Mum There Is An Invader In The House

• Danielle White, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2017

Chop! Went the knife as Annabelle cut the salami for her sandwich. She carefully put it on a plate and sat on the lounge then turned on the TV. The news flashed on as the voice of an orderly presenter dressed in a navy suit and tie boomed across the eerie room.

"Welcome to 6 News I am Brian Gardens. Our top story this week is about home invasions all over the city." Annabelle turned off the TV and slowly walked into her room. When suddenly there was a loud bang and she jumped. Then cautiously peered around the corner to see a man in a coal black robe on and a head mask.

Annabelle let out a piercing scream and ran into her mums room then ran towards were her mum was working on an assignment. "Mum there's an invader in the house!"

"Let’s get in the car." exclaimed her mum as she ran down the hallway. When Annabelle was running past the lounge room she saw the man putting the precious items that her de­ceased grandmother gave her. They got in the car and hesitantly turned around to find the man with the knife when her mum jumped out and shouted through the howling wind. “you will not hurt my daughter!" and the man said. "Well we will see about that won’t we." and grabbed her mum and threw her at the wall. Annabelle expected for her mum to get up but she didn't, so her instincts were to run into the forest and away from the dark man. Annabelle ran behind a tree finding out that she was exhausted and fell asleep. "Urg "she said as she awoke to the dirtiest, dries taste in her mouth. The rain water from the leaves might quench her thirst, so she found a leaf and drank until there was no more thirst. Now came the hunger she remembered those 3 days without food that she would die. She had to find food but first she had to find home with her stomach rumbling like the thunder. She made a compass buy getting a big leaf and filling it with water and tied and not with the stem and the tip of the leaf. Then got a smaller leaf and set it in the middle of the water and next took her hair pin and rubbed it on her shirt about 100 times and then placed it carefully on the smaller leaf. This created a compass and she knew that the tip of the hair pin faced north. Her town faced north so she walked the way the hair pin faced.

"Finally home." Annabelle said with a sigh as she landed down on to her mums lap "finally home."