The Fake Gem

• Kaylee Riordon, Grade 6, Mirboo North Primary School
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Write Along 2018' competition

Sabrina woke up in her uncle A-Jay’s house. She tried to forget the events from the previous night, but somehow they seem to plague back into her mind. The tragic murder of her unsuspecting parent consumed her with sorrow, but she couldn’t shake the tone their murderer gave her. The words haunted her “You’re next.” Such a harsh voice couldn’t mean she was in for a cup of tea, but you know, there’s always that off chance.
It was only six in the morning, but A-Jay was already up and working loudly. He showed no mercy when it came to hammering wood into the side of his ever-crumbling home! Sabrina emerged into her new surroundings; she gulped raising the thought in her head that she would never see her parents again. What’s worse is that she would spend a great deal of her childhood here. Because of the murder. Then she snapped into reality as she realised her older sisters Bell and Fern (yes, they are twins, fourteen year of age) weren’t there.
Tears filled her eyes as her aunty (whom she had never met) updated her on the dreadful non-processable news. They are dead. “Come sit down and have a milo dear” her aunty said in an empathic tone. Sabrina felt sorry for herself, everyone felt sorry for her, but it didn’t help her situation. Almost all her family were dead. But by who? She gazed out the window and thought, ‘Another killer on the rampage. More unneeded deaths. Suffering, so much suffering…’
The moon lit night was beautiful, or it would have been if you weren’t hidden in the shadow. Like Sabrina. She slowly crept into her old house. A memory of her and her sisters playing tiggy flooded into her mind. But now the house was so quiet it felt surreal. Where had once been laughter and happiness and life, there was now sadness and a sombre feeling of despair, no life to be found. She searched the walls and walked the hall until she came to her bedroom. There she spotted the most peculiar thing, a little box without a lock. She looked inside, questions raised by her inquisitive mind. A little note addressed to her opened more questions. “This note changes definitely everything.” Then something glinting in the flickering flashlight gleam. A fake green emerald. Her family didn’t like fake gems, only real ones. She had seen this before, but where? It must have been the murderer’s. Seeing this made her wonder. She thought she knew who the murderer was she just waiting to bust him.
Seeing her uncle Thunder in the morning was the best thing she could hope for. Her uncle Thunder was a cold and careless creature but he wasn’t exactly careful. And Sabrina knew he was the murderer, because he collected fake gems, just like the one she found. Her uncle had some explaining to do…