Barney

• Hannah Stephenson, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2016

As I walk down the road, I am surrounded in silence. I hear nothing, I can see houses, people starring as they admire the unique buildings, street lights beaming as they shine down on the town below. I can see trees moving the slightest bit, as there is minimal wind.
Across the road I see a river, ripples occur as the water drifts along, I walked across the bridge that took me to the other side. As I stepped the wooden plank creaked, at the same time I heard a rustle coming from the bushes that are along the riverside, I took a step closer to see what it was, A BEAR!! I screamed, then I stopped. I took a closer look at it, its fur was brown and sticky, it needed a wash. But it had the most beautiful hazel brown eyes. The bear stepped closer, at this point my heart raced. I was so scared. I started pacing backwards, I slowly got faster and faster, the bear followed. I then stopped. It came up to me and let me touch it. Suddenly, I hear a rumble of thunder, rain clouds cover me as the storm approaches.
Rain pours down, soaks me. I see a forest lies ahead so I thought I would seek cover in there. The bear came with me! As I walked inside, darkness surrounded us. There was a slight glimpse of light over the other end, but that was it. The trees were thick and heavy, so no rain could reach us. I sat down, so the bear came over and sat with me. It licked me and then again. I patted it. At that moment I then thought of the perfect name for it, Barney. It got up and walked over to a concrete path. Barney turned around and looked at me as if to say, well what are you waiting for? I got up and followed him.
We walked along the path that led us to the bottom of a mountain. Barney and I decided to climb it. We wondered what was at the top. We kept on walking up the mountain. Tired, I was, but I persevered. Barney and I reached the top. I was nearly dead but Barney was still full of energy, somehow. Coming up the other side of the mountain was an elderly man, he was running up!! He had to at least be 80 years old. He reached the top and approached us.
He said “What are you folks doing up here?”
“Just came for a wander.” I replied.
“Great day for it isn’t it?” He asked
“Yeah.”
Suddenly the strangest thing happened:
darkness replaced the light, life as I knew it ended tonight.