went upstairs and found him in is bedroom staring at a picture like he was under some kind of spell.
"Dad?" I said, not knowing if I should interrupt him or not.
Hearing my voice must have surprised him because he practically jumped.
"Michelle, you're home already?" he asked surprised.
"Uh yeah, what are you looking at?" I asked curiously.
He immediately put the picture under his pillow and replied "Nothing." He was acting really strange.
"Dad is something wrong?" I asked concerned, and then I remembered the picture that I had found. It was still in my back pocket. I pulled it out and walked closer to him and asked, "Dad, what's up with this picture?"
"Where did you find that?!" he demanded.
"In the attic" I replied. I was surprised by his reaction; he looked mad and sad at the same time.
Then he replied to my question, "Nothing is up with this picture. Now if you don't mind, I need some sleep. Good night!"
**********
I was lying in bed thinking about the creature and my dad's reaction. Was there something he was trying to hide or was he just really tired? Then I went back to thinking about the creature. Halloween was the day after tomorrow and I still had no clue how to stop the creature from getting one of us. Before I knew it though, I drifted off to sleep.
Where am I? Why is it so dark? Why is it so cold? These questions were running through my head, when all of a sudden I heard a creepy voice say "Soon you will not have to about this creature or anything, because all of your questions will come to an end, as will your life this Halloween!"
"W…what? Who are you and where are you?" And then I saw the creature walking toward me and then everything was black.
I woke up the next morning and immediately thought about my dream. What did it mean 'all your questions will come to an end as well as your life this Halloween? So is the creature going to kill me? What's going to happen? All of a sudden I didn't feel good. My stomach hurt and my head was spinning. My dad came into the room and said, "Time for school."
"I don't feel good; I'm going to stay home today" I said.
"Are you sure? What's wrong?" he asked concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a bad headache, that's all."
"Well ok, bye, see you later. Get some rest!"
"Okay bye!" I replied as my dad left.
For the rest of the day, I just rested and watched some movies. But then I got bored, so I decided to go back to the attic to check out the rest of the pictures. I finished looking through all the pictures, and then I decided there was nothing else unusual, so I decided to go back downstairs. I turned around, but then my earring fell and rolled to the corner. I went to go get it, and found it right next to another pack of photos that I hadn't looked at. I picked it up and pulled out the pictures. I saw a picture of me crawling around; I looked like a year old. But then I saw it. Right next to me was another baby that looked exactly like me. I looked at all the pictures but they were all the same. Right next to me was another person that looked exactly the same! What's wrong with these pictures? Why are they like this? I was wondering all of these questions while flipping through the pictures. All of a sudden, something in one of the pictures caught my eye, it was a slim blonde with bright blue eyes and she was laughing while carrying two babies. I recognized one of the babies as me but who was the other one? She looked just like me. Maybe it was Sammy I thought, but no, Sammy wasn't born until I was like 3, and these babies looked just a couple months old. Then who was it? All of these questions were confusing me, so I decided to get some rest.
"Michelle, wake up!" I opened my eyes a crack and saw bright sunlight pouring through my window. "Happy birthday!" my dad exclaimed.
"What? It's my birthday?" I asked confused.
"Yes! You are finally 13!" my dad exclaimed.
"It's already Friday?" I asked.
"Yes! So what do you want to do today?" my dad asked. "You can skip school if you want."
"Okay yeah, there is this movie that just came out that I wanted to see." I replied
"Ok then, the movies it is. We can drop Cathy off at your cousin's house. Come downstairs; I made some chocolate chip pancakes!" my dad said smiling.
"Okay I'll be down in a second."
**********
"Wow, that movie was awesome!" I exclaimed. My dad and I were leaving the theaters, when all of a sudden I got an idea. I decided that Halloween was in two days and I had to get to the bottom of this creature so I decided to ask my dad about the pictures. I pulled a couple of pictures out of my pocket, the weird ones with two of me.
"Dad, please tell me what is wrong with these pictures," I begged showing him the pictures.
"Michelle where did you get these?" he asked surprised.
"In the attic. And please don't tell me that nothing is wrong with these pictures, or you don't know what's wrong with them, because I know that you do!" I exclaimed.
"Look Michelle, there are just some things in life that you shouldn't know about; it's for your own good," he replied, trying to sound calm.
"Dad you don't understand! I have to know because…" I replied frustrated.
"Because what? Why do you have to know this?!" he shouted. I was thinking if I should about the creature and then I decided it was for the better if I did.
"I need to know because… mine and Cathy's life could be in danger if I don't know. Ok, it's a long story, but I guess I have to tell you. So, I always get nightmares about a creature, and he or she is the one that killed Carrie, Sammy, and… my mom. He or she is only after girls in our family, and I'm it told me in a dream. It haunts me every October. And it told me that this Friday all of my questions will come to an end as will my life!"
"What? Oh my god! Michelle how come you never told me?! It must be her!" my dad exclaimed, as a look of horror crossed his face.
"What do you mean her?" I asked curiously.
My dad sighed and replied, "Michelle, please don't get mad, and this will probably be hard to believe, but you are a twin. And before you ask where your twin is or anything like that, the answer is we gave her away when you guys were little. Your mother and I were so young and we already had Carrie, we just couldn't handle three kids. So we gave up your sister for adoption. She was given to a nice looking family and she was an only child. We thought she would be happy, but exactly three years ago her foster parents sent us a card saying she ran away and they were looking for her, but couldn't find her. About a month after that they sent us another card saying no one had found her. So everyone thought she was dead. But she must be coming back to get revenge for leaving her. But I just don't understand how she could survive for three years," my dad said sadly.
"How come you never told me?" I asked.
"I felt like if I told you, you would be mad, so I decided it would be better if you didn't know. But I guess I should have told you, and I'm sorry," my dad said, shaking his head.
"It's ok, but do you really think she would kill her own family?" I asked sounding sad.
"Well, I don't know, maybe because she probably feels like we didn't care about her and wouldn't care if she died. So she just probably doesn't care about us." My dad said.
"That's so sad. I wish there was something I could do to help her." I said shaking my head.
"Yeah, but I'm afraid there's not anything we can do. But I'm scared that you are in danger now. She might try to kill you and she's serious!" my dad exclaimed.
"Does she know that she is a twin?" I asked.
"No she doesn't know," my dad replied.
Later that day when we got home, I went straight to my room and started thinking. I was thinking about the sad tragedy with my twin, when all of a sudden I got an idea. Maybe, just maybe, when Hailey (that's what my dad told me her name was) saw me, she would realize that she was my twin, and I would be able to talker to her and help her. I hope this works; I mean twins are supposed to have some kind of special bond aren't they? I decided that this was the only chance. I had to stop her and help her, so it was worth a shot. I started thinking what I would say to her and how she would react, and then I drifted off to sleep.
**********
"Ok bye dad!" I yelled from the living room.
"Michelle," my dad said, walking into the room, "please be careful and if you need anything you can call me. And remember, everywhere you go keep knife with you. Oh honey, I can't believe I'm letting you do this but it's the only way to stop her. Ok bye, and remember I love you so much and I'm so sorry about everything. You don't have to do this if you don't want to. I mean maybe you shouldn't…"
"Dad!" I interrupted "please let me do this; it's the only way! I love you! Bye!" I have him a big hug then I bent down to pick up Cathy, who was sitting on the floor. I gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead. Then I handed her to my dad and said good-bye, maybe forever…
The plan was that I would stay home alone while my dad took Cathy trick-or-treating. Hailey would probably come and I would try to stop her, I would try to talk to her. When I had told my dad the plan the night before, he argued and said it was too risky, but I sounded so determined on the outside. But what I was really feeling on the inside was frightened, but I felt like I had to do it. I thought that it probably wouldn't work and that this would be the last time I ever said good-bye to my dad. I hoped it wasn't.
I was in my room getting into my costume when all of a sudden I heard a thump downstairs. I slipped on my witch's costume, and then went over to my dresser and grabbed the knife. I slowly walked out of my room and crept downstairs. I walked into the kitchen and whispered, "Is anybody there?" Then I repeated it louder. There was no response except a loud bang coming from the living room. I walked into the guest room, which connected to the living room. I peaked through the doorway, and asked "Who's there?"
"Your worst nightmare!" a creepy voice replied.
"Hailey?!" I cried "Is that you?"
"How do you know my name?" the voice asked from somewhere in the living room now.
"Please can we just talk? I need to talk to you! I can help you!" I pleaded.
"I don't need help! I just need to get rid of you!" the voice yelled. It sounded like it was moving closer.
"Do you know who I am?" I asked.
"Why should I care? I mean your just some dumb little girl probably my stupid little sister, who also didn't want me."
"No actually I'm older than you. But you'll never guess by how long," I said.
"That's impossible! I was the second oldest child!" Hailey exclaimed.
"No you were the third oldest child! Just please come out of wherever you are and I can explain!" I said.
I felt a cold metal object go on the front of my throat and I realized it was a knife. I could feel Hailey's arms wrap around me as she held the knife in the front of my throat. She pushed me to the living room with her arms tight around my throat.
"Turn around," she commanded.
I did as I was told and when she saw me, her jaw dropped down and she let out a gasp, she dropped the knife. At the same time as her, I let out a gasp and dropped my jaw. "You look exactly like me!" she exclaimed.
"I know! I was trying to tell you that you are my twin!" I exclaimed.
"W…what? I have a twin?" she cried.
"Yes. Now please let me talk to you!"
"Why should I?" she demanded.
"Just please let me talk to you!" I cried.
"Fine but you only have 5 minutes."
"Ok now, let's sit down. Listen, the reason that mom and dad gave you up is because they were so young and they already had one other kid and they couldn't handle three kids. They didn't pick you on purpose they just gave one of us up and they randomly chose you. It's not that they didn't love you or anything, and later on they realized that they made a mistake. They wished that they hadn't given you up, but then it was too late," I said trying to convince her.
"But why did they give me up?! They made me go through years of pain, fear, and confusion. I thought I was all alone in this world, I thought no one loved me and I was scared. All of the emotions in me turned to anger and I decided to get revenge on you guys! Mom and Dad made my life miserable; now I'm going to make your lives miserable!" she yelled getting up.
She started walking toward me and my instincts told me to get up but I couldn't move. I really felt sorry for her. She was getting really close when all of a sudden I jumped up and ran to the stairs. I ran upstairs and into my room. I searched frantically for the picture of my mom, me, and Hailey. I thought that maybe if I showed her the picture she would come to her senses. I just reached my dresser where my jewelry box was. The photo was in my jewelry box. I heard a noise at my door and jumped. I knocked the dresser and something crashed to the floor. I didn't have time to see what it was, because I immediately crouched in the corner. Hailey walked in and said, "Come out wherever you are." She looked under my bed, then on the other side of my room, and then she came to the side I was on. The lights weren't on so I was praying she wouldn't see me. I was breathing hard. She started walking toward me and I was sure she saw me and then I saw it on the floor. It was something white, maybe a piece of paper. I grabbed it and turned it around, it was the picture! Hailey walked up to me holding up the knife and said "Peek-a-boo!"
"Wait! Look at this!" I said holding up the picture. She studied the picture then broke into sobs.
"It's ok," I said hugging her. "It's all going to be ok"
And everything was ok in the end; she ended up living with us and became my best friend ever! I love her more than anything on earth! And now Halloween is a night I will never forget!
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