A story I wrote for a writing competition in school (that I have happened to have won!) a while back. In celebration of the first papers of the Junior Cert, English paper 1 and 2, being given out this time next week, here's Trapped.
With every footstep came a crunch
of dead leaves, and with every breath a puff of white air. Ellie looked up and
noticed the maze walls climbed exceedingly tall, and she had never felt more trapped
in her entire life.
Dead end after dead end, the girl
was grateful it was morning; the night darkness would have heightened her anxiety.
The sky was cloudy, but bright, illuminating the fern green hedges of the
labyrinth and the earthen floor. Her arms were folded from the icy breeze and
she was inhaling the fresh crisp air continuously. She had no knowledge of
where she was, or why she was there.
A flash of white caught Ellie’s
sharp eye. A spontaneous rose grew suavely out of the leaves. There the
branches were thin, and she detected a hint of brown hiding behind the hedge.
Ellie let out a laugh, and frantically began to pull and push the leaves away.
A pseudo-medieval door was embedded in the hedge. A door,
an escape route! Ellie thought.
She quickly pushed the door open,
only to find not the outside world, but a circular enclosure of white rose
hedges, empty apart from an identical door on the other side, and what seemed
to be a person with her back to Ellie.
Ellie staggered into the room, though
she did not wish to. It was as if a force dragged her in, her shivering feet
reluctantly moved forward. The door slammed behind her, and because that slam
was the first real sound Ellie heard in the maze, she squealed and rubbed her
ears. The squeal startled the person in front of her.
The person had an auburn ponytail
and a slender neck, and wore a black jacket, black trousers and black runners;
she was exactly like Ellie. The person gradually turned around, right foot
first, then left, and she stood opposite Ellie with her head hanging.
There was a brief moment of utter
silence, until Ellie tiptoed up closer to the person. Before Ellie could say
“hello”, the head tilted up. Ellie saw her own face, dotted with freckles, and
the lips were pale, the nose petite, but, the eyes were different. Ellie was
looking at herself, but the eyes were just black. They were each an endless
dark hole.
Ellie screamed.
She tripped backwards from the
shock and thumped her head into the door. Simultaneously, the ‘thing’ faltered,
and also thumped its head. When Ellie’s hand shot up to stroke the back of her
head, so did the ‘thing’, the creature’s hand. It was her mirror image, Ellie
then realised.
For a slight instant the two stared
at each other, then out of discomfort Ellie jumped up. The creature jumped up.
Ellie’s head rang from the bang on the door as she once again paced slowly towards
the creature. The creature imitated her movement precisely. Ellie tried to lock
a gaze with her strange image, but Ellie’s eyes flickered down when she saw the
gloomy black eyes. She looked up again; a word, written in black marker, suddenly
appeared on the creature’s forehead. The word was ‘FEAR’.
“Fear,” Ellie whispered.
Ellie had lifted her right foot
when it hit some sort of invisible shield.
She placed her hands up against the
invisible barrier, which was like ice cold glass. She pushed it, and kicked it,
and punched it with all her strength. Now, the creature did not copy her. Ellie huffed and gritted her teeth. The
barrier circled her tightly; she could not advance in any direction. Ellie felt
more trapped than she felt in the maze.
Ellie yelled until her voice grew
hoarse, and pounded at the invisible cage until her fists grew red. Once she
stopped, she looked at the still creature once again. Now the forehead read
‘ANGER’.
“Anger,” Ellie exhaled, breathless
from her rage.
She glanced behind her to observe
the door she went through initially, but it was gone. Ellie slumped, as much as
she could slump in the confined space. A tear flowed slowly down one cheek.
Once more, she raised her eyes to view the motionless, expressionless,
extraordinary creature.
‘SADNESS’ was now written on the
forehead. The black-eyed creature gawked at Ellie. At long last, she moved. She
moved her arms up, pulled up the sleeves of the jacket to reveal more words
written on them in marker; ‘anxiety’, ‘hopelessness’, ‘helplessness’,
‘worthlessness’, ‘anger’, ‘fear’, ‘loneliness’.
Ellie burst the bubble of questions
that was packed in her brain.
“What are you?”
The creature remained silent.
“Where am I?
Silence.
“What do you want with me? Why am I
here? Why am I trapped? What are the words for?” her croaky voice sped up,
single tears turned into a sea of tears crashing down her cheeks, “say
something! Anything…” Her voice died down, and Ellie buried her face in her
hands. The following quietness was deafening to Ellie.
“Be happy.”
“What?!” Ellie snapped as her head
jerked back up.
“Be happy.” The creature’s eyes
were deathly and she was frowning as she pointed at the words on her arms, “these
feelings hurt you. To not feel anxiety, sadness, loneliness, you must eliminate
them, and be happy…” Her voice was monotonous, exasperating to Ellie. Why
wasn’t the creature answering Ellie’s questions?
“Stop! I’m really confused right
now, and I don’t know how on earth I could be happy, or how I could ‘eliminate’
my sadness…” Rain began to drizzle down, droplets formed on the clear wall
around Ellie. She sobbed.
“Fine, let’s simplify it for you. Calm
down, first,” the creature whispered as she stepped closer to Ellie, “breathe
in and out until your pulse slows down and close your eyes.” Her tone was less
droning now, in fact the voice sounded, to some extent, like Ellie’s mother.
Ellie believed the creature was
crazy from its behaviour, but did what she said.
“Now, think happy thoughts.”
“You have got to be kidding me…”
Ellie mumbled to herself, or so she thought.
“No, I am not kidding you.” The
creature’s face was still lacking expression.
“That is the vaguest instruction I
have ever heard,” Ellie said as she rolled her eyes to heaven.
“Being rude won’t help,” the
creature remarked swiftly, “I am trying to help you escape,” Ellie’s eyes
darted up to the creature, “think about the last time you laughed.”
This is ridiculous, Ellie thought, fed up. However, she made an attempt.
She stood up straight, and dreamed.
She dreamed of the moment she slipped in the mud during P.E. in school, and
laughed with her friends about it. My
friends. Ellie dreamed of the time herself and her family watched and
laughed at ‘The Simpsons’ together one evening. My family…
“You’re not alone Ellie,” the
creature said, interrupting Ellie’s thoughts. But what did she mean? Ellie was
obviously alone right now, the only company she had was a black eyed clone of
herself. Although, now, her eyes were brightening up, as if they were windows
being cleaned from the inside.
“You’re not alone Ellie. You have
yourself too.” The creature paused, “you can escape from this. When you feel
sad, you must teach your mind to remind yourself of the life you have, a life
that you should you cherish, and of how brilliant a person you are.” The
creature’s voice was now laden with emotion and she gave a knowing smirk, “when
you feel trapped and have nowhere to turn to, all you need is…”
At that moment the clear wall
vanished, the rain drops splattered Ellie’s face, and abruptly she felt arms
wrap around her, warmness from another body. Ellie smiled. The creature had
hugged her.
The pair let go, and Ellie saw no
words written on the creature’s arms or forehead, and the dark eyes ceased to
exist. The eyes were as they were supposed to be; a greyish blue. It was no
longer a creature, just Ellie’s reflection.
“…Reassurance;” Ellie’s image
completed her sentence softly, “everything is okay. You will be okay. Ultimately,
what makes you happy is reassurance. Not reassurance from others, but from
yourself.” The reflection began to fade.
Shortly, the only thing that stood
in front of Ellie was the other door. She did not rush to open the door, but
took a deep breath and slowly, and steadily walked up and turned the knob...
I hope you enjoyed!
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