Misfortune                             

               

As she peered further, all that was seen was pure darkness. It was freezing. The wind howled and growled like a hungry beast. There was nothing else.  Skye tried walking further to see if there was still just something. Even a small house would make her feel relieved, but there was nothing. Her feeling of optimism faded away. At that moment, something caught her eye. She rubbed her eyes just to make sure she was not imagining.

It was a house with a tower that was in a peculiar shape.  Shattered glass left scattered on the floor. Vicious vines twisted round the house. Boards of broken wood, crumbling apart. It certainly did not look inviting. Before she could decide what to do, her feet dragged her towards the building. Inside, it was worse.

Cobwebs that were thick as a mattress were every nook and cranny. A stench of damp roaming inside the house. She kept on walking very slowly.

“Skye” whispered an eerie voice

 She froze. Was there someone following her. Skye heard her name being whispered. She scanned her eyes round the house. Nothing. It was just the frosty air hissing and slithering in and out the windows, like a snake.  She might have thought that sounded like her name. Skye kept on walking, when suddenly, the wood beneath her cracked and she fell.

 With a thump, she landed on her back with dust sitting on top of her. Lucy coughed and finally managed to get to her feet. She glanced round and saw nothing, so she decided to walk a bit further. Skye looked up and spotted a door. She nervously began to approach it. Just as she was about to open the door, her hand instantly stopped. Was it going to be okay if she opened the door? Her heat pounded and her hands shook, but since her curiosity was so intense and strong, she had to see what was in there. And so, she swung open the door and looked what was inside.

Nothing. Just cobwebs and dust. A feeling of disappointment, along with relief came to her. Just as she was about to turn back her eye was caught by something. In the corner there was a huge dusty coffin, but inside it was something. She crept towards it slowly but silently.  She took off the blanket and she was speechless.

The colour drained out of her face. Her blood froze. Her chest was tightened. She could not even breathe. Her body was shaking. It was a dead corpse of a girl which sprang right at her and caught her by the shoulder.

“Skye,” the corpse breathed.

By chance, Skye caught a glimpse of her face which was mouldy, her eyes had disintegrated, but they were full of blood and her nails were sharp as fangs. She was so panic-stricken and horrified that she shrieked, and everything went black.

Skye woke up with a jagged scream. She was choking and gasping nonstop. Sweat was trickling down from her forehead. She scanned her eyes round her room and saw there was no one. It was just a dreadful nightmare.  From downstairs she could hear her mom charging upstairs and entering her room.

“Are you alright Skye?” her mom asked. “Fine,” she replied, “why are you asking?” Skye asked.

 “I heard you scream,” her mom answered.

“Me, no I wasn’t screaming at all,” She lied.

“Are you sure?” her mom asked with a bit of suspicion.

“Yes ma, you can go now” she said, softly not wanting to hurt her mom. And, so she left her room. Skye was perplexed. Why would she dream of such a thing? She had been dreaming this every day. What would this dream mean? Questions were whizzing round her head. Other than that, she had to get a move on.

It was already 7:30am and it was a school day. She shot up from her bed and rushed to the bathroom to get ready. She got out the bathroom and checked the clock. There was only 15 minutes to go till school started. She only manged to take a bite of her toast and raced to school. By the time she was inside the building, she could see her form teacher, Miss Skorabogatoga waiting for her with her arms folded and face red as a tomato. She was a Russian and could not speak English properly. Skye always thought about how she became a teacher. No one could even understand her.

“Sorry I’m late Miss,” she said in a weary voice.

“Always the same thing, is it not Ski?” she shouted

“It’s Skye, she said rolling her eyes” “And yes, I’m sorry, Skroggy.” She grumbled

“How dare you!” she bellowed.

 “You will receive a half an hour detention and an extra 15 minutes for insulting me,” she said enunciating her Russian accent.

Skye walked away muttering swear words under her breath.

“Russian pest” she grunted

5 hours had passed, and it was time to go home. The school day went well, until the school bully Cassy tripped her over, but there was still more.  She had to do the 45 minutes of detention she was given. She walked towards the detention room and saw Cassy and her other friends looking at her.

“Having fun, are you?” she smirked.

And the rest of her little gang were roaring with laughter.

“Shut up!” Skye said being a little irritated.

She pushed them out of the way and walked away. They had been annoying her since the start of Year6. Cassy and Skye used to be best friends but as Skye really had not that much family, she started to not talk to her and started bullying her. Just as she was about to enter the room, she saw a ghostly figure. It was the corpse she saw in a dream. Skye dashed up the stairs and entered the room. The old lady, who oversaw the detentions, was sitting on the chair asleep. Skye cleared her throat. The lady woke up and smiled at her.

“H Skye, what did you do wrong?” she asked

“I was late, and I said my teachers name wrong” she sighed.

The Ms Blueberry burst out laughing. Tears were streaming down her eyes.

“Is that why you have got a 45 minutes detention? “Because that’s just stupid.” she chuckled

“Yes!” Skye replied grumpily.

“In that case you can have a good old chat with me for 30 minutes, with a cup of hot tea” she spoke.

 “Oh, Thanks Ms Blueberry!” She replied softly.

“But you will still have to write a small apology because I have to give her something.” She added.

 “I’m happy with that” Skye responded.

And so, Skye finished the apology, the tea and the wonderful time she spent with the Ms Blueberry, the happy old lady.

When she was finished, she made her way out and headed home.

 It would take her 35 minutes to walk home, but she didn’t mind it. Skye was used to it. She had been walking home since Year 6.  It had been 3 years that she was walking by herself. Skye wouldn’t look anywhere else. She would just keep walking and walking. Wouldn’t even smile to anyone on the street. This was happening ever since her sister had passed away, though she would never talk about her. It made her too upset. She would end up crying for hours and hours constantly. After her sister died, her dad fell ill and died. He couldn’t bear the loss of a daughter. Two losses in the same month was too much for Skye and her mom to endure. That was just 3 years ago. But still, life had to go on. She turned around to an alley full of rubbish. She took a new route home this time. She looked up and It looked familiar as if it was from somewhere, she had been. Her skin turned white and pale. Goosebumps began to form. She knew where this came from. It was from the dream.

Without even looking back, she abruptly turned back, running as fast as her legs could take her. By the time she reached home, she was out of breath. Her throat was dry and felt as if there was a spike lodged in her throat. Skye quickly ran to the kitchen tap and took a big gulp of water and finally managed to catch her breath. She was traumatized. The same tower in the same dream. How was this possible? She went upstairs to her room, closed the door and had some silence to think. Still, she couldn’t think of any other way. Hours and hours of thinking made her drowsy and she finally fell asleep.

 She woke up with cold sweat and an agonizing headache every day. She had been dreaming the same dream on with all the trauma and screaming. She checked her clock and saw that it was 07:30. She shot up from her bed and ran to the bathroom to get ready. Skye only managed to take a spoonful of her cereal and sprinted as fast as she could to school. She would always run half the journey to school and the other half just fast walking. She would never walk at a normal pace. There wasn’t enough time. Her face would always be looking down when she walked, unless if she would cross the road. But this time she had an odd feeling something was near. She looked forward and saw the corpse again. It was standing still just glaring at her, in the middle of the road. Skye whimpered a bit. She fastened up her pace. This time she managed to reach school early. At lunchtime, she would sit by herself in a corner and eat her lunch without speaking to anyone. She looked up and saw what was heading towards her. It was that spiteful girl Cassy and her group of friends.

“What is that piece of trash doing here?” Cassy said in a disgusted voice.

“Probably shouldn’t be here, she should be in a rubbish truck.” Said Lucy- Cassy’s BFF.

They all were howling with laughter. Skye was outraged. It was the last straw. She wasn’t going to stay silent any longer. She had to say something.

“I have enough of you little piece of plastic!” Skye shouted.

“Aww!” “Little girl angry” she said in a baby voice.

Skye was so angry that she kicked Cassy so hard, that she toppled over her friends.

“You could just leave me alone. I hate it when you laugh at me and you always make fun of me. I don’t want to hit anyone, but you just asked for it” she yelled.

 She then stomped away with her lunch, when she heard Cassy say

 “Wait!” she said. “Come back here” Cassy shouted.

Skye unwillingly turned back and went to see what she would say.

“I’ve been mean to you and I’m sorry” Cassy said in a very low voice.

Skye raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll make a deal with you I’ll never be mean to you and you never be mean to me.” She stated.

“Deal?” she said putting forward her hand.

“Fine then, I’m sorry I kicked you” she sighed and gave her a handshake.

 They both smiled and walked away. At least now, no one would bully her.  She sat somewhere else and ate her lunch in peace. Skye looked up again and saw the corpse again. It was standing in the middle of the playground. Skye realised that it was only herself who could see the corpse. That was when she realised that this ghost meant something to her. The day had gone quickly, and it was already time to go home.

She began her journey home and this time she took the same route home she took the other day. Skye sensed that the tower was a message to her about something. Whatever the danger was, she had to see what it really meant.

She took a turn into the alley full of rubbish. She looked up and spotted the house in an odd shape. It looked like the exact one in the dream with vines twisting round. She stood near the door and her feet hauled her towards the house. Skye entered the house and tiptoed inside. She heard a whisper of her name, but she didn’t stop. She had to go into the room where she found the corpse. Creak! The wood beneath her shattered and she fell in. Dust had covered Skye like a blanket. She got to her feet and approached the room. She took a deep breath and swung the door open. Skye ambled towards the coffin very slowly. Before she took of the white sheet, she stopped. She thought about what the corpse meant. Was it worth taking the risk? There was no turning back now. She had to see what the dream meant. She uncovered what was underneath and was in for a surprise. The body wasn’t a corpse anymore. It was a beautiful spirit.  She had skin that was smooth and clean. Her blonde hair was silky and smooth. Her jet blue eyes were the same as Skye’s. The spirit raised into the air and smiled at Skye. Tears of joy were forming in her eyes. It was her.

“Jasmine!” her voice quivering. “Is it really you?” she asked.

The spirit said nothing but nodded her head. Skye hugged Jasmine ever so tightly. Tears were gushing down her cheeks like a waterfall. She looked up at her and smiled.  Jasmine smiled back. Out of nowhere, a trail of mist surrounded Jasmine like a blanket, and she faded away.

 Skye fell to her knees. She let out a horrible moan. She couldn’t bear the idea of seeing her sister come and go. Skye couldn’t live like this. There was no point of living an unhappy life. A few moments later, she spotted something in the corner which glinted. She instantly ran towards it, brushed away the dust and saw what was underneath. It was a sharp dagger. She took it in her hands and pushed it inside her chest and for once and for all, everything went black.