by Liam W.
Chapter One: Stolen
I never saw any point in recess. It’s just twenty minutes wasted outside, or that’s how I saw it. Others might have different opinions, but this is how I saw it. My world was small and comforting, but that all changed on February Seventh, 2012.
Feb 7, 2012
I stood outside and waited, the bell usually rang at 12:30. I checked my watch at 12:19. Eleven more minutes to go. I started to walk to the door when I stopped. I don’t know what stopped me, probably a feeling. I looked around, in the distance. I saw a man. He had black clothes and looked like he was limping towards the school. Was he hurt? I wondered, as he got closer I noticed that he was carrying a big sack. He walked up to a Grade 1 student, Ethan something I tried to remember his last name but I couldn’t. The man then whispered something in his ear and led him off. I stood there for a moment, was that his dad or “rrrrring” the bell rang out. As kids started to run inside, I took one more look at the spot where the man had disappeared before running inside. As I went to put my snack away, an announcement came loudly over the speaker,
“Ethan Z., please report to your classroom immediately”. I thought back for a moment that was that kid from recess!
Should I tell the office? No, I wouldn’t be much help anyway.
I looked out of the window in my car. As my mom drove to our home, I watched the houses go by. It looked like a movie, showing one photo after another. Suddenly I saw the man from the school, but as I went to tell my mom, he disappeared.
When we arrived home, I immediately dropped my bag to go out to play.
I always enjoyed nature. At recess there was no nature and it was always loud. Out here the only noise was the faint sound of birds and the creek.
I liked climbing the tree in my backyard, whenever I was up there it felt like I was looking over the world. I looked around. I saw my mom indoors through the window making dinner, my friend’s grandma resting outside, and a dog running around with his owner. As the wind blew in my face I saw a figure moving behind a house. I thought who was that? I had never seen them so I decided to go and investigate. As I crept towards him, I saw go into the forest into a shed not far away.
I stood there waiting, wondering what I should do. Then I heard my mom call from my house.
“Time to come in Henry,”
I ran back to my house. I saw the man looking out from behind the shed directly at me, straight at my face. His eyes, unblinking and showed no expression. For no reason at all I began to run back to my house.
That night I couldn’t sleep. The man’s eyes kept playing through my head unblinking and with no expression.
The next day an emergency message was sent to all phones. If you have seen this boy, please report it to the police. The picture was of Ethan Z. Thoughts swirl in my head. I decided I had to investigate the shed.
Later that day I tiptoed past my mom and out the front door, ran past my friend’s house into the woods and up to the shed. Having a strange sense of déjà vu, I crept into the dirty shed. Inside was a regular shed, tools, buckets, rakes etc. Something caught my eye: a lever. I pulled it down and a stairway opened up. I crept down the hallway until I was in a room, full of bones, chains, mold, and dirty boxes. The chains were linked to the wall and had handcuffs at the end. It gave me a creepy sensation as if I was trapped here. Suddenly I heard the shed doors up above slowly creaking closed and faint footsteps walking down the steps.
The End . . . For Now