Taken

• Bella White, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2020

It was dead quiet. Not a sound could be heard. Midnight; pitch black. I could see my icy breath in front of my face. Suddenly, out of the shadows, a figure appeared. It was tall and slender, with a menacing look in its eyes. I blindly charged into the blackness to find a way out. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. Then, nothing more.

When I came round, I found myself tied up beneath the glaring sun. With no one in sight, I reached for my pocket knife, but I soon realized that I no longer had it. I started to think back to before I got taken...

I used to live with my family in a small cottage. It wasn’t exactly a mansion, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I had decided that it was time to leave, so I moved into an apartment the next town over. I missed my parents, but I was happy to be there as well, after a few weeks of living by myself I went to visit my parents. When I got to the house, it wasn’t them sitting around the dining table. I confronted them, but they must’ve taken me to that dark room, because I didn’t remember anything between then and there.

I had only just realized that I was dehydrated, so I looked around for anything to cut me down. I screamed for help but I stopped after several hopeless tries. I started to think that I would never survive out there when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something shiny on the ground. I started to dig in the sand with my feet and I found a sharp piece of glass. I struggled to get my shoes off, but when I finally managed kick them away I cut my toe. I quickly passed the glass with my feet up to my hands and cut myself free. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me and I found civilization. I hitchhiked back home and called the cops.

I still remember that story clear as day. I still remember how frightened I felt, and how relieved I felt when I got back home, and I still remember the happiness I felt when I heard that my family was found.