‘When Time Strikes’ by Shivani S
October brings shorter days and longer nights.
Sally was coming back from her best friend’s Halloween party. The full moon had lit up her path, and she started to wish she had not missed the last bus home. Usually, Sally walked this path but not at this hour, and she was longing for the hot cocoa her mum had promised on her thirteenth birthday. Unfortunately, there was no signal but at least she could still see the time on her phone. Sally started scurrying the lonely lane to be home by seven thirty as promised to her mum but now it was almost eight o clock, and she was certain that her mum would be worrying. Scanning the streets she was very confused as this year there were no trick-or -treaters or no party goers but was thankful that at least the full moon lit her path. The sounds of dry leaves were crunching under her feet, and the wind was howling through the branches of the barren tree which reminded her of the friend who dressed up as a werewolf in the party. Walking through the lanes the wind picked up and made the leaves dance, this made Sally huddle up even more. Just like the dark night, she was dressed in dark clothes, the vampire cape was fluttering in the wind. Sally started cursing herself for not listening to her mum and not celebrating her birthday party at home with her family. She started to wonder, was having her thirteenth birthday on a Friday really that unlucky? But at least she could look forward to waking up late on the weekend. Muttering under her breath, Sally turned on the forbidden lane and remembered that her mum told her to not walk on that path on a Halloween night, but she was just desperate to get home. To amuse herself, Sally started making fun shapes in the air with her clouded breath. She kept looking at the time on her phone and clumsily dropped it and the pen gifted by her friends for her birthday just outside house, number thirteen. Angrily, she picked her phone up and saw the time, it was eight minutes past eight. As her pen was gleaming, she realised that she had not picked it up yet. She bent to pick the pen up and then.
The house seemed inhabited, it had a very Victorian ambiance to it, and things seemed all over the place. Her heart pounded, she could not believe where she was. Now it finally hit her as she realised why her mum had told her not to walk on the forbidden lane on a Halloween night. Her hands started trembling with fear and tears started rolling down her cheeks and then, out of nowhere she heard a hello which sent chills down her spine. Cautiously, Sally turned around, her entire body filled with goosebumps and there she saw a girl whose skin was as pale as the moon and had hollow eyes, she had a long skirt and puffed sleeves, with hair left open till her waist and she could not be any older than her. The girl spoke in a sing song voice which felt very eerie, “Hello my friend, Happy birthday,’’. Sally staggered back in shock wondering if the girl was a figment of imagination. “How… How did you know it is my birthday today?’’ she stammered. “It WAS mine too,’’ answered the girl. “So, you are thirteen today, just like me,’’ said the girl. Sally’s mouth fell open in shock. “Come in, sit down,’’ told the girl. “This is where I used to sit, my mother there, my father over here and my brother over here,’’ pointed out the girl. Sally could not help but follow the girl’s finger, it was like she was in a trance. She jolted in fear when she unexpectedly heard a shrieking sob. “My mother, my father, my brother. Oh, how I miss them so dearly,’’ repeated the girl through her sobs. Sally started to look around the house even more. It was filled with cobwebs and dust hung around the air and she even saw rats and mice scuttling around. “Let me free, and you will be free as well,’’ told the girl, after calming down. “What do you mean?’’ asked Sally. “You just have one hour to free us, otherwise we will be here forever, but we could play together,’’ answered the girl. “This is my favourite doll; we can play with this if you want to’’ told the girl. “No, I will free both of us,’’ replied Sally, with a hint of determination in her voice. Frantically, she started searching around the house. She was very thankful that there were only three rooms. While she was running around, Sally tripped over a pile of boxes in the living room. Rummaging through the boxes she found torn clothes, old toys, and a few books but only one caught her eye. Out of curiosity, she went to open it. The book was a blood red colour, titled “You could be next’’. Just before she opened it, Sally heard the blood-curdling cry again. “Mother, father, brother’’ repeated the girl through her sobs. “What happened to them?’’ asked Sally. The girl replied, “That horrible man brutally killed us all but alas I was held back from going with them,’’ and then she continued her high-pitched sobs. Sally opened the book, and it just so happened to turn to page thirteen. She skimmed through the page and on line thirteen it said, “Fix the memories’’. This made her wonder what that meant. As she got up, something came fluttering down. She bent to pick it up and the girl’s sobs became louder, and she started pointing to the picture and said “Mother, father, brother’’. Sally immediately knew what it was. It was the girl’s family picture in black and white, but the girl was missing from it. What else could be a memory other than a picture? Unfortunately, she could not find anything when she continued the search through the house. Sally was about to give up hope when she realised the attic still was not searched. Gathering courage, Sally finally managed to convince herself to go up the attic. Taking deep breaths, she went up the ladder. Once she was in the attic, Sally tried to reach for the lights but then it hit her, “Silly me” she thought. “This is a Victorian time house,’’. At least it was the full moon which lit up the room, through the windows and that was the only reason that the house was not plunged into darkness. As she started to look through the old, dusty boxes, she found another book which caught her eye but this time it was titled “Or maybe not...’’. Sally flicked through the book and found the missing picture of the girl. Filled with hope and a bit of self-doubt she ran down the stairs tripping over the last two steps. Gathering herself, Sally placed the girl’s picture next to her family picture and closed her eyes. She then felt herself being pushed out.
Sally felt a gush of wind behind her. The gleaming pen caught her eye, and she picked it up with relief, wondering what had just happened. What if the pen was cursed? Her phone buzzed with missed calls and notifications from her mum and dad. As she read them, on the top corner of the screen she saw the time was seven minutes past nine and sighed with relief. She just made it in time. Just then the girl whizzed past her and shouted with joy “Have a good birthday my friend!!’’. Sally sprinted the rest of the way home, her eyes blurring with tears. Seeing her mum waiting at the door she hugged her mum as tight as possible. “Are you ok?’’ asked mum. Sally just nodded “You were right all along, mum’’ she told herself and asked “Mum, can I have the hot cocoa you promised?’’. And mum replied, “Of course, my darling,’’.