The time I tried to get a pet without

Don’t Open the Closet Door By Sophie Wang 6th grade

I looked around the house. Rainwater trickled down from cracks in the walls. Cobwebs covered the top of the ceiling, and the floorboards creaked as I stepped around the bare corner of the attic that was supposed to be my bedroom. Our new mansion-like home was so creepy, and with each step I felt like it was pulling me in, pulling me in... “Lila, where are you? We have to get unpacking before it’s too late,” Mom called from the living room. I immediately replied, “Mom, just let me do things myself, okay?” There was no reply. “Alright, but come downstairs now.” I stomped downstairs. Mom was always so annoying. “There you are. You’ve spent an hour up there. Why don’t you go to my bedroom and grab the red suitcase? It’s about time we ate.” “Fine. You always make me do chores around here,” I said as I walked back up the stairs. Mom had stuffed that suitcase with everything she could before leaving. I had told her not to, as that would only make the car more cramped. She had told me to stop complaining. I sighed as I thought about what happened. I don’t know why Mom and I weren’t getting along. She always wanted me to do things for her, and was always calling for me like I was a baby. I glanced around the room for the suitcase, but there were no lights. “W-where is the light switch?” I whispered to myself as I stumbled around the walls, running my hands across to feel for a light switch. “Lila! You alright?” I heard Mom call. Ignoring her, I opened the closet door. There seemed to be a small light switch in the very back. Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked over. But all of a sudden...the wall disappeared! I blinked. The light switch appeared to have moved over to a further wall. I ran to it again, but the wall disappeared. Again, and again. What was this? My heart raced as I focused and ran for the light switch one last time… The world turned dark. It felt like I was falling...through a void of emptiness. Was this all a dream? My feet suddenly touched the ground. I looked around. This wasn’t a closet, it was a dark and murky forest. Trees with bare and lonely-looking branches surrounded the place. Right in front of where I fell, there was a very large tree. It looked like one of those spooky Halloween trees you see in the movies. The air was cold, and the wind blew strong and hard. I took a step. The earth was sodden with rainwater. I looked up at the sky. It seemed gray and barren, just like the rest of this place, and it was hard to tell what time it was. I thought of what to do. My mind was mostly blank, from the shock of what had just happened. “Hello.” I jumped. “What’s talking to me?” “My name is Gloom. Pleasure to meet you. I heard you just moved into my old home.” The otherworldly voice echoed.

“Your old home?” I asked back. I thought nobody had lived there before. The real estate agent had said that the owner of the house had disappeared years ago, so they decided to sell the house. “Yes, yes. I used to be there as a human. Lived a nice life. That place was in much better condition. But now that I...well...am a spirit, I no longer inhabit that place.” “Well then if this is a spirit forest why am I here if I’m still a human?” “Ah yes, a good question. I’ve been needing a human to come over to complete a quest.” A quest? “W...what do you want me to do? I have to get back soon,” All of a sudden, it seemed like something drifted out, into the night. I waved my arms around the place. “Gloom? A...are you there?” There was no reply. Did that ghost-spirit person just leave me right then and there? What was I supposed to do? I glanced around. What kind of quest was there to do in such a dark forest? I didn’t know what to do. All of a sudden, there was a deep growl from behind my back. “Who’s there?” I yelped. Glinting yellow eyes dashed out from the darkness. A large, wolf-like creature pounced. It was almost as tall as the large tree. I screamed and ran. The wolf followed. My heart pounded. Forget about Gloom and his quest. I had to run. I was quite a good track runner in school though, so my nimble legs carried me around the forest, making circles after circles. Lightning flashed, followed by the sound of thunder. What was going to kill me; the wolf chasing me, the distant thunderstorm, Gloom the Ghost, or Mom wondering where I was? Another hopeless scream escaped from my mouth. I was so tired, and my throat felt like sawdust. I ran, and ran, feeling the large legs of the creature behind me. Everything went black. My whole body went numb. My vision blurred. Is this what it feels like to get eaten by an enormous wolf? I fell down onto a hard wooden floor. Did I teleport again? Looking around, I realized I was back in the closet! I collapsed. Whatever had just happened had scared the life out of me. I had read books about that, but never dreamed of it happening to me. “Where are you, Lila?” Oh right, Mom. “I...I’m coming!” I flipped the light switch, and found the red suitcase in a corner. Dragging it down the stairs, I was thinking of what to say. “There you are. Let’s eat now,” Mom said. I looked at her in disbelief. “But...I was away for hours! There was a ghost called Gloom and a wolf almost ate me whole! “Don’t be silly,” she said as she opened the suitcase. “Here, have a bite of this.” She held up a biscuit I saw her baking right before we left. I was about to complain, but didn’t. I took a bite. It was still warm.