Halloween Writing Contest Winners
1st WINNERS – Level: B2/B2+
Joanna was walking down on an empty street, trying to relax herself after a bad day. The sky was wrapped in dark, and the only thing that lit up the road was a full bluish moon . All the stores were already closed. All but one. It was an antique shop on the front sidewalk that called particular attention to her, for in its showcase a familiar collection’s doll which used to be at her parents house was being exposed. In spite of being slightly tired, she decided to cross the street and get into the store, the curiosity was stronger. It could not be the same doll, his brother had destroyed it, because he could not bear the irritating song that it played.
he door hitted a tiny bell, emitting a charming noise that should notify the owner of her arrival, but she could not spot anyone. The shop was plenty of different old things, maybe more than would fit in that dusty store. It seemed so much creepier from the inside. She turned to the showcase to see the doll but it wasn’t there so she started looking for it desperately all around the place but found nothing. She was about to give up , thinking she imagined it, when a familiar voice started singing a song, that song. “It’s much better, play together”. She turned around full of fear and misunderstanding and followed the music. It led her to a red door, at the end of the room. She was afraid of what could be found on the other side, although she didn’t hesitate. She opened the door and took a step into the room, or at least she tried to. Her foot touched nothing, there was no floor but it was too late. She started falling so fast into nothing. Scream, was the only thing she could do, probably in vain, because no one was there. Every second of that fall was more strange and spooky than the last. She began to see elements that were reminiscent of her childhood. Toys, her school, her brother…
maybe minutes, she got to the bottom, strangely, she was still alive. There was a tiny gloomy room, it was cold, too cold, the floor felt strangely soft, like that blue carpet in her old room. Finally, she managed to stand up, although, if she knew what she was about to see, she would rather stayed on the floor. It was there, the doll was floating in the middle of the place, fixing its macabre gaze at her. Horror was the only emotion she had left, it was consuming her. “It’s much better, play together” she continued singing her frightening song. Joanna couldn’t deal with it anymore so she ran to turn it off. She grabbed the doll from her back, searching for a power button, but there wasn’t. There wasn’t even a music box. After a few seconds the doll started to slowly disintegrate, until it came to ashes. Her legs turned into jelly, shaking to fear. Suddenly she started feeling a stinging pain in the middle of her back. Instinctively she put her hand there feeling something hard and plastic, it was the music box. She tried desperately to take it off but she couldn’t. It was stuck into her, it was part of her body, dripping blood all over the room. Just like that day.
By Lucia and Federico