This was my submission for the 2014 SLQ Young Writers Award. Its a bit dark and chilly. No I didn't win but I still love this piece of work. Anyway enjoy.
The mind is a terrible place. It makes confusion logical, it makes logic impractically, and it allows us to invent and create and the most dangerous part of the mind? Our imagination. For our imagination mixes reality with fantasy and when you've been caught in the minds web it’s impossible to distinguish the two and from there the mind can harm and kill. So the mind is a terrible place. For it taunts and tease, destroys and crushes all those dreams.
You saw the exit sign shining brightly at the end of the tunnel your freedom from the horrors. You saw it bright and alive yet as you ran towards it, the light began to flicker and with each step it seemed to match your racing heartbeat. The question popped into your head was it really there or was it a lie, was it really the way out? Stopping halfway from the darkness, halfway to the light, your eyes scanned the walls and floor around, where was that damn doll? A simple ugly terrifying doll would only smile if it was a trap and frown when it knew it was safe. There was no doll. You began to walk carefully forward this had to be the way out it just had to. The closer you got to the light the more and more you felt confident it was the one.
Then the humming started. Soft at first that it could have been the wind but it picked up volume and with it words began to form. “Dolly, dolly where have you gone? Dolly, dolly are you high or are you low? Oh dolly, dolly where have you gone?” the child’s voice sung.
Terror raced through you like no other and frantically like a scared child you began searching the tunnel looking for a place to hide, there was none. You could run, run for the light and hope that the child was behind you. So running and jumping over rocks ignoring the caution practiced moments before you concentrated on that pure white light. Slowly something rose. A black shadow began to form creeping up from a blob of black to the shape of something else. Five feet away you stumbled. Your body stopped in mid run and tried to run backwards instead. It resulted with you falling down, sitting up looking at the outline of a child.
“Have you seen my dolly?” the voice a child but twisted. Twisted so badly you muffled a scream. Scrambling backwards panting and muttering words over and over.
“Don’t run away. I only want to play.” The child said and there was a thump as it jumped down from the opening onto a rock. “You’re my special friend. Come back and play.” The voice was getting irritated growing in impatience the anger showing. You didn't stop scrambling back but stood up and ran into the black dark pit you’d just come from. Anywhere but where the child was.
“You can run, but you can’t hide,” the child sung in such an innocent way it made your spine tingle. Then a scream so high pitched your blood stopped dead. Face paling not daring to look back. “I’ll find you,” the walls whispered around you. “You can’t escape from me.” The voice was evil. It made your throat close up and you stumbled from the lack of breath.
There was a cool touch of a hand on your leg and screaming you jumped away batting at where the pressure had been.
“Leave me alone!” you screamed but the sound only echoing off the dark walls it sounded foreign. Hot tears dripped down your face and when you looked around and saw the light was lost you fell to your knees. Had it been real or not you’d lost it and you were crushed. For now again you was surrounded by pitch black and the terror it held with no escape. You thought about closing your eyes but remembered the time before when you’d done that. Just closed them to not see the world around but to escape the monsters and when you’d opened them the child had been there. Deep dark eyes. A bloody mouth and a pale white face. It clutched the ugly doll staring at you head titled to one side. A second after your eyes had been opened it had roared so furiously that you’d jumped, your head smacking against the rock wall. It placed its cool hand upon your cheek and began to hum no words just the humming. You shook the chilling memory from your mind pushing it down among the others. As you sat on the cold hard ground you felt your body collapsing with fatigue. You’d fought sleep off for so long that it was inevitable you’d pass out. Praying for the damned child to leave you be for just a few hours you let yourself drift off.
This afternoon had never seemed so peaceful and perfect you thought as you continued to drive down the road. The sky was littered with puffy white clouds across the purest blue you've ever seen. Picture perfect you thought wishing you could stop to take a picture. But there was an urgency in your mind reminding you that you were driving somewhere important. Yet you didn't’ remember it at all it was if you’d forgotten completely. Still you had somewhere to be and couldn't stop for a silly picture you’d recall why you were in a rush soon enough. Turning your attention back to the road you kept driving your favorite song came on the radio and you cranked the volume up quite high, the music wouldn't bother anyone the road was deserted you thought and began to sing along. As you bobbed your head enjoying the beat you reached for your water bottle and knocked it over clumsily and it rolled away to the other side of the car. Cursing the water bottle you leaned over struggling to grab the bottle, but it kept slipping from your fingers and for a split moment you thought screw the bottle but you were so damn close only a bit more till you reached it, so you kept at it. Then suddenly you remembered that you were driving and that you weren't looking where you were going. You ripped your gaze up fast to the road.
The body smashed into the windshield cracking it and it spun up and over the car flying behind it as you slammed the brakes. You could see red, hair and fabric stuck to the broken glass. The wheels locked and the car was moving too fast, scared your hands ripped the wheel to the left and suddenly the car was rolling just like a crazy fair ride. The seat-belt held your body as it was pushed forward and backward uncontrollably, your head was shaken like a toy and it smashed into the headrest and came inches to hitting the steering wheel. Suddenly the crazy ride stopped. You tried to move and you felt pain all over. Looking around you could see broken glass and you realized you were hanging upside down and far back on the road you could barely see a shape of a small child laying still on the blacktop. You reached painfully for your seat-belt and unlocked it, unprepared you fell hard to the ground and cried out as pain ripped through your body. You tried to move to the child your face stinging with tears praying that the shape would move but a horrible voice told you otherwise. After multiple attempts you realized you weren't moving anywhere and you could feel yourself losing conscious. Sleep swallowed you up and the last thing you saw was the still body of the child.
You woke shivering with fear and drenched in a cold sweat. There was no sign of the child and you sighed yet the horror racing through you didn't stop. The dream seemed much more than a dream you thought, as if it was déjà vu. But how could it be déjà vu you have never been in an accident. The darkness around you was eerily quiet and suddenly the nightmare you had before was nothing compared to the fear that was growing inside of you now. Then you heard a whispering echoing off the walls. Cringing you shut your eyes tight and waited yet nothing happened and all you heard was the faint whispering voice. Slowly you made your way towards it.
“Don’t play in the road Cathy,” the child whispered. Yet it wasn't the child that had haunted you and terrorized you before.
“That’s what Mother said. A road is no place for a little girl. Why’d you have to run out there?” the child asked no one in particular. You turned the corner and saw a little girl sitting on the ground clutching a pretty little doll with red hair and button eyes. The little girl wore a white dress her brown hair pulled into pigtails.
“What are you doing here?” you asked the child. She jumped and turned quickly her eyes wide like a scared fawn.
“I’m lost. I went into the road….and now I’m lost,” she whispered. “Can you help me get back home?” You nodded and held out your hand to the small child.
“Of course I will. What’s your name?” you asked.
“Charlotte. This is Cathy,” she said holding up her doll.
“Don’t worry Charlotte I’ll get you home.” You smiled happily and led her away.
You searched with Charlotte for any way out but found none. To your relief the monster of a child never reappeared and you found yourself feeling calm. The calmer you felt the more hope you felt you’d find a way out.
“All I remember is black,” Charlotte whispered to Cathy. She did that a lot talking to the doll more then you.
“Have you flown Cathy? It’s the most wonderful feeling ever. I felt free and happy.” You looked up, the more you overheard of the one sided conversations the more worried you became. Charlotte spoke of a lot about unsettling topics. Playing in a road, flying, feeling nothing but emptiness. But you pushed the thoughts away you shouldn't get upset you thought it might bring back the nightmares.
It happened suddenly you had woken up to blood curdling scream. Charlotte! You thought and looked frantically around. As you spun your head to the left you didn't see the endless darkness you had before instead you saw Charlotte. A pale face, endless dark eyes and a bloody mouth.
“No,” you whispered your voice a hoarse gasp. “Please no.”
“Where is my Mother!” she screamed. “You promised to take me home!” You ran faster than you had before. Lungs burning you raced on your eyes searching for freedom. Your fear grew more and more when you didn't hear the child it could be anywhere. Then the light hit you the exit sign shining bright you dashed for it. You didn't care anymore you needed out of the hell you were trapped in. Then like a flash the child stood there. Its eyes drilling holes into your body.
“You can run,” it whispered. “You can’t hide.” It reached out for you and you shoved the child to the side sprinting past. You ran straight into the opening under the exit sign.
Antiseptic cleaning products and the smell of latex gloves smashed into your senses. You could hear machines beeping. Your throat felt dry and rough and when you tried to speak you couldn't get a word out. Sunlight filled the room and you sighed grateful. You were free of the hell, it had just been a really bad dream. Then the humming started.
“Dolly, dolly where have you gone? Dolly, dolly are you high or are you low? Oh dolly, dolly where have you gone?” If you could have you would have run or cried out but you were trapped again. You looked around the room and saw the child sitting in a chair legs crossed looking at her hands sadly. But she wasn't pale at all, her mouth wasn't bloody and she looked like a normal healthy child. You’re racing heart calmed.
“Charlotte?” you croaked out. The child looked up her eyes were normal. But what was Charlotte doing here? She stood up and walked over to the bed.
“You can run,” she whispered. “You can’t hide.” You screamed as the body of the girl shook and suddenly the monster was there stroking your cheek. You cried without a sound how badly you wanted out of this hell.
A man came out of the room clip board in hand and turned to see a young women. He shook his head sadly.
“There hasn't been much change. Stable no health issues but no signs of gaining consciousness.
“How long will this last doctor?” the woman asked wringing her hands.
“It’s impossible to tell, comas in most cases are the body of the patient’s way of coping with intense situations. Since the injuries where non-fatal it’s safe to assume the coma is mentally induced. But there isn't much we can do.” The woman nodded sadly and smiled softly as the doctor moved away to another room.
“Charlotte come on now dear lets go get some food darling,” the women said and held out her hand as the child ran up and grabbed it.
“I left dolly in the room. She said she’d keep an eye out for monsters,” Charlotte said smiling.
“That’s so nice sweetie. How’s your arm?”
“It feels sore mommy. But look the nurse helped me put stickers all over it,” she stated and showed the cast. As they left the building a man rustled a newspaper as he turned the pages. Across the front page the headline read, Near Fatal Car Crash Leaves Driver in Coma and Young Child a Miracle Survivor.
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