What Happened To My Life

I

The elders used to say that kids are bound to fear. That's why they always cry, because they need to attract the attention of other people who can protect them from the fear which is coming to haunt them.

I know, I'm just a naive 11 year-old school boy. I'm in the transitional stage from kids to teens. The change is not that pleasing anyway. My mom still treats me like a kid - holding hands when crossing the road, spinach in every meal, and be in bed at 10 o'clock sharp because she is going to read a nighttime story!. My dad is no help either. He approached me in a very matured way that it's not even edible to my understandings. I asked him why drinking alcohol makes us drunk. Guess what? He went as far as telling me about the first man to discover wine! I'm not very sure about myself either. Should I be very delighted or should I worry about the future?

Nevermind, I blame the hormones instead. That's what mom says about angry girls around my age.

Probably I should focus more about the final exams which will be knocking on my doorsteps in no time. I terribly flunked in the last mathematics test and what I got was a nasty sermon from my parents. My friends laughed at me, and even the cute girl sitting right next to me tried to stay away from me as much as possible. Probably she felt the surge of 'sucks-in-math' aura coming from me. So much for failing a math test.

Uhh...what kind of society am I living in now?

I decided to stay in school much longer than anyone else after class ends. I will stay in the library and do as many math questions as possible. Then, I will be at home before dusk. The only thing is, I will be all alone then. I need to walk home from school by myself, which is about 15 minutes walk. No prob...but..alone???

I heard the news that a child was stuffed in a sporting bag by some psycho maniac who stalks on little girls. The bag was found in front of a shoplot but nobody knows the person who is behind all of this commotion! As a kid of her age, I'm terribly disturbed upon hearing such tragedy.

Dang, I'm feeling the goosebumps up my spine. I looked down, and saw my feet. I moved my eyes further and eventually I was looking at my whole body. I just realized that I'm quite a stocky one!

There's noo waaaayyy in hell that someone could stuff me in a sporting bag cause it won't fit right! Now I'm relieved (and quite proud of my own body).

The next day, I went on as arranged, and nothing much happened (that means I'm safe). Although it was nearly dark and the evening sunlight were blocked by the mountains, I was still sweating like a pig. Nevermind, at least I exercised though. My home is at the 26th level of a 38 storeys condominium. My dad told me to use the stairs sometimes. The last time I walked up the stairs, I gave up on the fourth level and went for the elevator instead.

Someday, when I managed to ascend the stairs all the way to my doorsteps, I would have a body as solid as Bryan Nickson Lomas! Ooohh...that body...

I just stared blankly at the buttons while I was in the elevator. I got bored afterwards and switched my attention to the blinking number above the panel. I unknowingly counting the numbers one by one. Four, then five, six, seven and it goes on. Why the elevator seemed to be slower than usual today? It's even weirder that the elevator took a pit stop at the fifteenth floor and there was no customer at all. Is it just me or am I daydreaming?

On my way to school the next morning, the elevator paused again ; at the same floor like yesterday and again I couldn't notice anybody in sight.

And it occurred again when I came back from school. The next day, again. And then, again...

Peculiar? Yes, very. After my thoughts ran back and forth, something crossed over...yes...it seemed that the elevator will pause at the fifteenth floor ONLY when I am...

Alone...

Right, I remembered clearly now. But...but...why?

Hmm...ehem...err...umm...maybe it's possible that.....I was.....stalked?

Dang...I couldn't help but thinking about a cute, blond girl with two ponytails secretly keeping an admiring eye on me!!! Argh, is this what I've been desiring for??? Being stalked by a girl??? Aaa...my innocence has lost its virginity!!! Noooo...I'm still 11 years old!! My dad told me that to be a real men I should be thinking about girls in another three years time!!!

Later...I told my mum about the whole elevator thingy (the girl with ponytails part wasn't put on the table). She first thought that the elevator was screwed up, but when I told her that it happened when I was alone...she quickly swept with the usual 'running away' conclusion that it was nothing but BS.

I still don't have any clue what BS means.

One night, yeah peaceful and cozy and whatnot...while I was lying on my bed, I seemed to recall that there was some sort of urban legend spread by the people here. That was a long time ago by the way. Well, here the story goes :

There used to be people living around here allegedly heard screams coming from the thirteenth floor. They for themselves at first weren't very sure what kind of sound they heard, but the scream was agonizing, tormented, and helpless. Back then only about two or three people really heard that, so that's why it was called an urban legend. Not everyone believed the whole...er...what do we call it...BS(?) yet the whole thirteenth floor was totally unoccupied. They called this as 'The Howling'.

Bah, whatever it is, I know they used this as a weapon to fend off kids when they're having a Saturday Night Fever or something...what a cheap trick.

The staybacks seemed to be effective and I'm progressing quite well. In the meantime I don't really care much about the lift and the fifteenth floor anymore. I'm golly used to it.

I'm not really sure what day it was, but there was a time when the elevator paused, and it wouldn't shut properly. When the doors slid halfway through, it would reopen again, like there was a tiny stone on the trace that jammed the doors.

I have no choice but to climb another 11 flight of stairs by conservative means, which is to walk. Why don't they build like, another 4 or 6 more elevators? Do I have to teach them how to think? Aih...

When I stepped out of the elevator, the hallway was very dark and gloomy, but there were still remnants of sunlight directed from the roof, creating figureless silhouettes everywhere. It's very quiet too. Dead silence. Only the gentle gusts of wind can be heard occasionally.

Creeping slowly, it's obvious that the floor is somewhat empty. No lights were lit, windows closed tight with broken glass on some of them, tapered walls, dusty floors. No signs of anyone either. I couldn't understand why this floor even exist in the first place.

As I continued to step cautiously onward, I happened to kick something on the floor. A soft object, but I was not very sure what it is or what it looks like. Looks like this floor need some serious cleaning, hmm. I bent down, searching for the object. At the right end corner of the hallway not far from where I'm standing, I spotted it. I picked it up, and raised it into the shade of the sunlight. Surprisingly, it was a little doll.

What in the...a little CLOWN doll...!

From what I could see, it's a doll thrashed away for quite a time. It's very dirty, shirt torn apart and its figure itself is out of typicality. Round head, neckless, faded yellow fuzzy hair, and its limbs....They were bent and twisted...backwards!

And...I noticed that there were additional red traces carelessly marked on it's lips, turning its comforting smile into a wicked grin. Disturbing, and it made me feel queasy. I'm thinking about Einstein wearing a smiling Guy Fawkes mask beaten up by a bunch of drugged hooligans.

Holding it closer to my face, its eyes were much more visible in the thin darkness. God...the innocent eyes are creepier than it looks. Wait...I heard...something...coming from the doll...

A low-toned screech. It seems that it is uttering something, like a chant, but it was so muffled I can't figure what the words are. I heave it higher and held its mouth nearer to my ears. Huh..?

It stopped...

I shook it a few times, pressed its belly, pinched its arms and legs and everything else possible. Yet, there was nothing to hear about.

This is getting weirder and weirder. Is someone pulling a prank on me? I turned my head around seeking if there's a kid sneaking somewhere laughing at my uncomfortable mannerism. The next thing I remembered was that I dropped the doll to the ground while screaming in excruciating pain.

The doll went ablaze!!

My hands....my hands!!!! Arghhh....the burning pain is too intense I couldnt even move my fingers anymore. All I felt was numbness which enwraps the stinging pain deep in my bones. I began to run away, totally freaked out.

After a few strides, I bumped into someone so hard that I fell to the floor.

When I tried to get up...that's when I saw....

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II

Everything is quite the same today. No profit gained in hand. Bah, I'm such a loser. If the situation stays the same for another week, I'm going to starve to death. Seriously...

Mirrors don't lie. Everytime I look at myself in the mirror, these wrinkles on my skin are visible. They're disgusting. They are too distinct it's impossible to cover them up by any means. For a grown woman like me, having wrinkles is like having another cut to the wrist. Only time could tell when the veins will be ruptured and everything else is history.

Whatever it is, the sadness of being alone is the least of my worries now. I've been living for too long. Sadness flies over the wings of time. Only survival matters...

And yes, I'm still breathing...

It's getting darker now. When I proceeded to the living room, turning on some light, I heard something from outside. I heard...

Someone screaming...

When I opened the door, the scream is still loud. I think it came from the floor above mine. I hurried myself to the steps, arriving to the floor above as quickly as possible.

The floor was depressingly dark. I tried to look where the screams came from. Before I could get a grip of the surrounding, I felt that someone ran into me. The impact was forceful but I kept my footing intact while the other person fell to the floor.

I tried to hold the person's shoulder but refused. When I tried to take a better look at the person, the person was just...

A little boy...

He is still in his school uniform. Kneeling down, sobbing, and he doesn't want to look up. I think something happened to him and he seemed to be badly agitated.

I moved closer to him, and then asked about his name. No answer...

I tried to offer him some help, but crushed by his reluctance. Probably he, like other kids of his age were distrustful to people not of their acquaintance. I don't blame him. But, uh....poor kid. He seriously needs help. I reassured him by promising to give him shelter at my home while I try to contact his parents. I spoke to him with my motherly-toned voice, and he finally accepted my help. Like I said, I had kids once and it is not very difficult to win their trust.

I carried him in my arms back to my home. I unconsciously glimpsed at the burn marks on both of his palms. Without a doubt...seems like he...

Upon arriving at my home, I put him carefully onto one of the dining chair in the middle of the dining room. Then I gave him a pack of dry ice to pacify his pain. After a while, he eased up and the look of pain on his face slowly disappearing. It didn't take long for him to doze off on the table. I think it's better to leave him that way.

I slipped slowly to the fusebox at the end corner of the room, since waking him up was the least I wanted to happen. Right next the fusebox is another tiny box. It is so tiny I believe it is not easily detected by anyone else besides me. I opened the tiny box, uncovering a short lever. I took a glance at him once again. Still sleeping.

Perfect. Now it's my chance...

I pushed the lever down. Swiftly, a trapdoor right beneath the chair where the boy is sleeping flapped wide open, like the mouth of a shark capturing its prey. The boy fell right through to the floor below. Looks like he is falling into..

A cauldron...an enormous, boiling hot cauldron.

There is a circular tray surrounding the cauldron. On top of it were vegetables of various kinds neatly arranged. Tomatoes, cabbages, carrots, capsicums and whatnot. There is also a large cabinet at the right end corner of the room which contain a lot of seasonings. Hanging on the left-side wall from one end to another are all sorts of cooking utensils like cleavers, peelers, knives and blenders which serve its own purposes. Below the hanging utensils are the stove, where the frying pans, pressure cooker and steamers which are more than perfect to cook a dish. They were not used for quite a time…

In front of the store room is a bucketful of clown dolls. They are the same doll I used to put somewhere on the fifteenth floor...

I ruthlessly watched him from above. It is very pleasureable to see the traumatised look on his face. He is desperately struggling. Struggling due to the unbearable pain, struggling for his puny life, struggling for hope. Boy, he sure knows how to struggle hard!

He screamed, begging for my mercy. I gave him an evil grin that he will never forget, even when he is in heaven.

Soon...

And ‘The Howling’ on the thirteenth floor is heard once again...

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(2400+ words)

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THE END
SHAZR 2007

ps : fixed some typos and added a few minor details. i think there are still some typos left but I don't think I even care.

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