Short stories

English 6 "Third Floor Bedroom"

Della M.

It all began when someone left the third floor window open...

At least that is what most say. Some people believe that, and some people don't.

It was a cold day in July. Outside it was 90 degrees, but that wasn't the reason for the coldness. Today was the first in a line of horrible happenings.

My room was the third floor bedroom. That open window was mine. That white chest of drawers held everything that mattered to me. I never leave my window open. My siblings would try to climb out of it.

My oldest sister was found missing right after they found the window open. I never forgot the sickly feeling that formed in my stomach after that.

I sat on my bed and looked out the window. The window often caught updrafts, just as it did now. I saw birds flowing around.

I went to go get a glass of water. Soundlessly slipping off of my bed, I went into the bathroom with a glass.

When I came back my window was open again. Remembering the morning, the sight made me want to cry.

I tried to find the familiar peace in the wallpaper, but all it did was make the sadness sting worse. The birds outside inspired my wallpaper I think.

As I looked over I noticed that a bird looked like it was missing on my wall paper. Right next to the spot of the missing one, there was a lone carrier pigeon floating.

Forgetting all caution, I stepped over all the stuff that was piled on the ground. As soon as I was within one foot of the pigeon it zoomed over to me. I grabbed its leg and found a note.

Carefully I untied the note and saw the two words written in my oldest sister's perfect script: Help me.

As stunned as I was I looked around for the carrier pigeon. It scarily wasn't there.

The window was closed and I saw that the missing pigeon on my wallpaper was back in place.

That night in my dreams I saw darkness and all I heard was my oldest sister saying "Help Me." Those two words never left my mind and neither did her beautiful font.

Everywhere I went I always had the note with me. I always carried her silver bird pendant around my neck. I never felt the right time to take it off.

Flashes of white carrier pigeon pulled across my vision every time I got distracted. I got distracted a lot that day.

Suddenly I had the reckless want to go sit on my window sill, and hang my bare feet out the window.

"No!" I said aloud a few times. The fleeting memory of my sister flew into my mind, and yet again I had the urgent want to sit on the window sill. I mentally argued with myself quite a bit, and I still do.

I took a step towards the window, remembering that my sister and I always sat on the sill.

You don't have to sit on it a little voice tried to reason with me. "Shut up." I told the voice. Still, I took a hesitant step towards the window. Maybe one small seat would hit the craving.

The next night, it felt like the walls were trying to tell me something. I still only heard "Help Me." That night I saw something though. I saw my oldest sister disappearing into one of the walls in my room.

I woke with a flash and saw that the window was open. The pigeon was back with another note. This note said, "Hurry... Time is running out!".

The note scared me, badly. I thought about telling my mom about it but she was in denial. She would have told me that I was lying.

I guess that is what would happen if my oldest daughter went missing. I decided to go back to sleep but immediately I regretted it. Finally a restless sleep washed over me.

The next morning I felt more tired when I got up than when I went down. Feeling ever so tired, I stood up to go to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Suddenly, yesterday's note came back to me , and with a gasp I collapsed onto the bed.

I recalled last night's dream, and went over to the wall and flung a flat palm against it. Like always it didn't give in any. I didn't suspect it would. Why would a nightmare come true when most dreams don't.

I hadn't had the craving for the window sill in a while, but here it came again. Out of impulse I shut it down. I could not afford to get sidetracked now. I was on a mission to find out why I was having the weird dreams.

I went to the library and looked up people disappearing into walls. Unsurprisingly all that I found was not helpful. I found a bunch of old ghost stories about a haunted hotel room.

I quickly erased everything and logged off the computer. I made it home just in time to slide into my seat at the table.

That night I layed in my bed pondering about what dream I would have tonight. I wondered If the disappearing wall dream would be a recurring one.

I fell into a fearful sleep. The night's dream was the same one as the last but I reached around and felt the damp, humid, and heavy air. I felt around until my hand grazed something warm and smooth.

I gently felt along the object and figured out that it was my sister's hand. I lightly picked it up and squeezed it.

When I woke up I was smiling and crying at the same time. I missed my sister so much.

I got out of bed and I was still smiling. I had never felt so great in my life. Even though the dream brought back the pain of the loss that had been steadily dulling, I still felt happy.

Somewhere in my mind I knew that I would find my sister. My mood was increasing by the second and soon I felt like I could laugh at the world without getting yelled at.

That lightness was squished. As I went down the two flights of stairs, I found my family in shreds. My family was either sobbing or looking like they had woken up as a zombie.

Sighing, I went back up to my room. The window was open, and the carrier pigeon was back. I caught the bird and took off the note. This note looked more rushed but it was still beautiful. The note said: I am right here, in front of you.

I was determined to find her. I grunted in hate for all of this and slapped the wall. I squealed in fright as my hand went straight into the wall. The air that I felt was damp, humid, and heavy. I grabbed what felt like my sister's hand. I strongly pulled on the hand until I could see it. I kept pulling, and my mom walked in.

She yelped in shock and was instantly yelling for my dad and siblings. She ran to my side and tried to help me pull my sister back into my room. We eventually made some progress and my oldest brother helped us pull her the rest of the way in.

As soon as she was safe we both burst into tears. I hadn't ever felt so much relief in my life. It felt like waking up from the worst nightmare in the world.

"I couldn't see anything in there. It felt moist, like I could never get dry." She said to everyone. She turned to me and said, "I wrote to you every day, and attached it to a pigeon. You never wrote back."

"I only got three notes, and I didn't know how to write back. It shocked me every time I saw your notes." I explained. I didn't know if it was her so I didn't write back.

I suddenly blurted out, "What about the wall? How do we shut it off?"

"I have the answer to that question." She said and moved one of the doves. She flipped the picture to the side and found a keyhole that was about the size of an old victorian style key. "Now all we have to do is find the key." she said like it was the easiest thing to do in the world.

I silently moved around to my drawers and pulled one open. I moved my clothes and, on the bottom of the drawer, there was a key. I pulled it out and moved to the keyhole. The key slid in easily and I turned it to the left to lock it.

A shrill shriek came from the wall and the window slammed shut. We were safe for now.