October 31st

• Zara Downs, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2022

Today was the 31st of October. Tonight, my parents we’re going out and I was going to be home alone for the night until they came back. They strictly said before they had left ONLY ONE FRIEND OVER, DON’T OPEN THE DOOR TO ANYONE and DO NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE! Then they left and were on their way out.

So, I was sitting alone on the couch because everyone was busy tonight. I was just watching TV in the lounge room but then I heard something, it was a strange sound, but I just ignored it thinking it was the neighbours. But then I heard it again… I began to get afraid. I just tried to ignore what had happened, but I just started to overthink. What could it have been? Why? Where is it coming from?

Then the power went out I screamed with fear! I started to panic I didn’t know what to do. As I was sitting there in the dark, scared for my life, I went on my phone to call my parents. As it started ringing my parents, my phone died it went black. Now I had no way to contact my parents, nor knew what to do. I thought about going outside to turn the power back on, but I wouldn’t be able to see outside, and I didn’t know how to turn the power back on.

All of a sudden, the noises started happening again! I screamed for help as loud as I could as I started to go into a panic. My heart was pounding, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I screamed again for help but there was no response. I didn’t know what the time was but all I knew was that I was exhausted, and I was hoping my parents were coming back soon.

As the sun rose in the morning and I had woken up to my parents to nowhere to be seen. The house was silent as I woke up, yet it had never been silent for the 13 years I had been alive. I didn’t know where they had gone or if they were even coming back at all but all I knew was that they weren’t home! I stood in an empty house alone to realise my parents had gone missing!