Ten Minutes Left

• Joys Shehata, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

As I slowly walked back home from school, I could sense a cold and icy breeze travel on the back of my neck, a breath that seemed to have run a mile. Immediately, I felt an odd feeling in my lower stomach reaching my throat. I started to walk at a faster pace trying to draw little to no attention. I could tell someone was following me but I couldn’t get myself to look back.

Just when I thought I had lost track of the person, two cold large hands wrapped around my face, one on my eyes and one on my mouth and nose. I tried to make a sound but nothing would come out. I could feel my heartbeat getting heavier with every breath I tried to take. It wasn’t long until I felt nothing.

My eyes slowly widened, accompanied by an unbearable shriek and a piercing cry. My mind flooded with unendurable thoughts before my eyes slowly lingered around the dull room. I felt an intolerable faint feeling as I acknowledged a handful of girls huddled up in the corner of the room, paranoid and traumatised.

I took a look at the man that wanted nothing more than to torment us. My mind traveled into conclusions before I noticed a sudden change in his behaviour. He suddenly became as calm as a swan on clear water. The young girl beside me noticed my concerned frightened face before calmly notifying me about his mixed personality. I was finding it difficult to believe that someone can have two completely opposing personalities, but if that was so, there may be a way out of this blood curdling place.

It took me all night to think of the safest and calmest way to escape this nightmare until an intriguing idea appeared in my head. What if there was a way to keep his calm personality around for a while or just enough for one of us to grab a phone and call the police. It was around 11:30pm when I informed the other girls of the idea. We huddled around and planned it all out until our eyes were puffy and stained red.

One of the older girls managed to time his sudden outbreaks, which took around ten minutes every morning at 6:45am. We set an alarm on a digital clock for 6:40am and waited for the perfect time. It didn’t take long for his calm personality to take effect. Five girls were around him trying to draw his attention to them, while a girl and I ran around trying to find a phone. Five minutes later we were on the phone with a police officer trying to catch our breaths. Our hearts dropped to the pits of our stomachs when we realised time was up. His calm personality that was just there disappeared and his eyes turned a dark shade that sent a chill down my spine when he realised what we were up to. I gulped loudly as my heart rate picked up and all there was left for us to do was pray.