Taking Chances

• Summer Soliman, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2022

Warm sweat trickled down my arm as I picked up the bloody gun, hands shaking, holding on for dear life. It was chaos that day, absolute chaos.

Traumatised, picturing it over and over again, I just couldn’t stop. It still haunts me till this day, still recovering from that bullet. I could remember every detail while still regretting that thing I did. The thing that changed my life forever. I knew I shouldn't have done it. I had a weird feeling, inside my body like there was a nest of bees flying hysterically. I just had to walk into that house and get revenge but I ended up taking the bullet.

I needed to make a plan -a deadly plan. One that would make up for everything that he did to me and everything that he did to my family. It started now. War!

Every step I took got me closer to revenge. I could feel my heartbeat, every thump as I approached the corroded house, my hands quivering as I clutched the door handle, slowly and steadily opening it not knowing what lay beyond this door. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Three years and I had been waiting for this. There had to be more, I knew there was just something that had to happen. Did he know I was coming? Did he escape? I shut the creaky door and walked forwards. The aged, dusty wood made a groaning sound every time I took a step.

‘COME OUT’ I screamed. Silence! I started running up the stairs trying not to slip on all the filth. Pale as anything, I looked in the stained glass mirror, what am I seeing? Where was I? This had all gone wrong! The mirror showed my family, every one of them. One hundred emotions and thoughts streamed through my mind right now. I looked behind me, there he was. Now old and grumpy. Bang!