Victims

• Keziah Pham, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2020

I watched, over and over as each made the same mistake as the last. In the shadows I sat, perched on a small rock just large enough to accommodate my petite size. I watched, grimly as each child crossed the fence, looking for a treasure of sorts, maybe an adventure? I didn’t know. All I knew is they weren’t going to find what they desired. Each time I longed to look away, knowing what would happen next, but each time I sat, still and observant as always as their blood stained the grass and screams filled the air. The first time, I tried to warn the child but alas they wouldn’t listen. I stepped back, knowing nothing I could do would stop them. Not now, anyway.

I eyed the child, hoping that they would notice the danger lurking and run away before they fell victim to its trap. Regrettably, they did not and thus I had witnessed the first of many murders that summer. I watched as crime scene investigators, detectives and parents flooded the scene. Despite the number of rumors and suspicion surrounding this area the children, so naive and foolish would always return.

Years had gone by now, and I loathed myself and this dastardly monster as I watched each swift killing again and again. I stared into my palms, wondering what I could’ve done. Wondering what I could do, but there was always nothing. I tried everything that I could think of. But none of them would listen, and all of them ended up the same way, their blood spilling across the ground. I sighed, throwing my head back while extending my arm and grabbing onto a branch, yet, as always my hand fell through, translucent as it always had been ever since I crossed that gate.