Anything but Ordinary

"It's today!" Riley cried. It was the first day of school at Woodland's College. A prestigious private school seated on the top of Morrey Hill; Woodland's College was in fact not a college. Rather, it was a junior school mainly made up of those that are somewhat gifted, somewhat powerful or wealthy, and somehow tied to the school. A handful of students who went there had managed to go far in their pursuits to success. Riley hoped the same for herself and so that is why she had saved two years' worth of babysitting and car wash money to help pay off some of the tuition fees , the other portion being covered by a scholarship she had earned during her 6th grade year. Riley knew the right people to go to, the perfect places to be, and the appropriate time to be there. She was grateful and thankful and if asked if anything could have ruined her day that vey morning she would have enthusiastically replied "Certainly not!". With her backpack slung over her shoulder and a bagel in her hand, she dashed out the back door and made her way to the bus stop. Excited as she was, she absent-mindedly hummed a tune to herself as she gradually increased her pace. "'World of Madness' - Kings, hmm, how peculiar you to be singing..." a voice muttered. Riley turned around to face a very slim, pale girl that looked about 9 years old. "Um, hello there." "Hello indeed," replied the girl. "I'm Riley!" "Right," said the girl, not showing any interest in exchanging names. "Excuse my manners, but have I seen you before? You look awfully familiar!" The girl shook her head and pointed towards the sky. "Look," she prodded. Riley saw nothing but ordinary clouds. "I don't really see anything..." but then, she saw it. The clouds Riley was looking at were shaped. Gravestones, revenants, witches, everything. "No, no, it cannot be," she whispered quietly to herself. "I cannot lose my mind on the first day of school, I simply cannot, it must be a phantasm." The girl took ahold of Riley's hand all of a sudden and tugged her along to the bus stop. They ran and ran into a portal that made Riley even more certain that she was hallucinating. "Come with me to the Catacomb" the girl was saying. "You'll be happy forever." "No! No! No!" Riley yelled. A voice suddenly interrupted Riley. "Riley, Riley, darling, wake up, it's your first day of school!" Riley had never been so relieved to wake up. She got up and hugged her mum, got dressed in record time, and had breakfast before leaving the house.

"Make the best of Woodland, honey!" her mum called. "Anything but the catacombs..." Riley thought.

 written on the 18th of October, 2011 for a Scary Story Contest