16 GRIM TALES

The Abandoned Orphanage

The Abandoned Orphanage

It was dark. It was cold. It was dusty. Harry, Henry, Rosy, Victoria and myself took shelter in an abandoned building only to discover it used to be an old orphanage. "Once upon a time I can't remember. There was an orphanage. In that particular orphanage they used to be a nanny named Miss Cherry. Miss Cherry was the sweetest nanny in the entire orphanage and took care of the kids like they were her very own. One day robbers attacked the orphanage but luckily the cops weren't too far away so nobody got hurt. All the kids were fine. All the nannies were fine except Miss Cherry was gone! They searched every room in the orphanage but never found her."

They put up missing posters but nobody claimed anything. The robbers weren't armed, no guns, no nothing so they couldn't have killed her. The next few days that followed the other nannies claimed to have heard moaning sounds around the orphanage but they couldn't find where it was coming from. Then one morning when they woke up nanny Tracy was gone. Some say she was so spooked she left that night when all were asleep. Then one by one the kids started to vanish without a clue. The nannies were ready to relocate. All the arrangements had been made and when the next day arrived, the busses came to pick all of them up but no one was there when the bus driver entered. It was completely abandoned. It was probably about 40 people who just disappeared. After that nobody bothered about this place. Nobody cared about all of this." Harry explained. "And we're in that same building right now?" asked Henry. "I think so." Rosy answered. "Well, it beats the storm outside so I guess it's okay for now." Victoria announced.

But on the other hand, I wasn't so sure about staying at some creepy orphanage. "Maybe we should lea-" but before I could even complete my sentence they were off exploring. "This is a bad idea." I mumbled.

I ran into a room luckily Rosy and Victoria were there. Worn-out shelves and books lied everywhere. The ceiling dripped with water and the room smelt like fungus. It appeared to be a small destroyed library. "This place is scary." announced Rosy. "Very." agreed Victoria. We looked around and found a big book of fairy tales. I opened it and turned to the first page to see this. "Miss Cherry's story book." scribbled in children's handwriting. Suddenly we heard faint voices of children. "Read another story Miss Cherry." The ground began to shake and hands unexpectedly broke through like zombies. They looked like kids' mucky arms that tried to grab our legs. I ran out the door as fast as I could. When I looked behind me into the room, I saw Victoria and Rosy caught by their feet, unable to move another inch. The door suddenly slammed behind me. I tried to open it again. I tried to break it open but nothing seemed to work.

This was beyond frightening. I ran down the hall to find Henry and Harry. I wondered alone by myself and eventually found them. "Henry! Harry! We need to leave right now!" I yelled from outside the room, trembling. "Why? What about the storm?" asked Henry. "Forget the storm! It's the least of our problems. We need to get home right now!" I yelled, panicked. "Okay." said Harry with a stuffed mouth. "Uhh...what umm are you eating?" I asked. "Candy." he replied. "From where?" asked Henry. "I just found it...lying around." he answered. "What! You're eating old mouldy candy! Are you insane?" shouted Henry. "Actually, the mould doesn't taste that bad, to be honest. It gives it more flavour." he replied as he chewed.

Just then they heard voices, "The candy belongs to Meany T. She doesn't like Miss Cherry." "Meany T?" mumbled Harry. Suddenly the ground began to shake and hands began to grab Henry and Harry. I ran out the door and it shut behind me. The door didn't budge as I tugged at it. It was useless. I had no choice but to Ieave. I ran away trying to escape. Trying to find a door or a window or something! The only thing I could hear were my hurried footsteps echoing down the halls. I needed to get out but I couldn't find any place to run out. Eventually I came to a dead end. At the very back was a cupboard with a light just above it flickering. The cupboard opened and a skeleton dropped out. "Is that Miss Cherry! What! What happened!" I shouted. Suddenly I heard a voice say, "The walls have ears."

A hand grabbed me into the wall and in less then a second I saw it all. The robbers had chased Miss Cherry all over the place. She tried hiding in the cupboard and it worked. When the cops arrived and took care of everything, she tried opening the doors but it didn't open. When the rest of the nannies searched for Miss Cherry only one person found her Meany T. Nanny Tracy and she pretend to not even notice the banging noise she heard. She knew very well Cherry was in the cupboard but didn't do anything. The following nights were no mysterious sound but Miss Cherry's pathetic cry for help. The rest was history. She wanted revenge and she wanted her children back. I was pushed out the wall and suddenly I heard voices, "Run. Run. Run." I did what they said. I ran and I ran as I heard voices began flooding right behind my back. I ran and finally escaped. I made it out alive knowing the truth.

But then again, the truth wasn't the sweetest thing to know...