Powerless

• Jessica Sidebotham, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2022

Shivering violently she grasped at the door to her destination, an eerie bookstore, Katlyn Hart folded down her umbrella soaked to the bone.
In the distance, little bells signaled her arrival.
“Hello?” she called to no avail, her voice echoed back to her. She walked farther in, listening to her anxiety ridden footsteps. She saw a small door with light shimmering from underneath.
‘Ah.” Suddenly, the door opened and as she stepped through it closed on its own. Astonished, she stared blankly at the room, wondering what kind of place it was. In the unsettling air surrounding the room, Katlyn's feelings of panic escalated.
“Help!” She sobbed, claustrophobia plagued her throughout her every sense. The weight of a small box weighed heavily on her arm. As if she couldn't breathe, she couldn't move. Is it possible that she could die in the bookstore she once considered to be a second home? She would return in the morning, she promised herself as she slipped her hand to find the door handle. There! Katlyn had located it, she pulled expecting it to instantly loosen, paving the way to her exit. But it didn't. She yanked harder and harder. As if by magic, the handle vanished. Katlyn almost screamed in fright. In a panicked state she pounded on the bookstore door, until her hands were bloodied and too bruised to keep going. She sank to the ground, hope irrationally leaving her mind.
“Can I help you?”
Katlyn jumped harshly, letting out a scream of pure terror she jerked around to see the grizzled old man standing inches behind her.
“You!” she cried accusingly, “take this back, I don’t want it. I’ve lost everything because of you!” She opened the box the man had given her, inside lay an antique quill pen, it radiated a feeling of awe. This pen was the last of its kind, it possessed the ability to change your future to whatever the designated owner wrote. Katlyn had accepted it from the kind bookstore owner, but quickly realized he was a deceptive trickster. Katlyn had destroyed her life with the power, and evil influence the pen brought.
The man cackled, “It’s your burden to bear now.” his voice echoed down the hall of the spooky dark bookstore. She squinted to see him, as the lighting bolt flashed she saw him disappear into nothingness.
Katlyn shivered, who was that strange little man? The lights flickered then Katlyn was submerged into utter darkness.
“No!” she screamed drowsily. She slipped to the ground. Lightning struck revealing the shelves surrounding her but her voice was drowned out by a violent clap of thunder, “no” she whispered again. Everything was gone, her family, her friends. Her once thriving world had crumbled around her, it was all her fault. She was trapped in the situation, it was as if she was living a nightmare, and there was no way out.

How did I get here, you may ask? I’ll start from the beginning.