Knocked Out!

• Nell Osborne Grigg, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2016

I blink, and suddenly the soft smoke emerges from around the bus. I blink again, and the once busy and crowded vehicle is dead. My classmates, my teachers, my friends, gone in a blink of an eye!

I reach over to unbuckle my seatbelt. This stupid thing won't budge. I fiddle around with the button, and suddenly the relief filled click rings through my ears! I take a soft step into the haunted hallway. The echoing sound makes my head spin and whirl. Fresh air. I need fresh air! As I near the door, it becomes clear: I am trapped.

I race over to the driver's seat. Now I am feeling hot, and the walls are enclosing around me! I fiddle around for a couple of seconds then... Bang! I sprint through the crevice that the door has left for me. Fresh air at last! The cooling but sharp air prickles my bare and exposed skin. I look down at my watch. The time is 1pm. I look up at the dark, widespread canvas of nothingness. This can't be happening! It's day, but night!

Suddenly the words, "come here Nell" ring around the foggy circle that surrounds me! I walk closer to the ever growing mist barrier. I can just make out the yellow glowing eyes. I start to back up, but then out of the blue, 5 more pairs of yellow glowing eyes appear, then another, then another, then another. I don't know what to do. The first thought that comes to my mind is run! So I do. I turn around then... BANG!

I wake up startled. I am back lying on the bus floor, with a mountain of red, flushed faces staring at me!