Silence

Author's Note: I wrote this piece because I wanted a suspenseful story.From reading all kinds of mysteries and suspenseful books, I decided to give it a try.


Jenna woke up to the smell of rusty nails, and motor oil. Her legs were cramped, her side hurt, and the taste of blood was stale in her mouth. The feeling of death lingered in the air, or what was left of it in the unbelievably hot tool shed. Suddenly, a loud creek aroused. The door was opening.


The sizzling of bacon, the chirping of blue jays: these were the sounds that Jenna Smith awoke to. It was a perfect October morning, and yet something was off. Shrugging the thought off was easy enough because Jenna could smell pancakes, and bacon waiting for her in the kitchen. Jenna walked down the hallway, and was surprised to see both Jerry (her stepfather), and mother were at the kitchen table. “Mom, Jerry why are you here?” Jenna’s mother smiled and looked at her husband. “Well we do own the place Jenna,” her stepfather joked. Jenna sat at the table, and sluggishly began eating her pancakes and bacon. “So are you going to tell me about the huge surprise? What is it?” Her mother answered quickly “We’re going to Madison for the day.” Jerry and her mother then looked down, and feasted on their pancakes and orange juice. Jenna didn’t get it. How was this such a big deal that the one day her parents were actually home they couldn’t talk to her about their trip to Madison? “So Mom, why are we going to Madison?” Silence. That was what Jenna heard at the end of her question. “Well, sweetie to put it nicely……you can’t come.” The pancakes, the bacon was a just a trick so they could put her down gently about leaving her alone all day. Every day she was alone, and bored, and afraid. It was happening again. Silence, silence, silence, silence. “Oh. Yeah, I totally understand. Business right? I can just, ummm you know hang out with friends all day. Really, no biggy.” Silence. It was a huge biggy. “Thanks for understanding darling. We love you, but we have to go now,” said Jenna’s mom. Kisses, hustling, scraping of bags, key jingling, door slamming, car starting. Silence.


I was in New York City; Times Square was so beautiful during the night. There was no one on the street. As I walk further down the street, my footsteps sound like booming thunder as I walk farther and farther along. As I walk closer into sight of the Empire State Building, I look up and see just how tall it really is. The moment my gaze drops from the building , I look and a dark looming figure is standing 30 feet away. My feet felt like they were being held together by ropes. It is inching closer to my stiff body, and was so close I could smell its cologne. Its mouth opened when suddenly….. I awake to the growling of my stomach. It seems like forever ago that I had bacon and pancakes. As I’m walking to the kitchen I remember how bacon and pancakes used to be my favorite food when my mom and dad were still married. I like Jerry, but I barely get to see me dad. The refrigerator hums as I open the door. The it pasta is on the lower shelf and as I’m leaning down to get my the food I see a large sneaker under the refrigerator door. Silence.


I wake to see my hands and legs were tied ,my mouth was gagged, and I am sitting on the dusty floor of a tool shed. There were many sharp gardening tools surrounding me. First thing that comes to my mind is why I am in this strange place? I know that the first thing I have to do is untie these poorly tied knots. Whoever tied me up was a real amateur. As soon as I was free from the knots, I took a look around to see what I could use to unlock the door. Suddenly , a loud creek aroused and the door was opening. My first thought was to grab a shovel and hit the mysterious person in the head. As it stepped into the light my first thought was to hit hard. My hit was perfectly put into the temples of its head. It looked unconscious so I took a few steps forward and removed the mask from its head. It was my father. Silence.


Panic spread throughout my body. Why was he here? How did he find me? Why was he doing this? I had no time for questions. I sprinted out of the tool shed and locked the door behind me. There was no way for him to get out. I can see my own house from the shed which lay in the woods. My feet couldn’t move fast enough as I ran to my house. No sooner had I dialed 9-1-1 when the police showed up, weapons in hand. I cautiously make my way to the shed explaining what happed. As the police shoot off the lock the door swings right open. I look inside to see nothing. No word from me. No word from the police. No rustle of the leaves. Silence.