Short Story

Thought I would share a little something with you all. A short story which I began as an example text for my class as school. I love what it became. I hope you enjoy it.

The land has been ravaged by disease and famine. Creatures who were once thought to be extinct or imaginary have risen from the shadows, and the humans are now the prey.

I knelt down, opened the door, and peered into the darkness. It seemed to pull my sight in, swallowing all the light. There was no sound, I could not see anything beyond the first step. Trembling I placed my good foot, slowly putting my weigh on it. It seemed solid enough, so I began to carefully make my way down the steps into the dark.

Just before my head lowered into the shadow beyond the hole, I look a final time up at the sky and see winged beast swooping low, looking for prey to catch in the fields, then with one more step I was plunged into total darkness.

The dark was like a solid thing, no light from the hole above entered this underground realm. There was no sound and no light. I began to panic, feeling as though I was drowning in black. I could hardly catch my breath and was completely disorientated. Which way was up and which down?

I took another step and carefully reached out for the support of the next stair. But it was not there. Flailing my arms like a mad octopus, I desperately tried to get my balance, but it was too late.

When I awoke there was a sharp pain in my side. I ran my fingers slowly over my body, making sure I had no other injuries, before fumbling my fingers over where the pain was. It felt sticky and wet but I could not tell how bad the wound was as darkness still lay over everything like a funeral shroud.

I began to feel a little sick!

I sat in that total darkness, feeling lonelier and more lost than I ever had before. Was this it? The end of me. Bleeding to death in this dark place.

I realised as I moved my eyes that out of the dark, I could see some faint outlines. The edges of my hand when I held it in front of my face, the toe of my Nike trainers. I turned my head and saw a small, greenish light. It looked like my glow in the dark Yoda seen from a great distance.

Mesmerised, I could not take my eyes off this miracle. It seemed to be getting closer.

I swore I could hear a voice. A high-pitched, small voice. Singing.

“The front goes forwards, then the back

The tail catches up, the feet go tippity tap.

Moving through the darkness but not always in the light

My Mummy told me I’m not very bright.”

It was then that I realised the light was much closer than I had thought…

A small caterpillar crawled across the wall I leant against. It was wearing a miniature pair if sunglasses and a bucket hat, in one arm it carried a tiny storm lantern. The front portion of its body appeared to have an extravagantly patterned, floral Hawiian shirt, four arms protruding from the sleeves. The rest of its body was a pale sickly pink colour, grossly bulbous and segmented with pairs of hairy feet gripping the rock wall. The tail of it glowed with a soft phosphorescence.

“What the…” I muttered.

“Oh. You survived the fall, did you? Trying to escape the beasts roaming the above? Well as you can see things have changed in the below as well.”