Haunted Sapphire Island

• Heather Aldridge, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2018

Monsoonal winds arose on Sapphire Island. Creeping through dusty, torn windows, were hairy arachnids and slimy cockroaches. There was a pale, red headed boy who was wearing a blue shirt and ripped shorts. His friend, a petite girl with fair hair, was wearing a distressed skirt. Their names were Peter and Ava. While tip-toeing adventurously around the island, a glint of emerald light hit Peter’s eye like a lightning bolt.

“What’s that?” Peter questioned with a curious look on his face, “we should go and discover what is emitting that light!”
Within a split second, the pair was heading towards a small granny flat, covered by debris. The doormat stated, “ENTER IF YOU DARE…”
The pair of them thought that it was quite scary but turned the round doorknob incredibly slowly. ‘What will we find?” pondered Ava as the opening door creaked. They stepped inside. ‘Whoosh….BANG!’ the door slammed shut. Peter and Ava were in pitch black. Nowhere to go, no one to seek help from. They were franticly searching high and low for a light source. “Aha! This will do the trick,” Peter cried as he lit a lantern.

Pushing away dusty cobwebs from their path, a cupboard appeared in front of them. Pulling the handle towards them, the door opened just as the lantern lost its light. “How will we get out? To our friends and family,” Ava sobbed as she looked down, losing hope.

“Wait! I think there is a lock on the door we came in from,” Peter exclaimed squinting to check.
Walking closer, they saw it. A brown, wrecked lock on the door. Ava immediately turned it and pushed the door open. They were free! Something didn’t seem right though. “Where is everyone? No one is on the island anymore!” Ava shouted as she looked around.
“I think they went home to look for us!” Peter replied with a worried face.

At that moment, they heard a giggle. A little boy ran out the bushes. It was Ava’s little brother! “PRANKED YOU! We set you up so you would be scared!” Toby cried as he jumped up and down.
The pair were a little confused but were happy they were safe. They all hugged and Ava whispered, “I just want to go home!”
So that’s what they did.