Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Skeleton Key by Hazel Sisson

As I crept up the ancient marble stairs, my footsteps echoed against the walls on either side of me. I felt claustrophobic. I was having second thoughts, it was just so creepy. The seemingly derelict candy shop stood before me, cracks running down the walls. A flurry of wind flew up the alleyway. It knocked all the courage out of me. I steadily I picked the broken pieces of my nerve up from the ground. I took a deep breath trying to slow my heart. Scared someone might hear it. I stood still, frozen. I was staring at it, I was staring at the shop.

The shop that seemed to whisper to the night. The shop no one dared to enter. The shop with the flickering lights. The shop I am so unwillingly going to enter.

But I had to, I had to find it. The skeleton key. The key that opens all the doors. I slowly grasped the brass handle. My heart thudding in the back of my head. I pushed with all my might. The door groaned as I forced it open. The light flooded the room. A layer of dust rose up from the untouched floor. A damp mustiness hung in the air. It smelled of smoke. Darkness filled the room, only the light from the door allowed me the gift of vision. AAAAHHHHHH! Was that me? I don’t know. I had lost the power of thought. I took a step into the unknown.

1 comment:

Mr Eames said...

Excellent Hazel, super writing and thanks for all your help getting everyone writing on line!

Your writing sets the scene right from the beginning ‘A flurry of wind flew up the alleyway. It knocked all the courage out of me’.
Fantastic descriptions and word use.