Earphones

• Nathan Roveto, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2014

Jimmy was listening to music on his new earphones while going on a jog and he noticed a curious creepy looking house. The first thing he noticed about the house was a once beautiful now pale fighter fish not moving. He then saw that it was upside down floating at the top of the bowl, Jimmy then realised that this fish had died. He was quite curious about why the fish died since he saw fish’s food floating at the top of the bowl signifying it was fed not long ago.
Filled with curiosity he left the kitchen and went into the lounge room. After pacing himself for an hour he finally realised that there is no possible explanation for this hazard so he fell asleep on the old dusty couch in the lounge room. He woke up and saw perhaps the most petrifying symbol known to man-kind, the devil’s symbol, only this time, Jimmy saw it written in blood on the ceiling of the lounge room.
Jimmy was so frightened since he was a strong catholic believer. Jimmy was so frightened that he did not move a single muscle. He looked around the room full of shock and noticed a door cut in the floor boards. The door was about one metre wide and one metre long, he also noticed a handle attached to the door. He opened the door and on the inside he saw a message “saying secret passage way, enter at own risk”. Full of curiosity he ran to his best friend’s house, Ryan, to tell him the news.
Jimmy knocks on his door urgently. He comes to the door yawning since it was early morning. Jimmy said ‘Ryan! Get dressed we’re going on an adventure, I have found something in the creepy house across the street’. Ryan instantly stopped being tired and became full of excitement. He got dressed then they both went to the creepy house across the street. Jimmy showed Ryan to the square passage door in the lounge room, the dead goldfish in the kitchen and also the Devil’s sign written on the ceiling of the lounge room in blood. Full of fear Ryan said ‘Are you sure about this Jimmy, it seems exciting and all but I don’t plan on dying any time soon’.
Jimmy convinced Ryan to venture through the house by black mailing him he will tell Ryan’s biggest secrets to his mother. They went to the square passage door, found their courage and went inside. As they go to the bottom of the stair they found themselves treading on mud. It was also quite dark so Ryan pulled out his pear phone and turned on the flash light. As they journeyed through they saw plastic rap on the ground. Jimmy assumed it was for rapping dead bodies to reduce the odour of the deceased. All of a sudden, Ryan called Jimmy over to his destination in the dark room.
With a petrified whisper Ryan said ‘Jimmy look...’ Jimmy sees a bench top full of photos of them. At this point they were full of fear so they ran back out the passage door but the door shut on them with an aggressive force. They had started to cry and panic because they were scared they were going to be trapped in this dark room for the rest of their lives.
After a few minutes Jimmy found his courage by thinking about his family. Jimmy then assured Ryan that they would get out of this house alive and they will see their families again. They both found their feet to become strong in heart. They both went looking for an escape route.
It took a few hours when finally, Jimmy found a second passage door. In this passage there was a long tunnel. They both followed this tunnel hoping for an escape. They ventured through this tunnel for two hours. Then before they knew it they had found a white light at the end of the tunnel. They got to the white light; it was bright, peaceful, relaxing and relieving for Jimmy and Ryan.
They were in this white atmosphere for a long time. They forget all about the real world. As the days went on in this peaceful white abyss, the days started to darken until one day it was once again pitch black. The two boys could not see or hear each other, they kept calling for each other but neither of them could hear one another. After this they panicked once again. Then time passed, they stayed in silence hoping they would escape until they heard an odd voice.
They heard an old man talking about Jesus and a crowd of people weeping and crying. They were both very confused as to what to do. They screamed out for help but nobody could hear them, they tried to feel around for an exit but all they felt was wood surrounding them as they were lying down. When they put the pieces together they realised they were in coffins and the people they can hear are the people attending their funerals.
Once they noticed this they screamed even louder than before. Jimmy’s nails started to come off as he was trying to scratch the wood so he could escape. Ryan’s eyes were about to pop out of his head because he was screaming so loud. But then all of a sudden they hear big loads of soil smash against they’re coffins, they knew they’re whole life was coming to an end.
They scream even louder until they both lose their voices. They scratch, punch and kick the coffin to try and open it but it’s too strong, it’s all over now. They say their final goodbyes to themselves and think about the good and happy moments that have happened during their early lives. They have stopped tipping the soil. Everything and everyone goes quiet as they lose oxygen.
Ryan has passed now since he used up all his oxygen when he was screaming, but Jimmy is still alive thinking about his family and how he should have never gone into that house, He looks around getting his last images of the world before he leaves.
He gets comfortable and put his hands on his chest while squeezing his favourite pair of earphones.