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# short stories

house, old, abandoned-984648.jpg

The Dark Shadow

Run!” Kia yelled holding his little sister’s hand. 

It was a mysterious day in the town of Cane. Nothing was predictable. Kia was just about to leave for his first day of school when he heard his mother call. “Sweetie, remember today is Cassy’s first day at kindergarten you are supposed to drop her today. I am trusting you to keep her safe.”

Kia turned around and saw his little sister with her backpack and a big smile on her face. “Oh right, fine I’ll do it” he whispered walking back to the front door but this time with his sister holding his hand. Cassy skipped as they walked through the neighborhood streets. Whenever a kid or a grownup walked by or noticed them Kia would let go of Cassy’s hand and walk ahead. “I am going to be so embarrassed if someone sees me with Cassy. All my friends are going to make fun of me” Kia thought as he let go of Cassy’s hand once more. Cassy’s brown hair bounced as she skipped. Her blue eyes were sparkling. “Kia why are you not holding my hand?” Cassy asked, trying to catch up to her brother. Kia who was trying not to look back answered “because we are getting late” and he was not wrong the school was still few blocks away.

Few minutes later the children came to a lovely path full of pretty flowers and cute animals. Cassy who was mesmerized at the path quickly remembered something her mother had told her couple of weeks ago. “Kia, I think we are not allowed here, Mom said” she whispered catching up to her brother. Kia could understand her fear. He shivered as they continued to walk. Rumors were told that this part of the neighborhood is haunted. No one in the whole of Cane dared to enter. Kia knew this very well. Once a new kid came to this part of the neighborhood and did not return until next year Christmas and when he did, he had scratches, bruises, and cuts all over his body. But this was the only way they could not be seen, and Kia knew this very well too.

Kia held onto his sister’s had tightly. Sweat dripped off his forehead wishing Cassy wouldn’t notice. As the beautiful path started disappearing, they now walked into a street full of abandoned houses and bare trees. The sun started vanishing behind the clouds, everything seemed gray. “Don’t be scared I’ll protect you” Kia managed to say as they came closer to the school. He knew in his head that this was a lie, but he had promised his mother to keep his sister safe. Suddenly everything went dark. Cassy’s grip loosened. And she was nowhere to be seen.  Kia’s head was clouded with all kinds of thoughts and he began thinking “What will I do? I promised to keep her safe and what will mom say when I come home with scratches, cuts, and bruises all over my body and no Cassy. What if we don’t make it out alive?” Kia thought looking around for light. “Cassy, where are you?” he called out scared and worried. 

Cassy in the meantime was frightened, she was surrounded in darkness and her brother was nowhere to be seen. “Kia” she called out. Suddenly a small fire shone bright in the distance both Kia and Cassy went towards it but when Kia started going back the light appeared to pull him closer soon Cassy and Kia could see each other again. They were reunited. “Cassy you’re ok!” Kia cried running to his sister. They both hugged, tears started dripping of Cassy’s face forming rivers on her cheeks. “I was so scared” she cried looking at her brother in sadness. Everything was well when a dark shadowy figure started to approach them. “Run!” Kia yelled holding his little sister’s hand.

 The siblings ran and ran when Cassy’s shoelace came untied and she tripped. “Cassy, watch out!” Kia yelled reaching out his hand. Cassy grabbed his hand and picked up her shoe. The black creature came closer. “Stop, don’t hurt her” Kai yelled bravely putting both arms out to protect his sister, a blast of wind blew. Cassy tied the shoe’s laces as quickly as she could. “Come on let’s go” she whispered. Kia nodded and ran behind her. They ran some more when they came back to the lovely path. Kai smiled and high fived his sister. But the shadow creature was smarter than you think and was not easy to lose. “Kia!” Cassy yelled pointing to Kia’s foot. “Huh?” Kai replied looking down. And there was the shadow creature grabbing for Kia. Kia ran with Cassie in front of him. They ran and ran, into the silver school gate that Mrs. Sally forgot to close. They stopped for a minute to take a deep breath before closing the gate shut then they slowly and cautiously walked to the playground. They had made it just in time! Kia’s friends looked at him then smiled. “Oh no! here we go” Kia thought getting himself ready for embarrassment but instead his friends asked him if he wanted to play basketball with them till the bell rang. Kia smiled too. “Maybe I was wrong walking my sister to school isn’t embarrassing.” He thought.

“Hey Kai, can I help you walk you sister to school, she looks so cute?” a voice called out. It was Amanda the girl that Kia had crush on. “Oh um… Sure” he blushed. Amanda smiled and walked away everything was normal. Kia walked to Cassy who was playing on the swings and whispered, “what happened today is our own little secret and I bet this not the last of the shadow creature so keep a lookout.” Cassy nodded and went back to playing. Kia gave her a thumbs up and she gave one too.

In the meanwhile, the shadow creature went back to the haunted part of the neighborhood and smiled “Oh foolish children you will see a lot more of me now. Hee hee hee ha ha.” he laughed ….

Abandoned Houses | Abandoned Urban Exploring & Urbex Photography

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The Thanksgiving Mystery

It was a perfect night for crime, the smell of cooked turkey filled the neighborhood air. When there was a CRASH! Gasps filled the Brown’s house. Clara Brown jumped in for action.

Our story starts where all good stories start, from the beginning. It was a cheerful day in the town Smallville for it was Thanksgiving. Clara Brown just finished from her latest case. The case of the stolen earrings. Clara Brown loves mysteries because who doesn’t love a good puzzle. She had loved riddles and puzzles ever since she could walk. When Clara was 3 years old her mother got a job, so they hired a housekeeper who was like a babysitter for Clara. Although the housekeeper’s name is Mrs.Buttingham her parents insisted that they called her Cook because of her delicious snacks and meals. Mrs.Buttingham or cook as you have might of guessed spends most of her time in the kitchen, this gave young Clara a chance to explore a bit. And by the time Clara was 4 she had finished every puzzle in the house. From jigsaw puzzles to Rubik’s cubes were solved. When Clara was only seven her parents registered her in several riddle and puzzles contests if my calculation is correct about 41 contests which Clara came first place in all of them. Young Clara is now 9 years old.

Clara kept her beautiful red notebook on the kitchen counter and stared at her housekeeper who was too busy to notice. Cook (Mrs.Buttingham) was busy with the preparation for the huge thanksgiving feast almost everyone in Clara’s family was invited expect Clara’s grandma and why you ask because her grandma was terribly ill, and her father wished that she stayed home to get better.  Clara’s house was a special house but no one wanted to live in it because it was haunted but Clara had already solved that case. The house was huge it made people think Clara’s family was rich. That was true when Clara was 2 years old her grandfather died and left lots and lots of money for her father and because of all the contests Clara won her family got really rich.

Clara stood just outside kitchen “Cook” she asked, “Can I have a snack?” 

“Ahhhhhhhh!” Cook screamed almost spilling all the cranberries on the clean marble kitchen floor. But luckily, she caught them just in time.

“Darling…  you scared …the life out of me” Cook exclaimed as she kept her hand on her heart while breathing very loudly.

“Sorry, I just was hungry” Clara giggled; she had this effect on people she could listen to a band of robbers talk without getting caught which was helpful during some mysteries. “Well, you can get something from the fridge, I suppose” Cook replied calming down. 

Clara walked into the kitchen. She quickly went to the fridge and looked inside and picked out a nice bowl of strawberries, some whipped cream, and Hershey syrup. Then she set them on the kitchen counter. She sprayed the whipped cream on the strawberries then slowly poured the Hershey syrup on top. After that she went to the huge, crowded pantry and picked out one of her favorite toppings Sprinkles. But these weren’t any sprinkles they were rainbow sparkly sprinkles. “Yes!”  She said reaching out to grab the container. Finally, she sprinkled the sprinkles on top of her delicious snack. “Done!” she cried grabbing a spoon for a bite. 

“Well, that looks sweet, darling” Cook complimented as she went to grab her purse.

“Where are you going?” Clara asked.

“To get the turkey” Cook said quickly as if she was late for something. She watched the stressed woman put on her jacket. Clara looked a bit closer and found that cook was sweating. Sweat was dripping off her forehead. Cook smiled a fake smile.

“I’ll get it, I want to help and I’m sure everything will be done by the time mama, papa, and the guests come” Clara reassured.

“Sweetheart, thank you so much while you get the turkey, I’ll cook, bake, and decorate the house “Cook explained happily.

Clara smiled as she slipped into her shoes and jacket. And out she went.

Clara stepped out of her house into the cold weather. Everyone was moving in a hurry, as she walked down the streets. Clara’s house was a bit far but not that far from the store. She walk a bit more when she came to the meat store. In the meanwhile Cook was done cooking and baking the pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, lasagna, and mashed potatoes. She was also starting to decorate the house. Hours later Clara came back with the biggest, tastiest turkey in the world. “My what a turkey “Cook cried when she saw it. She picked up the turkey and sneezed as she went to the kitchen. Clara found herself bored when a familiar voice came. “Where’s my little detective” a voice called.

“Papa!” Clara called running into her father arms.

Then she quickly walked away “Inspector Brown, can you tell me about your latest case?” She asked. Mr. Brown smiled as he looked into his daughter’s pretty blue eyes.

“Well, I was correct that the owner of new store was the culprit and solved the case. So, the mayor gave me an award from my outstanding work.” Her father explained proudly. Clara smiled and looked at her mom who was busy helping Cook with the turkey. Few minutes later the doorbell rang “Ding dong!” Clara opened the door and found an old man there “Grandpa James!” she smiled then more and more guests entered. When all the guests were in the party began. Clara and the other kids played while the grownups talked. When the dinner bell rang everyone took their seats around the long table. The smell of turkey filled the room. Oohs and ahhs were everywhere as the turkey was kept on the table. When the lights went out and there was a Crash!

When the lights were on again. The turkey was gone from the table! It was nowhere in sight. Clara jumped in for action, she got her notebook and her lucky pencil and got to work. She noticed that Aunt Mary, Grandpa James, Dad, Mom, and Cook were out of their seats. She knew her suspects and investigation began.

“Aunt Mary where were you when the light went out?” she asked 

“It was dark and Oh my terrible eyes could not see a thing I thought my glasses fell of and got out of my seat when a sort of sneezing dark creature bumped into me and I fell down. But then I remembered I was wearing contacts, so I got up when I heard a crash but just then the lights came on” Aunt Mary explained.

“I see” Clara said and moved on to Cook who was busy in the kitchen washing her hands.

“Cook who is this sandwich for?” she asked jotting everything that Aunt Mary said in her notebook.

“Oh darling, this sandwich is for me, I have this terrible allergy to turkey and oh and just the smell of turkey makes me sneeze.” she explained taking a bite of her sandwich. 

Clara quickly took a note and asked, “Where were you when the light was out?”

Cook took a moment to think before answering “I was at the kitchen of course making a jelly sandwich.” Then she sneezed.

Clara looked at her notebook and jotted this down too.

Next, she had to ask her grandfather. “Grandfather James, where were you when the lights went out?” she questioned.

Grandpa James looked up he was too busy playing patter cake with Clara’s cousin baby brother to notice she was there.

“I was scared that this cutie pie would get scared in the dark, so I stood up to find him when a person crashed into me. A sneezing person, I could make out that the person was a she but when I got up to ask the woman who she was the lights came on and she was gone. Thankfully, little Willy was safe” he explained patting little willy on the head. Clara felt something was fishy but what? She jotted some clues down and ran up to her room. Her room was the most brilliant room in the house there was bed on one side of it and a desk with her things but then there was also a bookshelf that if you pick one specific book the bookshelf will spin, and a huge library will appear. Clara quickly picked up the book and went inside the huge library she looked down at her notes and got a book on allergies and blackouts. And walked back into room with just a push, the bookshelf went back in place and the library disappeared.

Clara took a moment to read the two books when she found something useful and jotted the interesting fact down.

 Her brown hair swayed as she went to her next suspect. “Mom” she started to say, “I want to know where you were when the lights were out?” Her mother looked up at her sweet daughter before saying “Oh that, I was going to the kitchen to see if Cook was ok, but she wasn’t there and if she was it was awfully too dark to see anybody, so I went to my sister, Aunt Mary who had just fallen on the floor and I was about help her up when the lights came on.” she answered honestly. Clara jotted this down too. So, who was the culprit she thought? Her stomach rumbled, she was hungry and there was no turkey in sight she looked down at her suspect list only one suspect left Inspector Brown or as she called him Papa.

Inspector Brown very busy in his room trying to solve a case of his own. Inspector Brown’s room was the messiest room in the house. His bed was clean, but his desk and floor were a mess. Red yarn, papers, newspapers, and his clothes covered the floor his desk had even more papers, pens, and coffee mugs. No one could convince him to clean his room not even Mrs. Brown. On one side of Inspector Brown’s room was bulletin with the clues on his latest case. Today the bulletin board had only one clue. A piece of paper was pinned onto the board on it was a code for something. Clara ran into her father’s room and walked through the messy maze. She found her father looking at the paper, he would stare at it and take a note, stare at it and take note. Clara ran to her father and hugged him then walked away and stood next to him and stared at the paper too. This is what the paper said:

                      O vqfz ngx zg dttz dt qx jxqctk,&;))

Clara smiled picked up a paper off the floor took her pencil and wrote:

                                I want you to meet me at Quaver ,7:00

She handed the paper to her father. “Wow you solved it so fast how did you do it?” he asked surprised he kept the paper on a desk and faced his daughter.  As he talked his mustache moved. Clara laughed then explained “Oh papa, it is so simple it is the order of your computer keyboard. A would-be Q, B would be W, C would be E, and so on” 

Her father smiled too “Why are you here anyway?” he asked

Clara stopped laughing and asked her father her question “Where were you when the lights were out?”

Inspector Brown thought and said, “I was going to my room for a flashlight when I saw Cook or maybe your mom or your Aunt, well someone bump in your Grandfather, so I went to ask them both if they were ok but then the lights came on and the person who bumped into your grandfather disappeared.”

Clara wrote this down in her notebook too. When she knew the answer. She knew the culprit. She knew who had the turkey. She solved the case!

“I know the answer!” she cried racing to the scene of the crime, the long table. Her father ran behind her. Everyone gathered once more at the table. She told all her suspects to stand in line. And started to say “This case was difficult but simple, I asked all my suspects the same question, “Where were you when the lights went out? of course they all answered differently but one answer felt a little wrong. Can anybody make a jelly sandwich in the dark? Well Cook can” Clara pointed at Cook who was holding her stomach in pain.

 “And there was something similar in 2 of the answers someone got knocked on to the floor by a sneezing woman. And Cook told me that she was allergic to turkey and was sneezing a lot today. Plus, thanks to my personal library I know that if a person is allergic turkey, they are also likely allergic to wheat like wheat bread like the bread Cook had with jam for her sandwich.” Clara continued 

Cook blushed with embarrassment. “So, tell us Cook where is the turkey?” she asked.

Cook still in pain led everyone in the kitchen opened a cabinet and there was the turkey. Cook sneezed before saying “Good job with the test”

Clara looked shocked. This was a test? she thought.

Inspector Brown ran to his daughter “yes, this was a test to see if you are a true detective, we tested your knowledge, code cracking skills, interrogation skills and your answering skills. And you passed. By the way, the clue on the bulletin board was fake it was for testing your code cracking skills.” he said happily. Clara smiled. And what happened next as you might have guessed the family went back to the thanksgiving feast. And everything was great.

When the phone rang. Clara went to answer it, but the caller was quite after few seconds the anonymous caller whispered this “Meet me at Quaver street tomorrow 7:00 am.” Then hanged up.

Clara was surprised and excited for a new adventure was about begin…

 

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What Happened to Me?

The blazing sun shined its brilliant and annoying light at me. I twisted and turned in my covers, but the light was not going away. I sat straight up on my bed and stretched out my arms and took a good look at my room. It looked just the same as it did yesterday neat and clean.

I dragged myself to the bathroom to brush my teeth when I looked in the mirror my reflection was not there, hold on, this can’t be right maybe I’m just dreaming and this is a nightmare, or is my sleepy mind playing tricks on me? I was going to rub my eyes, but my hands looked as if they were gone. I knew they were there I could feel them of course, they were my hands. I knew something was fishy but what?

“I think I had enough of this,” I told myself and went down to eat breakfast but when I got down everybody acted as if I wasn’t there.

I walked around and tried tickling my sister, of course, she laughed but she didn’t tell me to stop. I took a minute to think when a strange thought popped into my head. I tried to push it away

“No, it can’t be, “ I told myself.

Am I……invisible?

I looked around the room and it sure looked like it and that would explain why I couldn’t see my reflection in the mirror and think of all the things I could do so my mind started trailing off imagining all the great things I could be doing right now instead of worrying. I had so many ideas that, took out my journal and wrote a few of them down. Here is what I have ….

  1. Annoy my sister with no one watching
  2. Eating all the sweets I want
  3. Missing school
  4. Stealing my dad’s credit card and getting all the stuff I want
  5. Everything…

Well, I guess some of them are a little evil but who does not want to be invisible….

That day I did everything on my list but whatever I did I felt lonely and bored. That night when  I went to bed I looked out my bedroom window, there I saw the first star of the night and made my wish, the next day morning I woke up with a huge yawn when I went to the bathroom I could see my reflection! I rushed downstairs and everyone came and hugged me, they kept asking me where have I been? and why have I been gone so long. I wanted to answer them but that was my own little secret. The big thing is I was back to my original self and I got the answer to my question, who does not want to be invisible? Me!

Wishing Star

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The Mother’s Day Gift

I looked out the window at the houses outside, spring had already started, the snow melted away leaving puddles for children to jump in. It was raining outside, I could hear the pitter-patter of rain on our house’s rooftop, slowly I changed my view, to the tiny raindrops on the window. I looked carefully as a tiny drop fell from the dark gray clouds on to my bedroom window, it slid and started to make its own path, it went zigzag and then down again without a care. The tiny droplet was now getting bigger and bigger as it bumped into other droplets, when it finally at the bottom it was as big as a button. It has been raining all of April and some of May. Just then the sun shined brighter than ever, Snowflake, my cat, jumped on my lap.

“Clara” mom called “lunch is ready”

I rushed downstairs and saw my mother serving us the delicious food she had made. I took a seat at the table and watched her every move like she was the most interesting person in the world. Snowflake kept trying to get my attention, but I was too focused on my mom. Her blue, loving eyes twinkled as she kept food on the table. Her brown hair swayed as she took her seat. She looked at me as if I was a wonder.

I took a deep breath and kept my hand in my sweater pocket. And the words spilled out of my mouth “Happy Mother’s Day” I cried then I grabbed something out of my pocket, into my hand. It was a handmade necklace I had made for my mom. I felt embarrassed, I knew the necklace was not so good, I thought she may not like it, but still I held out my hands to show it. Then something astonishing happened, my mom’s surprise face turned into a happy face. She smiled, then I did too.

I had a tiny feeling in my heart that maybe the necklace was not that bad, and maybe she liked it, but that is still a mystery…

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