Locked In And Can't Escape

• Rohma Farhan, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2022

How did I lose her? Where did she go? A mother named Jane and her daughter Olivia, who is 7, moved into an old house near the woods. This house was creepy and had an eerie feel to it. The first night they moved in was very off. The mother was making sandwiches in the kitchen when she heard a loud bang coming from the basement. like someone has dropped something. She wasn't thinking and said "Olivia, I told you that you can't be down there." There was no reply, thinking that her daughter had got the message to not go down there. She continued making dinner. Later that night, Jane was talking to Olivia to never go down there by herself. Even though Olivia said several times it wasn't her, the mother did not believe her. The following week, the mother and daughter where playing hind and seek and it was Jane's turn to seek. She counted to 20 and then started looking. "Olivia, where are you?'' she repeated. Usually there were giggles coming from Olivia, but today there was no silence. Jane kept looking around. She looked everywhere but there was no sight of her. She just vanished. Jane kept saying "OK Mommy is not playing anymore. come out now". No reply. Jane had been looking all over the house to find Olivia. That was when she went past the basement door. The cold air hit her face hard. She realised the door was opened. Jane slowly walked down the wooden stairs. and turned on the light. The lights flickered on. Jane kept repeating her daughter's name. No answer. Jane was starting to get worried. She looked for Olivia for hours. That was when she decided to call the police so they could help her. Since she lived very far away, it took awhile for them to arrive. But when they finally did, they also had no luck. That was when Jane knew something bad had happened. She might of left the house or she might be in the woods. Helicopters were looking over the woods for hours. but there was no sign of her. Days went by. weeks went by no sign. That was when the mother started to give up. She started to lose hope. She lost her sleep because she had nightmares about her daughter. One day she had finally got to sleep well. But in her dreams she kept seeing her daughter. Olivia said to her mother, follow me please mum like when we played tag remember. The mother followed her to see her daughters' face one last time. As she turned the corner, both of them were suddenly in the basement. Jane was confused and asked Olivia why we were here. Olivia looked at her mum and said "Mum, you need to open that bed. That's where I was hiding remember and I saw you come into the basement and I said Mum, but you never saw me. I died in there. LOOK