Goosebumps

• Madison Peisley, Grade 6, St James' Primary School
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Write Along 2018' competition

“DON’T, MOVE! Not one finger. Not one breath. You WILL regret it.” Goosebumps sweep over my body as fear zooms down the alleyway and slaps me in the face. I freeze as fear destroys me. It stabs my heart. It torments me, humiliates me, ruins me. What would you do? Run away? Turn around? Or scream? I’m not doing anything. I’m waiting for everything to disappear and fade away. Nothing’s happening.
An unwelcoming, cold breeze shoots down my neck. I slide my foot to the side, where I think it’s safe. “I SAID DON’T MOVE!” A sweaty, clammy hand grasps my shoulder blade and I feel razor sharp nails brush over my neck and onto my face. Everything I once saw, vanished. The world grows pitch black. My heart stops and suffocates me. Everything I never thought would happen to me, just happened. Deafening footsteps pierce my ears. I only know that I’m alone with nowhere to go. I cry for help, but nothing happens. I try to move, but nothing happens.
Goosebumps blanket my body.
I gradually shift my aching back from the solid, rock hard ground into the frosty air, and I place my numb feet onto the concrete firmly. I utter a choking sound and struggle to breathe. I stare down the dark, dim alleyway. One foot at a time, I carry my tired body a few steps, then freeze. An anxious feeling fills my heart. It’s the same feeling I had last time. I feel like there is someone waiting for me, watching me around that corner, but I don’t hear anything. I glue my hands to the damp, brick wall behind me and scurry around the corner. I can feel the moist drops of sweat creep down my spine. Goosebumps crawl up my body, and a shadow flashes before my eyes. Darkness. I feel myself sink into the ground again. Who was that? Whose shadow was getting smaller and smaller? I am the target and he is the arrow.
Every breath I take, my throat burns like a fire running down my neck. Every wriggle of my toes, every movement of my fingers, sharp, fiery, forceful pain creeps through my body. After many, many dreadful, draining hours of darkness, a spark of blurry light appears. I’m lying in a pit of agony, on the cold, concrete ground.
Goosebumps take over my body.
I’m trying to rewind and recall everything that had happened. All I remember is my agitated body hitting the ground in an instant and the blazing, spark of light dissolve and fade away until everything disappeared. I steadily rotate my head to the side, but the excruciating pain continues. Discomfort, torture, and anguish runs through each and every vein in my body. I can’t breathe. The dreadful fear of death takes over my mind. That’s all I can think about, as my clenched fists and stretched out arms dissolve and sink into the ground. The sky grows into darkness.
Goosebumps cover my body.