
By Sheny Delgado (8th Grade)
“Help!” the woman yelped. She was tied to a chair in an abandoned cabin in a secluded part of the woods. No one could hear her, but she still had hope that maybe, just somebody, could hear her.
“You’re a disturbing old man! Let me out of these ropes!” said the woman.
“Tell me what you know about the coin you gave to the boy,” he said.
“Never!” the woman said, fierceness rising.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Jukebox was a popular diner in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Everyone lounged in there after work or just to relax. People say that the town is haunted. Anyways, back to the basics. I was sitting in diner reading a book when a boy walked up to me and asked me, ”Do you believe the rumors of this town?”
I responded,”I’m not sure. Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” the boy replied.
“Timmy! Let’s go! You’re going to be late for your appointment!” His mother, I’m guessing, called him.
“Take this,” he said warily, as if someone was watching him. It was a token. It had some writing I couldn’t read on it. He slipped away with his mom and laughed as he walked out the door.
That was weird. I put the coin in my pocket and forgot about it. As I walked back home to my apartment, something strange happened. No cars were on the street. This street was usually very busy this time of day. It was 3 o’clock--the time when all the parents usually got home to their kids. Odd, I thought. As I turned the corner, I never expected it--there was huge hole in the ground. I never thought that was possible. I got home as fast as I could. I raced in the door and took a bath.
After that, I did some laundry. As I was doing the laundry, the pants I wore that day had the coin still inside. I had totally forgotten it was in there. I fingered it in my hands, curiously looking at it, expecting it to tell me what it said. It was silver, shiny, and aged.
“What do you say?” I wondered out loud.
All of sudden, the house was shaking. Everything was falling to the floor, windows were breaking, and people were screaming. I did what every person does on instinct--which is run. I went outside just in time, and watched every building collapse before my eyes. The coin, I thought. I had left it on the counter in the kitchen. But as I remembered it, the coin magically appeared in my right hand. I got freaked out and dropped the coin the sewer. Dang it, I thought and, just as before, the coin appeared in my right palm. Now I was really freaked out.
I went to the auto shop in town (about 10 minutes down the road), grateful it hadn’t collapsed yet, and I rented a car. Mike, the auto body dealer asked why I was renting a car and I answered, “Sometimes you just gotta do what you need to do.”
And with that, I drove off.
As I approached the end of the street, I risked a look behind me. The town was falling apart. I drove past the speed limit, which I never do. I got out on the highway and headed south to Missouri.
~ ~ ~ ~
A couple hours into the drive, I stopped for gas. As I waited for the gas, I thought about all the places in Missouri I wanted to visit. Maybe the Botanical Gardens, or the Arch. Maybe the zoo. Anyways, there will be time to do that when I get there. As I got in the car, a guy in a Cubs hat walked up to me and knocked on my window. I rolled it down and asked, “Can I help you?”
He didn’t respond. All of a sudden, his eyes turned bright blue, and he ripped off my car door. He didn’t attack me, but he said,”Uphi uhlamvuf lwemali?”
I had no idea what he was saying. When I didn’t answer, his eyes turned back to a cool blue, and he looked confused. He apologized and walked away.
I turned away and quickly got as far as possible from the gas station. Cars were racing by me. So many are going to get speeding tickets, I thought. Then I realized why everyone was speeding. Behind me, there was a military tank racing down the highway. As I looked back again, I realized it was crushing cars as well the people who were in those cars. I swerved off the road and braced myself for the decision I made. I made it safely, no damage, but the tank was rolling on the highway. I didn’t realize that over the tank, in flames, was one word: Coin.