Mill Pond School, Grade 8
The storm raged on. Thunder shook the abandoned building. Rain pelted down as if bullets were hitting the rusted tin roof. Only three of the four Gentles remained. Jack and Diane Gentle decided to take a vacation with their two teenage daughters as a way of bonding. Their oldest daughter, Katherine, was reluctant to go, but Amber was excited for the new opportunity.
They all packed into the minivan early on Saturday morning and drove towards Six Flags. The drive was 300 miles so they decided to make reservations at the closest Holiday Inn, which was 150 miles away. They never made it to the hotel.
Katherine and Amber wanted to drive on the backroads instead of the highway. They liked to look at the different buildings, animals, and trees. About two hours into the drive, they pulled over to stretch their legs. On both sides of the road there were pine trees. No buildings were in sight.
After stretching for about ten minutes, the Gentles loaded back into the minivan. Jack turned the key in the ignition, but nothing happened. It was strange that the vehicle had been working ten minutes before, without a problem. Jack got out and opened the hood. He looked at everything that could possibly be wrong, but things seemed to be in order. There wasn’t an explanation for why the van wouldn’t start.
The women were panicking. “What are we going to do?” cried Amber. Diane tried her cell phone, no signal. Heather tried hers, no signal.
“I think I saw a house about 5 miles ago, do you think I should go back and see if I can call for help?” Jack asked Diane.
“I think we should all stick together. Amber, grab the water bottles from the cooler. Heather get a few sweatshirts, just in case we need them. It’s gonna be a long walk.” said Diane.
When the family reached their destination, their feelings were a mixture of fear and disappointment. The “house” that Jack saw was an old hunting cabin that probably hadn’t been occupied in a good 20 years.
“Well? Should we try the door anyways? Maybe there’s a phone.” said Heather.
“It wouldn’t hurt,” replied Jack.
“You guys can go ahead. Amber and I will wait here,” said Diane.
“It’s getting dark, Honey. But if you want to stay out here, then by all means go ahead,” said Jack.
“On second thought, Dad’s right. Let’s walk up to the cabin with them.” said Amber.
The rotten steps sagged, and squeaked beneath the weight of the four Gentle’s. As Heather turned the doorknob the door flew open, exposing the dark interior. The sun was going down, so they tried to hurry in finding the phone. Amber found a few candles lying on a nearby stand. Jack took out his lighter and handed a candle to each person. There were exactly four.
They searched the cabin through and through, but there was no sign of a telephone. Day turned into night, and they knew they couldn’t walk five miles back to the car at a time like this. So, Jack said they would have to stay the night, and wait until morning to go back to the van.
No one particularly liked this idea, but what other option did they have? Jack and Diane slept on the dusty, hardwood floor. Amber and Heather took their places on the two small couches.
The clock in the kitchen struck the eleventh hour. The cabin was pitch black. It started pouring outside.
An hour later, the storm raged on. Thunder shook the abandoned building. Rain pelted down as if bullets were hitting the rusted tin roof. Only three of the four Gentles remained.
Heather woke up as a bolt of lighting lit up the midnight sky. She looked down at Jack and Diane, sound asleep. Then she looked over at Amber. But wait, where was she? Heather woke up her mother and father. They were half asleep so when she said Amber wasn’t in her bed, they simply replied, “Go back to sleep. She’s probably using the rest room.” Heather decided they were probably right, and that she was worrying over nothing.
Half an hour later, Heather woke up again. Thunder had disturbed her slumber. She looked at the couch next to her, Amber was still gone! She screamed for her mother and father to wake up, but she looked down and realized they, too were missing.
As Heather got up to look around the cabin for her family members, a shadowy figure walked into the room. Heather’s own screams were the last sound she ever heard.
