A Child's Game

• Lia Newland, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2015

The frosty night gale lashed and whipped with its bitter, icy hands at her soft, blanched skin as she dashed for her life. The freezing gust of chilly breath streamed through her rich crimson hair causing it to ripple in many curtain like waves, her turquoise cloak billowed behind her and the metallic dagger in her belt shone silver as the moonlight. Three hooded figures glided swiftly behind her, their faces concealed by a ray of thick, velvety blackness.
The milky opal coloured side surfaces of the cave gleamed with the iridescence of a million rainbows, the stalactites and stalagmites reflected and shone luminously giving the whole roof, floor and sides a look as if the stone was hollow with trillions of glow worms.
The girl kept on running and did not look back until she reached the entrance to a new cavern. But this new chamber was unlike anything she had ever laid eyes on before and she couldn’t help but stifle a small, exclamative gasp. For this bunyanesque expanse was densely carpeted with pools of some sort of preposterous form of liquid coloured a deep periwinkle. As she skidded to a halt just at the very edge of the sheer cliff, a few small pebbles disturbed by her feet were sent flying into the depth below and after they hit the surface of a vast pool, the immediately sizzled into nothingness.
Standing in awe, the girl and her attackers suddenly remembered their jobs of hunting and running so after a few seconds of dead silence, the chase resumed! The meagre girl glanced around desperately trying to find an escape for the terrifying trio was closing in, then she saw it. There were three precarious looking ropes suspended over the deadly immensity. Almost without thinking, the girl spun around and leaped to the nearest rope. After many strained milliseconds she felt her fingers grasp the cordage and secretly whooped with pleasure – that was until she found her fingers sliding helplessly down the slippery cable until there was nothing more to grab onto and she felt herself tumbling into nothingness.
Her shriek was louder than a fire alarm as she fell into the depthy unknown and her stomach tied itself in knots but worst of all, was the pain staking seconds in which she fell closer and closer to her death. Letting out one last desperate wail, she screwed her watery eyes shut and finally plunged into the –
“Charla, Evie, Rocco, Zane, Lunch is ready!”” Awe, mum! exclaimed Charla as she sat up and joined her friends in the kitchen can’t we play for a bit longer?” “ We had the greatest fun Mrs Morrow! burst Charla’s friend Zane, we played chasers and runners and this time Charla was the runner and “ – Zane went on for ages and when he had finally finished Mrs Morrow replied with a simple “ that’s nice dear”.
“Charla! Earth to Charla!” Mrs Morrow exclaimed but Charla wasn’t listening…
She was busy dreaming about the wonders of their next, magnificent game.