My Horror Story
I remember being given a camera for my birthday, I loved the way a photo could capture a moment before it was gone. That's what I wanted to be when I grew up, a wildlife photographer. My family, we weren’t those people, those unlucky people to whom bad things happen for no reason.
My name was Pretzel, like the snack, first name Samatha. I was fifteen years old when I was murdered on March 24, 1972.
I remember going with my family to the mall, this was before missing kids started appearing on milk cartons or were feature stories on the daily news. It was back then when people believed things like that didn't happen.
Auntie and I were in the book store when I saw Alessandro, my more or less seventh year platonic school crush. Auntie noticed and murmured ‘’your save now, he’s gone into the record store’’. The thing is… I wasn't safe, a man in the neighborhood was watching me. If I hadn't been so distracted, I would have realized something was wrong, but I was too busy thinking about those dazzling brown eyes.
My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. I took his photo once as he talked to my parents about his border flowers. I was aiming for the bushes when he got in the way. He stepped out of nowhere and ruined the shot... he ruined a lot of things.
One morning, my big sister Anya and I walked to school, as usual. At the end of the day before returning home Alessandro asked me out and then said goodbye. I took my way home with a huge smile on my face. I had been walking for the past 2 minutes when I saw the meadow of dried flowers near my house; it was a shortcut everyone took in those foggy days. While passing through the meadow I fell, I was so delighted that I got silly. When I stood, I saw him. Mr. Wayne.
Oh, hey, you're the Pretzel girl, right? Remember me? You remember me, I live right down the street in the green house. Mr. Wayne.
Hi!
You know, you're the perfect person for me to run into, because I just built this thing over here and I want to get a second opinion. Do you mind taking a look?
Actually, I have to get home.
Oh, ok, I guess I'll show the other kids in the neighbourhood, they're gonna be very excited about it.
Really?
Oh yeah, it's great. Come on...it'll take you two minutes. You're probably late already.
He proceeded to show me, it was a room he had built under the earth. I went down the stairs to see it better. I'd say it was cozy if it weren't for the moisture. I knew it was time for me to go back but then told me to be polite, I insisted but then he said:
I don't want you to go.
I saw the stairs one more time, and then grabbed them as fast as I could, however he grasped me, and suddenly everything went dark.
I was slipping away, that's how it felt. Life was leaving me, but I wasn't afraid. Then I remembered, there was something I was meant to do, somewhere I was meant to be. I woke up, I could see everyone, but no one could see me. It was somewhere new, but where was I? Then, a girl responded my question:
Hey. you're not supposed to look back, you're supposed to keep going.
Wait, who are you?
I'm Gina.
are we in heaven?
This isn't heaven, you're not there yet. This is the in-between.
Gina said there was a wide, wide heaven beyond everything we knew, where there was no cornfield, no memory, no grave. But I was still looking back.
My murderer began to feel safe, he knew people wanted to move on. He took comfort in the thought. No one was looking at him. He could live in one moment for a long time, feeding off a memory over and over again. He was an animal, faceless. Infinite.
My mother went as far as she could, she needed to heal. And Anya, who always said she didn't believe in love, found it anyway. And there it was, the moment I would never have.
I would always watch Alessandro, I was in the air around him, and sometimes he would think of me, but he began to wonder, maybe it was time to let me go.
My murderer had finely tuned instincts. He knew my sister had begun to wonder about the solitary man who lived in the green house. She seemed intent on crowding him. And he resented it. He began to work on a new project, this time for my sister.
Soon enough, one day she decided to sneak up in his house, she found evidence of my assasination. Now she was more than sure, but then, he arrived home. We’re talking about a predator, a monster, a hound, he immediately knew something was off.
He checked the secret basement, just in case; meanwhile my sister was secretly praying for her not to be heard, she was ready to leave just when she stepped on the wrong wood tile. He knew everything. Anya started looking for a window, her heart was beating as fast as Pygmy Shrew, the worst is that all she could hear was the sound of the steps, he was fast. She had no choice but to escape, she jumped off the roof and felt unbelievable pain but now he saw her, he was running her way, he was dangerously close, and I don’t know how but she started running with all she had. He almost caught her but thank God she was now safe. He knew what would happen to him if he stood, so he ran away.
My sister showed everyone, my family and the police the evidence, now everyone knew what happened, who did it. But they never found my body.
I remember the moment I died, the feeling of my heartbeat, like it was about to explode in my chest, the scream no one heard, the way he saw me, he touched me.
But now I’m ready.
My name was Sam pretzel, like the snack. I was around for a moment, until it was gone.
I’m ready to let go.
By Sofía López De La Hoz, Step 9 Y
