A Collection of Short Stories

Dream

Written: 8-30-21 

Belle sat on the rock next to the pond, her fingers lightly grazing the water. There weren't many fish in the pond, only two, but there were some frogs that would hop in and out of the pond at times. The pond was in her backyard along with a pool and a playhouse. She was only eight years old, so to her, these were the best things on earth.

She had been left home alone that day, despite her young age, and decided to spend time with the fish. Every day she gave them a new name, but always forgot what it was. She gasped when a frog hopped onto the rock next to her. She placed her hand out and it didn't move at all.

"Sorry, Mr. Frog. We don't have any lilypads in our pond." She said, Her head darted up when she heard the sound of scratching. She slid off the rock and headed towards the fence where she heard it. "Hello! Mimi?"

The young girl lived with her Mimi, Pappy, Mom, and little brother who was only four. Although, she looked up to Mimi and assumed it must've been her. She heard sniffing and a growl, she backed up a bit. She walked back to the pond only to see the frog was gone.

"Mr. Frog!" She called as she began to look around. "Fishy, do you know where-" She paused and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The fish were no longer in the pond. Belle stomped her foot and crossed her arms, positive someone was playing a joke on her.

She turned around, ready to run into the house and pout, but stopped. There was brown fur blocking her path and when she looked up at the being, her stomach churned. A bear stood on its hind legs staring down at the young girl. But that wasn't what scared her the most. A red substance stained its fur around his mouth and half of a fish hanging out of his mouth.

"Fishy..." The girl mumbled in despair. The bear didn't move and neither did she. Belle was too afraid to move, unsure of where she would go or if she could even outrun it. She was only eight and had no experience with wild animals, other than what she'd seen in cartoons and books. But, something told her this bear didn't wanna have a tea party.

The bear dropped down onto all fours with a loud THUMP! The girl shrieked, startled by the sudden movement. The bear began to move towards her and that was when Belle lost it. She let out a cry of fear and tried backing away. But, instead, she ended up falling into the pond. The cold water caused a shiver to go down her spine. She frantically thrashed around in a panic, only making the situation worse.

The bear was startled by the sudden movements and the loud cries that emitted from the girl's mouth. The girl crawled out of the water and ran as fast as she could. Her dress clung to her body as if it were as scared as she was. Her hair stuck to her face and water droplets fell into her eyes, causing her vision to go blurry.

She tripped over a toy that she had left out, suddenly wishing she had picked it up as her Mom told her. She snuck a peek behind her and gasped. She quickly stood up, not paying attention to the mud that was now staining her skin. All she focused on was getting away.

She saw the backyard fence ahead of her and wondered what she should do. The smart thing would be to climb the fence and get out, but she knew she wasn't allowed to climb fences. She turned to the side and ran around the side of the pool, deciding she didn't want to take the chance of getting in trouble. Because in the mind of an eight-year-old, it was worse to get in trouble. 

She ran under the pool deck and hid in the far corner. She silently hoped the bear hadn't seen her, because she was cornered. She held her breath when the bear came into view, it didn't look in her direction and instead walked straight ahead. It had calmed down and it suddenly didn't look as scary as it had before.

Although, that didn't mean the girl was going to crawl out of her hiding spot. She was going to wait there until her parents got home. Oh no, her parents... They didn't know about the bear and would most likely come looking for her in the backyard. Belle couldn't leave her hiding spot and risk getting hurt, but if her parents weren't warned they could get hurt. Belle pulled her knees up to her chest and let out a whimper. She laid her head on her knees and let the tears fall down her muddy cheeks.

Belle was torn, this was too much pressure for her. She was confused, scared, and worried all at once. This was too much for her to handle and she wished nothing more than for her to be tucked in her bed, away from all of this. That gave her an idea, she lifted her head. She put her hand on her arm and took a deep breath.

"Please work," She whispered, before pinching herself. "Ow!" She looked around and felt herself tear up again. So, it wasn't just a nightmare...

(A lot of these will probably end on cliff hangers, honestly. Because I only have a certain amount of time to write them. But, that's all I got of that story. I based it off a recurring dream I have every summer, the day before my birthday. It started when I was eight and ever since then, in the dream, I'm always eight)