Unfamiliar

• Dana Khalil, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2022

Puppet held the pricket closer to her face as she tip-toed across the unfamiliar halls of Woodland Witch Academy. Expelled from the last witch academy she went to, after setting a classmates' dorm on fire for calling her friend bad at spells, She was stuck in this unfamiliar place. 'The exit!' Puppet called, rushing to the exit, the pricket in one hand, her broom in the other, her nightgown draping behind her and completely forgetting about being 'stealthy.'

'Puppet Conn! Get back here!' Mrs Hensel, the assisting principle called. Puppet turned around sharply but was not going to turn back. Was never going to go back. Not after all she had done to get out of that place, no way. She continued running forward, the exit coming closer and closer in her sight. An open window spoke the truth. She was not on the first floor, but on the second instead. 'No!' Puppet called. 'Stupid unfamiliar academy!' In her old academy, it was 2 storeys, dorm rooms and certain classes including spells and chanting on the second floor and the dining hall and any other classes on the first, here it was different. There were 3 Storeys, the top one being completely and only occupied by dorms and the dining hall and classes would occupy the second and first floor. So then what was she running to? What did she think was the exit? Not the stairwell, for sure not that. She passed the 'exit', which was all but an old storage room. She needed to reach the real exit as soon as she could, so she could fly out of the academy and back to her old academy.

Puppet was clearly out of energy but no way would she stop. She had come too far to. Puppet held her pricket further away from her face to see better and pushed her thick black hair from her face. The stairwell came into her sight. Once she was down, the exit would fall right in front of her and Mrs Hensel would not catch up, could not catch up.

Puppet gripped tightly on the coarse rail as she struggled to clamber down the concrete stairs. She looked up and saw the exit and looked back at Mrs Hensel, too far to catch up. The moon was up high and ravens laughed at her as she caught her breath while she attempted to fly on her broom. 'Puppet Conn! Stop it at once!' Mrs Hensel called. 'Make me...' Puppet mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes. She was finally able to ride on her broom and now all Mrs Hensel could do was watch as Puppet Conn escaped with the darkness of the night blanketing her. She stared down at Mrs Hensel, then at Woodland Witch Academy. Would she miss it? No. Not that unfamiliar place. She was finally free.