The Tragic Assassin.

• Declan Thomas, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2019

The dreaded woodland near the village of Quin had an abnormal visitor. A tall threatening figure stealthily approached the perimeter of the forest, scanned the village carefully and then dashed back into the trees leaving the area silent again.
The villagers of Quin were awoken by a scream. It was the cry of a miserable mother. Her family had experienced an unfortunate loss. Her husband had died a few years earlier, today it was her children’s turn.
The people of the village arrived at the fatal site, but the child James stood at a distance. They chatted and talked, guessing at what might have happened. The murmuring continued while an uninvited figure entered a nearby house. He had conjured a plan. He waited on the balcony watching the people fuss about as the mayor of Quin arrived in the forest. Mayor O’Brien had brought with him the undertaker who was carrying the children’s headstone that had already been prepared.
From the balcony, the hidden figure saw the heartbroken mother weeping. He watched as the workers dug the soil for the graves. He was right to come. No one buries their dead this quickly without a reason. The village of Quin was hiding some terrible secret. He loaded his weapons as he remembered how the family had been very rich. Now the mother, Clarabelle would inherit the whole fortune.
The forest was known for many terrible things. Murder and disappearances were common occurrences and the latest were particularly ghastly. The people in the village had become used to it by now, but this time the forest was different, today everyone stood by the graves in despair.
Abruptly a cacophony of gunshots rang out through the forest. Luckily, the grieving mother dived behind a tree. When the noise stopped, she saw that everyone had been killed except one lone child. James. The terrified mother escaped through the forest and as for the figure on the balcony, he looked through his rifle scope and felt unsatisfied. He knew there was still work to be done.
The child James hurriedly chased after the petrified Clarabelle. He was still thinking about the dreadful shooting moments earlier, feeling lucky to be alive. The assassin left the balcony. He already knew where Clarabelle and James were headed. The safety of Oberon.
Clarabelle soon arrived at the house. The door was unlocked and she dashed in, gesturing to James to follow. They were both exhausted. James felt light-headed and fainted, but fortunately landed on soft beanbags.
That night, the assassin gathered his equipment and drove impatiently from Quin to Oberon. He stopped out the front of the ordinary looking house and walked towards the front door. He checked the windows, then entered. He pulled out a short knife and surreptitiously walked towards James. As he held a knife above his head, red blood dripped onto the floor at his feet. The figure fell. Clarabelle was left standing behind him holding her pistol.