Cracked Connections

• Jenna Venter, Grade 9, Helensvale State High School
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

“Jasmine, did you hear me?” the teenager’s mother moaned repeatedly. The girl eventually awoke from her deep gazed thoughts. Jasmine was confused; it was as if she had a cracked memory, the past was faint. As she slowly shut her laptop mindlessly, she stared at the last message received. “Are you alright darling?” the mother pronounced again. Mistakably the daughter declared there was nothing wrong.
As Jasmine walked around school, she was unfocused upon her surroundings, however constantly wary of her dangers. Every mumble she heard sounded like, “it’s me... the magician, remember?” Every lesson Jasmine was terrified of opening the laptop, awakening the haunted messages. Finally, the bell had gone, her friends weren’t exposed to the daring messages anymore.
Hidden from everyone, she opened the computer, prepared for the worst. Messages rolled in. Jasmine was frightened, “what if it was him?” she imagined hesitantly in her spinning mind. She looked down... it wasn’t! Surprised, Jas saw a group of her friends asking whether she was alright at school. She had a gush of relief and peace. She had forgotten about her unwanted fear. It was as if the cracked memory from the previous night had been healed, then... another message came through, as if in slow motion the memory shattered once again.
It was him, ‘the magician’. Again, stating the unbelievable. As she read the message, she heard voices inside her mind. “It’s me, are you ready? Click of a stick, crack of a brick.” “This was all a dream,” she thought. Then another message, “No it’s not, your dreams are all cracked!”
She shut her laptop ignorantly, lay on her bed with her eyes shut tight and thought, “It’s all a...”
“CRACK!”