The Messy Room

• Kara Ashworth, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2012

The Messy Room

“Kara” yelled mum, “Will you please stop watching TV and go and clean up your room?” “But mum” Kara cried.
Have you ever heard these same words before when your mum or dad tell you to clean your room, but you always run off and do something else. Let me tell you the day my room became more than just a bedroom and how a pile of clothes took on a life of their own.
Let me start from the very start. It was a normal Saturday morning and Kara was getting ready for a football game when she could not find her boots. She looked under her bed, in her wardrobe and even in her drawers, but nothing. “Mum, have you seen my boots?” Kara yelled from the floor her room.
As mum walked upstairs boots in hand she gets to the doorway of Kara’s bedroom and says, “Here you go, don’t you think it’s time to clean up your room young lady?” mum said in a soft disappointed voice.
“It’s not that bad. Got to go” Kara said as she ran down the stairs to go to the game.
It was after lunch when Kara got home from the game to find her mum in her room waiting. “Now young lady can you fix up this mess?”
“Ok can I just get changed first?” Kara said with a bitter attitude in her voice. As mum leaves the room Kara throws herself on her bed tired from the game and tired of her mother being on her case all the time about her room, Kara closes her eyes.
Some hair disturbs Kara. It is everywhere. All over her bed, face, arms and even some appears to be tied around her leg. “What is this?” Kara yells, but no one comes running. No one is around.
Kara wakes up to find her room has become a whole new kingdom of mess and what used to be her bed is now part of this hairy monster. She wanted to stream but she didn’t, she noticed a small rope looking thing wrapped around her leg. Kara started to pull at it and followed the rope to find it was tied to a pink hairy smelly living thing. Kara shaking and wide eyed touches it. To her amazement it was friendly. Feeling alone and scared, Kara holds this thing and begins to cry. Her tears keep coming and coming and she works herself up into a terrible mess. Wanting to get back home, Kara begins cleaning. The things around her are weird and smelly. She hopes to find something that looks like home. She moves a big pile of furry hairy blob to find a hole. Kara didn’t think twice and jumps into the dark wet hole.
She falls for what felt like hours to come to a bright light, which was home. Mum and dad where both in her room and said “If this room is not clean by the end of the weekend you are grounded?”
“But mum I was in this kingdom that was not here and I……” mum and dad walked down the stairs and never looked back.
Kara then started to clean, thinking of where she was. Was it just a dream or was it real? That night while Kara slept she woke to find the same smelly fury hair thing. She woke to find it was the neighbours lost rabbit.


By Kara Ashworth