Short Stories

By: Erica Finley and Hannah Evans

I sprinted out the school’s double doors happy to feel the breezy autumn air, walking down the steps toward the cracking sidewalk. I feel a set of eyes burning into me. I shrug it off knowing it’s other students. A few minutes into my walk home I feel as if I’m being followed. I decide to take the long way to my house.

I turn towards the abandoned area to see a pile of garbage and rubble near a rickety old slide of the playground that no one plays on anymore. The garbage is hit by the sun creating an unusual shine from a piece of garbage. Therefore I slowly walk towards it. I kick some trash to uncover the mysterious object, to find an old wrecked up doll. If I fix her up, Lexi can have her for her birthday. I smiled and thought to myself.

I once again continue my way home but this time without feeling watched. A breath of relief leaves my mouth without consent. I’m just a few yards away from my house. I feel something close around my finger. My eyes cautiously look down to my right hand. The doll’s hand is wrapped around my fingers. She turns her head to me.

“I’m Willow and play time will be so much fun, don’t you think?” Her necklace lights up, no, glows like nothing I’ve ever seen. Out of pure natural reaction, I toss her to the other side of the road and run my fastest pace home without looking back. I rush to the front door and slam it shut not forgetting to lock it.

I hop moving towards the kitchen while pulling my shoes off.

“MOM, DAD, LEXI, ANDREW!” I scream at the top of my lungs. Leaning over with my hands on my knees trying to catch my loss of breath. Everyone comes running in the kitchen at my calls for them.

“What is it, Ruby?” my mother had a panicky tone added to her shaky breaths.

“A doll was talking to me..and..and,ugh you won’t believe me so I’ll show you it myself.” I say hesitantly after sighing. I go to walk out but something manages to catch my eye out the window. The doll, I felt dramatized.

I pointed “LOOK! She’s here!” I screamed once again, but yet no one saw her, She’d waved to me. “You wanna go to the Loony bin?” Andrew yelled and slapped me behind the head. “Can’t you see her?” I repeated confused, “She’s next to the black cat, can’t you see her?” I looked at them, while they walked back to the television upstairs, I walked out of the house and grabbed the doll in confusion, threw it in the trash can once more. “I HATE YOU! STAY AWAY!” The neighbors looked at me like I was losing it.

“Let me guess you guys can’t see it there and think I’m going crazy, huh?!” My eyes widened. I sound like a true crazy person. “What’s happening to me?” I whisper to myself. “Are you ok?” The neighbor kid walked up to me, “It’s a doll that won’t go away” I started to cry, She looked in the trash can. “There’s no doll silly.” Her mother grabbed her and walked to her house, “Don’t play in the neighbors trash, Sally. Now come eat dinner.”

The next morning I woke up to turn over just to see the doll in the rocking chair. She had trash in her hair, “Did you try to get rid of me?” she echoed in my room with anger in her voice, “Before playtime began?” My eyes widen in fear, looking around to see the black cat entering through my window. “I-I wasn’t try-ying to get rid-d of yo-ou?” I stuttered out more as a question than a statement. I stared directly at her, petrified, trying to calm her down, not wanting to anger her even more. I took a deep breath and calmed down, the doll spoke with such cruelty in her voice, lacing every little bit of her now calmed anger in every word making me gulp and a cold shiver run down my spine. “Nothing you will ever do will keep me away from our playtime except if I do something.” Then the doll turned her head to the girl in bed, “Shall we start playing now?”

“Sur- Sure!” I said once more, after breakfast I got up and threw her out the window shutting and locking it, Her arm broke off. A small sigh of relief comes out of my mouth, turning around it was there on the rocking chair again, I almost jumped out of my skin. “You dont wanna play nice? Neither will I.” She sounded like the devil, then the room caught on fire while the doors and window locked once more, not letting me out. I screamed “MOM DAD, HELP!!!” I cried with blood oozing everywhere as the fire bit my skin like burnt marshmallows, seeing all Willows victims’ memories and pain of when they burned to death flash before my eyes before my life was taken from me.

The next day, the doll laid in the ashes untouched next to the sleeping black cat by the lastest victim’s house, the girl from next door picked it up. “Hello, My name is Willow” the girl giggled and went on, “My name is Sally!” the girl respawned. As the girl walks towards her home the doll silently whispers “I will always come back.”