A Close Call

• Maya Suidgeest, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2012

It was a cold, misty night. We were sitting on the couch, eating and watching television.
It was 9:00pm, a time you wouldn’t expect phone calls. The phone rang, and I walked to it. Before answering, I was wondering who would ring at 9:00. I answered it and said, “hello, Beth speaking.”
But no one replied. All I heard was crackling, and a muffled laugh. ‘Prank callers’, I thought. The person on the other end hung up, and I put the phone down. The moment I put it down, there was a knock on the door. I walked over to it, and opened it up. No one was there. I walked back over to the couch and plopped down.
“Hey, Beth? Who knocked on the door?” Eloise, asked.
“There wasn’t anyone at the door. I was thinking there were just prank callers on the phone, but the door knocking had changed my mind. I don’t know who’s out there.”
“Creepy...” Heather, another friend, said.
We watched the television for a while, until I heard more ringing...
Again the phone rang... I picked it up, and yet again, said “hello, Beth speaking”, and this time there was a reply...
“I’m coming for you... Open the door, there is a surprise in store for you.”
I heard footsteps outside. Slow, heavy, loud footsteps. There was a knock at the door, and there were more steps.
Heather and I went for the door. We opened it, slowly. No-one was there.
But I could see a trail of blood. Cold, dry blood. A feeling of fear crept up my spine.
“Eloise, stay here,” I whispered. “Heather and I are.... going somewhere”
We slipped outside, and our feet brushed against the ground, near to the blood. We begin to walk the street. I walked along the muddy path. My heart was pounding. My body was cold. Heather trailed along behind me. I constantly flipped my head around to see if anything was coming.
I heard something. “I’m coming... Look behind you...”
“Heather...” I gasped. “Did you hear that?”
There was no reply.
“Heather?”
Again no reply came.
I spun around to see a figure, with bright red eyes staring at me. A loud cackle came from the tall, delicate figure. I tried to scream, but my voice got stuck in my throat. I tried to run, but my blood was frozen.
I tripped over, and scrambled backwards, staring at the figure with wide, scared eyes.
The figure pulled out a knife, dripping with red blood. He pulled out a cloth covered with red stains, and wiped the blade. He held up the sharp piece of silver, and laughed an evil laugh.
The knife was just about at my neck, when it stopped moving. It fell to the ground, and clattered on the concrete.
The figure fell. Heather was standing there, right behind him, a large shard of glass in hand.
A smile spread across my face.
“Heather...” I whispered. “You just saved my life...”