My stories.

The Midnight Adventure

It was 11 o'clock at night. The sky was moonless. The clouds had shrouded the stars, leaving the night very dark. The incessantly rumbling thunder and the clattering rain had barely allowed her to close her eyes and slip into undisturbed slumber when there was a knock at the door.

The sound shook Alicia out of her sleep. She was fifteen, with fair skin, black hair, blue eyes and a sprinkle of freckles on her face. She lived with only her mother and had seen a lot in her life, but nothing could prepare her for what was coming. She was alone at home, and the sudden knock had scared her thoroughly. Controlling her fear, she pulled herself out of bed and walked to the door. As she was about to open the door, every instinct in her body told her to double lock the door and run as far away as possible from it, but pushing away all her fright, she opened it.

On the other side, there stood a man in his mid- twenties, with blond hair, brown eyes and a somber face. He was drenched and shivering in the cold winds. He asked Alicia for some water and place to rest while it rained. The man seemed harmless, so she let him in, asking him to close the door. The man walked in and laid his wet coat on the window sill while Alicia went in to get him some water. Little did she know who the man was.

When she came out of the kitchen, the man was nowhere to be seen. As she was about to call out for him, he emerged from behind her holding her at gunpoint and said to her, "You better do as I say and keep your mouth shut. If you don't, the next word you say would be your last." Saying so, he pressed the gun on her midriff and thrust her outside the house.

Alicia was scared but also smart. She realized that scaring herself was not going to achieve anything. She had to work her way out as soon as possible. She did not have any weapon and had to rely on her wits. She took a quick inventory- she had a scarf, keys with a keychain and most importantly, her brain. The man had her by the neck and was pushing her forward when she made a shocking discovery; her keychain was actually a little torch.

This gave her hope, and an idea began forming in her brain. She observed her surroundings. The rain had reduced the visibility. The lane they were walking through was very narrow. A distraction was all that she needed. She slowed her pace and when asked the reason, said nothing. She knew their eyes had adjusted to the dark and a direct brightness would blind one for a while. Thinking so, she slowly slipped her hand into her pocket and fingered the keychain. "Now is the time," she thought, and with a swift movement, kicked her captor and shone the torch beam in his eyes, momentarily blinding him.

She kicked him again before he could open his eyes. He screamed, "What the... aaaagh", ending so as Alicia had blindfolded him with her scarf and kicked his face. "Good luck untangling yourself," she screamed and ran away, as fast as she could, towards her house. The man, suddenly realizing that he had a gun, began shooting blindly in random directions. Alicia ran till she reached home, then double-locked the door and did not rest till she had informed the police about the man's whereabouts; only then did she actually sit down and drink some water.

Fifteen minutes later, back in safety of her bed, she sat pondering over the events of the night. It was 12:30. The whole incident had taken roughly an hour or so. She lay on the bed with thoughts of adventure on her mind, and finally drifted off into undisturbed sleep.