Terror

• Aariel Palmer, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2015

They’re getting closer and closer until … beep… beep …beep…
I woke up in the hospital in intensive care. I could not remember a thing about the night before but the bang as the bullet left the gun and hit my body.
Tears streaming down my face; I stared and running I found a tunnel and hid in it. I stayed there until I saw them pass by. I ran out of the tunnel, hoping they didn’t see me and ran to the next town and into a shop. Looking around behind the counter I saw that the shopkeeper was there; he was shivering. A gang of huge men had come in and asked him for all his money. The shopkeeper told them that he needed the money for his wife and children to feed and clothe them, but the leader of the gang threatened to shoot him. The shopkeeper gave them the money and they left.
I told him that the same gang was trying to kill me. He replied, “So you’re the little girl they were talking about. Quick, we better hide. You ok?” “But why?” I asked. “Because they will come back. You’re not safe here,” he whispered.
“But why am I not safe?”
“They have surveillance cameras everywhere. We have to hide you,” the shopkeeper said, still whispering. “Ok but where?” I asked. The shopkeeper showed me a door that appeared in the wall “Go down the passage and on your left there’s another door. Go through the door and you’ll end up in a room full of doors. Go through the door and straight ahead. At the end of the passage, there’s a river. Down the river, there’s a cottage. Go to the cottage and tell them I sent you. Now go and good luck.”
I crept down the passage and followed the shopkeeper’s instructions. I found the cottage and knocked on the door and told the lady that the shopkeeper on Bridge Street sent me here. She asked me to come inside. There were lots of kids in her cottage. She told me that the same thing had happened to most of the kids and she and her husband, the shopkeeper, have taken them into their home to care for them.
I asked if I could stay a few nights. “Of course sweetie,” the lady replied.
“You knew I was coming?” I asked.
“Oh yes,” replied the lady, “As soon as my husband heard the gang talking about you, he contacted me at once to get a bed ready for you.” “Thankyou” I replied.
I stayed a few nights and it was really fun. I returned up the passage and walked into the shop. I looked for the shopkeeper but there was someone else waiting for me. I turned around and tried to make a run for it, but I couldn’t find the passageway or remember how to get back to the cottage. He chased me and I tripped over, grazing my knee. He stood over me and said good bye.