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Our first place Middle School category winner was written by Emily Luke, an eighth grade student. We'll give credit to a school and town when we get them. |
“Momma, tell me a ghost story,” the young child asked as her mother tucked her into the bright pink bed. It was very late, the small family had been playing in the small grass area near their cottage and did not seem to notice the reappearance of the stars in the night sky.
“I don’t want to scare you, Aed,” her mother replied as she went to leave the room.
“You won’t, I promise. You tell the best stories! I’m going to fall asleep anyways before the ending.”
“Fine, but after tonight you will have to learn to sleep without a story. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be around and your grandmother is not very creative.” Her mother, Anastasia, had been diagnosed with an unknown disease. All they knew was that her insides were being eaten away by what resembled fire, although instead of the vibrant golds and reds it was black as coal. She was given two months at most to live before the “Shadow Fire,” they called it, consumed her and she burnt to death. It had been four weeks since they learned of the terminal illness, and time was running out fast.
“There was once a little princess, just like you, who lived in a castle hidden far from the public eye. She was a beautiful young girl, with hair and eyes as black as coal paired with moon white skin,” before Anastasia could continue, Aed giggled at the resemblance to herself. All the princesses in her mother’s stories looked just like her, which made her happy to be thought of as a princess. They lived in a tiny, one floor house in the middle of the woods where Aed loved to play, far from what royalty would be used to. Her father had always been a mystery to everyone, so it was just Aed and her mother. That makes it even harder for her, trying to accept that her mother will be gone soon.
“The girl’s name was Aed, just like you, my little princess,” she said as Aed giggled again.
“She lived in the castle with her mother, the queen. The queen loved her daughter very much, but one day she left. Young Aed was only seven and did not understand why her mother would leave at such a time, so close to her birthday. Only later would she learn her mother had been consumed by the dark fire that lived under her skin,” at that, her mother’s bright blue eyes darkened in reference to her death sentence. Little did the true Aed realize, the Shadow Fire taking her mother away piece by piece was as dark as the eyes that looked back at her in the mirror.
“Years went by and Aed grew into a beautiful young lady, intent on being the best queen her kingdom had seen since her mother. She learned everything she could about her people and her court. Then, one day, she was finally crowned. Her people adored her as much as she did them. Although, they feared the Curse of the Shadow Fire would come for her next. What they did not know was that she had been born of the fire that had inhabited her mother and she could learn to control it, if only she dared.”
As Anastasia continued, Aed eyes started to close and before long she was asleep. Anastasia kissed her chubby cheek, then got up and quietly left the small room and looked back in the doorway. Her tiny daughter was fast asleep, but the shadows around her were quite awake.
Made more prominent by the pink bedspread, the swirls of shadows which resembled fire seemed to be comforting her. The mother watched as the shadow fire twisted into her daughters curling black hair, much like her own, and up and down her fragile, porcelain skin. It was the mother’s final gift to her young one, the one piece of her that was left behind. Everyday as Anastasia lost a piece of herself, more shadows joined the others. One day, Aed would be so surrounded she might never see the sun again, but it would keep her safe.
Anastasia reached her own doorway, only a few steps away from the room Aed now slept in when she collapsed. She tried to call out, but it was as if her vocal box had been burnt to nothing. As she put her hand out in front of her, trying to crawl to Aed, she realized her hand was on fire. Although, nothing around it was burning only the hand itself and up her arm. The Shadow Fire had come for her, but she could not leave, not now. Not this close to Aed, not when she is so young. Not now, please, not now, Anastasia thought, but it was too late. As Aed slept in a shield of Shadow Fire, her mother burned to death only a few feet away.
*****
“Aed, let’s go. We do not have much time, child,” her grandmother called from the tiny kitchen. It had been ten years since the death of Aeds’ mother. To Aed, the cause of her mother’s death was an angry and violent villager, but her grandmother, Deanna, knew the truth. Deanna had gone to the small cottage Aed and Anastasia had shared only to find the burnt corpse of what had once been her vibrant, peaceful daughter and a young Aed sleeping near her body. The truth, Deanna had believed, would be too hard for a five-year-old girl to understand, so she lied. She knew it could not last long, but Deanna would deal with it when that time came.
Aed was upstairs reading Rainbow Valley by Lucy Maud Montgomery, the fifth published book in her favorite series, Anne of Green Gables . She had been reading the series throughout her years living with her grandmother. It helped pass the time when she was not helping with chores around their house or taking care of her grandmother. This book was different from the others in the series, though. There was something about it that made Aed think of her mother, the one person Aed missed most in the world. Even after ten years, Aed still harbored feelings of such hate and resentment towards whoever that villager was that she often scared herself with her thoughts.
She stood up at the call her grandmother sent up the stairs for her to hurry, but something fell out of the cover of the book. Aed kneeled next to the book on the floor, careful not to step on the skirt of her dress. Beside the book lay a folded piece of cloth with writing. It read,
“My Aed,
DO NOT FEAR THE SHADOW FIRE. With Love,
Mother.”
Aed was confused because she had never heard of Shadow Fire before. Aed could not even think of what Shadow Fire could be, or why it would be mentioned in a note from her dead mother. All she saw in her mind when she thought of it was shadows moving and twisting as if they had minds of their own, almost like a memory. After putting the letter back in the book where she found it, Aed ran to her grandmother. Perhaps her grandmother had an idea when Aed did not.
“Grandmother, what is Shadow Fire?” Deanna dropped the the bowl she was carrying and it shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. She quickly turned, first to make sure they both had not been cut by the shards, then to look at Aed. As her grandmother met her eyes, Aed saw that she had a wild look in her eye and that her hair had become undone from her tight bun on the top of her head. She looked like a madwoman, and when she grabbed Aeds’ shoulder, she believed she really had gone crazy.
“Where did you hear that word?,” her grandmother demanded before Aed could explain. Before Deanna could yell more, Aed explained how she had found the note from her mother and why she was confused. With every word, her grandmother got paler and paler, making Aed nervous. When she was done, Deanna crumpled into the old kitchen chair with a horrified look on her face. After she had gotten herself together, she patted the seat next to her for Aed to sit.
“Sit, child, and I will give you my own explanation.” Deanna took a deep breath and began the story of the late, beloved Anastasia. Aed listened quietly while the truth was finally revealed to her, but inside she was a wild rage of emotions. First, she felt pain at the mention of her dead mother, then, fear of what had caused her death. After that was betrayal, her own grandmother whom she loved had been keeping her own past and from her. Finally, Aed felt an all-consuming rage at the secrets and lies she had been told and also towards Deanna, a hate as strong as the one she had felt for the villager she had thought responsible for the death of her mother. Then...comfort, almost a feel of nothing. Only when she returned to reality did she realize that their house was burning with black fire, and her grandmother was too far gone to even cry out in pain.
*****
“She really killed her grandma? Why would she do that, that’s sad,” the young child asked their guide.
“I’m not saying that I agree with Aed, but she was lied to. I’d be mad, too,” another, older one responded.
“Shhhh, don’t say her name! She’ll hear you and come for us!”
“Shut up, it’s just a campfire story! Of course she isn’t real! Aed, Aed, Aed, Aed, Aed, Aed-”
“Stop! She’ll-”
“Shush, let me continue,” their guide interrupted. The children immediately quieted, and the only sound left was the sizzling of the fire they sat around. Their guide, Sam, waited for a dramatic effect before continuing.
“After the death of her grandmother, Aed went on a killing spree. She went after every and any village she could reach, killing as many parents as possible and leaving each child. A fifteen-year-old serial killer with supernatural abilities was unstoppable, or so they thought. Aed was still young herself and was eventually stopped by falling into a trap set by the orphaned children. It has never been said how they stopped her exactly, but there are many conspiracy theories.
One said that they dressed as their parents and then attacked her before she could kill them and only got away with it because they were too fast. Another believes she refused to kill them when she realized they were only children, and that hesitation ruined her. No matter how many stories you will hear, they all agree on one fact. However the children oversmarted her, she was killed that night at age twenty and has been haunting these old villages since. Perhaps,” Sam paused and looked around, feigning fear, “she might even be here with us tonight.”
By the end of the story, the children, none older than thirteen, were sitting closer to each other. Some were holding onto their friends and others refused to even open their eyes. Sam laughed, waving off the story as just a tale. She comforted the scared, younger children and sent the older ones to their tents. Minutes later, when everyone was in their tents and starting to fall asleep, no one seemed to notice the dark, twisting shadow flames that danced on to their camp.
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