6 July 2012
Chapter 3
Gasping and shivering, Rose stumbled out of the forest, fresh tears leaking out her eyes. She would never be able to find her way back home, never. She would be like the others, thought of as dead, gone, missing. Suddenly, an idea popped into Rose's head, if the others weren't dead then where were they? Rose stared at the floor, then screamed, a terrifying scream.
On the floor beside her was a cold, still, pale body. A dead body. It looked like a young girl's body, she was probably an innocent girl, who had been...murdered? Anything could have happened. Then something caught Rose's eye. Beside the body was an old, battered diary with a name scrawled on the front. It looked like the diary belonged to a girl called Mia, although Rose couldn't be sure, the writing had been smudged. The girl's name was probably Mia as well, maybe her diary had been taken of her as she was murdered. Rose sighed heavily, she knew these questions would never be answered, unless anyone was around and that's unlikely. Cautiously, Rose walked slowly forwards, reaching for the old diary with an outstretched hand. With a quick look around her, Rose snatched the diary from of the floor and
placed it in her pocket, no one would know that she took it. After all, it didn't really belong to anyone now, it was just...a diary. Rose tried very hard not to look at the body, although her eyes kept flicking from the sky to the ground, the body was just so still. Suddenly, Rose remembered why she went in the old shed, she had to find Zoe, unless...
Maybe the scream didn't belong to Zoe, it was just someone else's...Mia's? Rose suddenly remembered how tired she was, her eyes felt like they could shut at any moment, so she ran far away from the body and found a soft place to rest. She fell to the floor and within seconds, Rose was fast asleep, breathing heavily. As usual, Rose had a nightmare, although it wasn't the same one that she had at home. There was the girl in it, the dead girl. It was like being in a horror movie. Rose woke up screaming at the top of her lungs and gasping for air. The she remembered where she was and began to cry. Pear-shaped tears trickled slowly out of her eyes and then dripped of the edge of her chin. Then Rose suddenly thought of the diary in her pocket. Cautiously, Rose took the diary out of her pocket and opened it to the first page of writing. It read:
Dear Diary, today I was bullied again. They took all my stuff then punched me and kicked me, it was torture. Most people just stand there and laugh, I hate it, but there is nothing I can do. It happens every day, and when my mum questions me about all the cuts and bruises, I have to say that I slipped. Mum is beginning to think that I'm lying, I know it, she looks at me and frowns. I don't know what other stories to tell her, if I do tell her that I'm being bullied, she will interfere. Mum will go to Mrs Richardson and tell her all about it and embarrass me, people will bully me even more. I guess I will just have to deal with it.
Mia.
Rose shook her head in shame, what an awful life, being bullied every day. There was nothing Rose could do to help, Mia was dead. The wind whistled and Rose shivered, her teeth chattering. She didn't have anything to keep her warm, it was all at home, in her wardrobe. That was all she wanted, to be at home with he mum, safe and warm. Rose felt like crying again, although she bravely held back the tears that were threatening to spill out of her wide, blue eyes.
"Hello...?" came a whisper from the trees.
Rose gasped, then looked around her, shaking. Someone had gone through the old shed, maybe just to find Rose, they had put their life at risk.
"Who's there?" Rose asked, her voice shaking.
"It's me, Mia. You just...errr...read my diary" the girl answered.
"I'm sorry. I-I..though you were dead!" Rose sobbed.
"I am,"Mia said, shortly.
Suddenly, a pretty girl, with long brown hair came round the corner, her brown eyes wide with confusion. She smiled and stepped closer to Rose, who was terrified. Rose screamed and shrieked, how could a dead person be alive?
"Are you a ghost?" Rose whispered, backing away.
"No," Mia replied, concentrating on a small, blue flower.
Rose wiped the tears of her cheeks and tried to calm down, but she couldn't. Who was this girl? What was she? Rose looked at the facts. Dead but alive. Not a ghost. Normal looking. Nothing fitted in with this information, nothing at all. Mia waited patiently for more questions, she knew there would be some, it was almost unavoidable.
"What are you?" Rose questioned.
Mia was silent for a while, she continued to gaze at the flower. A blank look on her face and her eyes filled with mystery.
"I am sorry if I offended you...I just didn't know how to put it," Rose apologised.
"It's quite alright. I'm not upset. Just thinking..." Mia assured her in a dreamy voice.
This time, it was Rose's turn to wait for an answer, she didn't mind at all. It gave her time to prepare herself for what was coming next.
"This might sound a bit strange," Mia finally said, frowning.
Rose nodded and continued to wait for an explanation, she hummed tunelessly, her mind somewhere else.
"I am a kind of...memory" Mia began.
Rose bit her lip, she had not expected this.
The Old Shed • Opuss № I