Don't be afraid of the dark

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

By Jack Hopewell

Story one: Creepy Crawlies

            Lizzy was walking home from school one day when she saw something that repulsed her. Actually, it was many things. Right above her front doorstep was a wasp nest, nothing but evil Creepy crawlies waiting to sting you senseless. She knew what her dad would say if she asked her him to get rid of the wasp nest. The same thing he said about every bug. “If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you”. To her, that was a bunch of baloney. Don’t think Lizzy was a bug hater (well, she is). She has an honest phobia of them, especially bees and wasps and hornets. She decided then what she would do. She went to the garage and found a can of anti-wasp spray, and sprayed the whole nest down. For good measure, she put on some rubber gloves, and threw it in the garbage, holding it as if it was a dirty diaper. “Problem solved”, she said aloud.

          Later that day, her younger brother came up to her. “Hey Liz, guess what?” he asked. “What, Aaron?” she asked. “I ordered some elixir from the catalog, it says it can bring things back to life!” he said. “Great, I’m sure it’ll be wonderful. Now go away.” Poor Aaron, she thought. He was so obsessed with alchemy and stuff. He even called himself Aaron the Alchemist. Didn’t he know it was impossible to raise the dead?

          Not too much later, the UPS truck arrived. “Aaron’s playing a video game, she thought.” I could take the package, rip it out of the box, throw the ripped up box  on the floor, and say the dog got into it, and then I’ll throw it in the garbage. It’ll be for his own good.”

          She did just that, and threw the “elixir” in the garbage can. In fact, the same garbage can with the wasp nest in it. If you think you know where this is going, you don’t. Well, maybe you do. Just read on.

          Late that night in bed, Lizzy heard a buzzing noise. “My mind must be playing tricks on me,” she thought. It wasn’t. Sure enough, a black mass of wasps came up to the window. “At least they can’t get through the windows”, she thought. She was wrong again. The wasps cut through the windows like scissors on paper. “How ironic”, Lizzy thought as the swarm came after her. In fact, that was the last thing she thought. Ever.

          Aaron sat upright in his bed. He thought he heard a loud buzzing and possibly a scream, but then again, it was probably just his mind playing tricks on him. “I wonder why the dog ate my package”, he thought.