Have You Ever Been Really Scared?

• Megan Hassan, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2016

Have you ever been really scared? No, REALLY scared. So scared people sit you down and give you lollies and say things like "It's gonna be alright" and then they'd look down to see if you've had an accident. Well, I have. It was last year - hang on, I'll tell you the whole thing. From the very start...

It was last summer. No, two summers ago? Oh, yeah, two. Because that was when... doesn't matter. Everything was fine - I had friends, Mum and Dad weren't divorced and my older sister, India, was okay. I was happy, very happy. Then I started getting some texts.Not any old texts, texts that were threatening, and even worse, I didn't know who was sending them. It was getting worse and worse each day - and I didn't tell anyone. I didn't want to make Mum upset because her and Dad were fighting now like cat and dog. She had enough on her plate. The texts were starting to effect my life. My friends seemed to leave one by one. There was only two left now. India doesn't come home much. She just turned 17. Too cool to come home, eh? Yeah right.

One night, I came into the dining room for dinner. Mum was there, but Dad wasn't. Dad was usually home, because he was fired last week.
"Where's Dad?" I ask Mum.
She looked up quickly. She sighed and hurriedly looks back down to her steaming pasta.
"Uh, he uh... won't be coming back... um, look, I tried. We just couldn't work things out...I-I'm sorry..." She said nervously. I could see her fighting back tears.
"Couldn't work things out? You wish. You never tried!" I shout. I could feel tears welling in my eyes, but I let them flow free. The anger was building inside me. I couldn't control it. Viciously, I seize my bowl of the table and threw it desperately at the wall. It shattered into smithereens. I storm off to my room.

My phone beeps. I pick it up hastily and read the text.

'Gees, Sammy! Control your temper! No need for that!'

I sigh. I roll onto my bed and let the cool breeze drain away my anger before falling asleep.

I wake up to a loud bang. What was that? Probably India. I glance at my clock. 3:09 am. I get up to convince myself it's just India.

I tiptoe silently down the hallway. I stop in front of Mum's room and open the door to reveal her sleeping peacefully. I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding,and continue down the hall.

I mutter curse words when I hear something fall and break.My head whips back round to my open doorway. That's where it came from. I say to myself it's just Skittles, just Skittles... I turn my shaking head towards India's room and continue. After what seemed like an eternity, I reach India's door. I take a deep breath and re-sure myself. Three deep breaths. In, out. In, out. In, out... I snatch the door open and look around. What is that? I don't want to go in there and check. But absentmindedly I walk forward and here a blood-curdling scream. I turn my head like I'm in a trance. A single word escapes my cracked lips before my body crumples in a lifeless heap.

"Dad?"