strangeday

The last of all my sanity exploded, as the silence became unbearable. Next thing I knew, I was stumbling awkwardly, earning myself bruised and scraped skin, as I dashed around tree trunks that suddenly seemed to be as tall as the sky.  Abruptly I pushed through the last of the dense forest, into broad sunlight and heat. There right in front of me, was a coastline. Even though I was supposed to be living 100 miles away from the sea. A problem, I was home sick. I wish I hadn’t had that argument with my sweet mother, all about dressing up to meet her cousins. Now that I looked back, it was silly that I over-exaggerated when she combed my mud-brown, scruffy hair, and washed the dry dirt off my frowning face. She had commented, “Wow! Don’t you look hansom Peter!” But that had done it. I had stormed out into the quiet, eerie woods. Suddenly, my thoughts vanished. Something had caught my eye, on the strange beach.  A shimmering light was escaping a murky cave on the far side of the coastline, next to where the forest yet again covered the land. It was beginning to get dark, but the light just shinned brighter, as my conscience pulled me closer to it. The cave began to engross me as I stumbled further and further into it. And there it was, I felt a wave of disappointment, just an old decaying box, though that feeling soon vanished as I remembered the reason I was in the chamber.  A light as bright as the sun itself, was bursting out of the cracks in the rusty box. Hesitantly, I crept forward. Something in my mind didn’t feel right. A box most likely hundreds of years old, in a cave, on a beach, that shouldn’t even exist! Why should a disturb it? But I ignored my cautious mind, I was curious.  I knelt down on the sand covered floor, surprisingly lifting the box with ease. 3 stones were settled inside it. Each one shining a unique colour. I couldn’t tell if it was gravity or my mind, but something pulled me toward the third stone. While something came over my mind, it could no longer control my feet. As I picked up the indigo coloured rock, a bright light flashed in my eyes.  “WHOAH!” I gasped. I was back in my room. I looked at the clock. 7:30am on the 13th of July… yesterday. “Phew!” It must have all been a dream. Right there though, on my duchess, was the third stone. I climbed out of bed awkwardly, my morning hair sticking up on end. A high pitched scream echoed from downstairs. I shoved the stone in my pocket, and raced down. My seven year old sister Alice (three years younger than me) was arguing with my mum. “I can’t find it mum!” She cried, “I’ve searched everywhere! She’s vanished. My Barbie doll has vanished!” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">“It will turn up somewhere.” Mum sighed. I could tell she was bored with the conversation. She gazed out the weather-beaten window, to the angry morning sky. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">If only I had known it then, that the mysterious, unfortunate events had just begun. The last few weeks had been chaotic. Everyone was in a sour mood. First up, my sister Alice’s doll had disappeared. This came as a surprise because she never left it alone for over a minute. Days later our beloved dog Max ran away. He had finally turned up (thanks to the neighbour next door), but was scruffy and languid. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Now mother was in hospital with a heart problem. She was going to be fine, but not for a long time. We had visited her in hospital and her usual cherry red cheeks were as pale as freshly fallen snow. All of this left dad in charge. “Oh great! Burnt patties every night!” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">But the weirdest of all, was the third stone that I had chosen kept appearing beside me. For instance, I had the stone at home when I went to school. Yet, while writing my novel, it had appeared right beside me. It had kept following me since. With no logical explanation. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">It occurred to me late one late afternoon, after I lost my favourite book, that the stone was to blame. I knew it sounded silly, but how else could I explain all of the mishaps that had happened after I had discovered the rock? Our family were disorganised, but we never lost so many things ever! Especially not in that short amount of time. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">I finally persuaded my dad to allow me to walk down to the river. His only condition was that I take Alice. I told her we were going to play a game of skipping stones. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">“Yay!” She cried, “Pretty stones skip on water!” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">I stumbled down to the waters edge. It was 5:30pm, and beginning to get dark. I slowly pulled the stone out of my pocket. I threw it with all my might, but the third stone came skipping back, by itself. Again, and again, and again. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> “That’s it!” I screamed. Alice looked at me with a bewildered face. That had proved it. The stone was to blame, it was the problem. It needed to go! Now! <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Steadily, the next day I re- traced my steps through the thick woods. I broke through, back to the mysterious beach. The cave was as murky as ever as I stumbled through to find the magic box. I had expected it to be buried back in the white sand. There it was though. As I placed the dangerous rock into its holder a deep angry groan escaped through the cracks of the only thing that could ever conceal the third stone.