Quite an Adventure

This short piece was originally part of an English assignment given in my final year of university. I was asked to write an original piece of text of no more than 1000 words and then self-criticise the result.

I chose to write a children's fantasy story as it is a genre that engages me most when writing. I decided to continue writing it once I had completed it for my assignment.

I intend to finish the piece in the form of short stories. Eventually creating a collection of fantasy fiction for children, and hopefully they will appeal to older audiences too.

The text is by no means finished, nor have I paid particular attention to structure or grammar at present. It's a working process, enjoy...

Quite an Adventure
Johnny was a lonely boy. He had just one friend. He wasn’t a true friend though. Johnny knew he only came round because his mother made him. The children at school thought him strange. They would never play with him. Whenever he walked into the classroom the room broke out in a whisper, embarrassed, he would shuffle to his chair and hide his head in his hands.
His day had been exceptionally dull. He had managed to survive the day unscathed as his classmates had paid him little attention. He only received two snide comments from a girl in his PE class, which was a record for a Monday.

An only child, Johnny lived with his grand-parents. His mother had passed when he was four and he never knew his father. He loved his grand-parents to bits but they weren’t the most stimulating company to keep. He craved a sibling, someone he could play with whenever he wanted.

After dinner that evening he was sent to bed around eight. His grandpa came in to say goodnight and switched off the light. Johnny wasn’t allowed to stay up reading so he would have to hide under his covers with his torch to read his books. He loved fantasy stories; a world filled with giants, dragons and princesses was what he dreamt of. This night was the same as any other. Johnny grabbed for his book under his pillow and read to himself from his favourite book- Knighthood, a story of a young man who experienced daily adventures battling with monsters, and rescuing heroines from danger.

Closing his book Johnny lay awake for a while, fantasizing about the boy in his story, wishing he could have adventures too. Slowly he drifted off into a peaceful sleep...

At 2.30 that morning, Johnny was awoken by an almighty crash coming from the garden. He dozily walked to his attic window; he saw nothing, disappointed he trudged back to his bed. Within minutes he heard the noise again, this time it was more of a rattling coming from the end of the garden.
Petrified, but desperate to investigate he slipped on his wellies and headed for the stairs. He stopped suddenly and considered going back to bed, but his curiosity was overwhelming and he knew he’d regret not looking for the mysterious sound. Gingerly he unlocked the door to the garden, the air was fresh and he could see his breath. Straining to see into the dark he heard the noise again, it was coming from the shed at the bottom of the garden. He hated that shed, there was no light and the tools in there created all sorts of creepy shadows to frighten him.

Breathing in deeply he took a step out into the dark night. He wanted to turn back, fear crippling him, but his legs kept moving as if he were being pulled towards the shed against his will. He turned back to look at the house, it was in total darkness. The rattling happened again! As quietly as possible he tugged at the latch that locked the shed door, it swung open eerily, creaking loudly and adding to his fear.

As he walked further into the shed the rattling got louder and more frequent as if it was urging him on, calling his name. Ducking around the lawnmower he located the sound. It was coming from a small wooden chest, it looked ancient, he had never seen it before but it was vibrating. As soon as he saw it, the rattling ceased and everything went silent.

He lent forward to touch it and felt a buzz of electricity in his fingers. The box wanted it to find him, he knew it, and his heart felt it. The chest was locked so he frantically began looking for a key. There was all sorts of junk in the shed but his instinct led him to a drawer in the corner of the room, opening it he saw a key, it was antique in colour and style, he knew it was the one to fit the chest.

With excitement rushing through him, he ran back to the chest and clumsily unlocked it. Eagerly he pulled open the lid. Peering down inside the chest a huge weight of disappoint hit him, all that lay inside was another key, a much smaller key, but a key all the same. Then without a warning he was laying flat out on his back! The rug on which he was standing had been tugged from beneath him, but there was no-one there, he was completely alone.

Pulling himself up onto his feet he looked down and saw that he was standing on a trap-door, a trap door that had been hidden under a rug for who knows how long. In a rush he grabbed for the key from the chest and shoved it into the locked trap-door. He threw the door open, and stepped carefully down the stairs that led under the garden.

It was pitch black apart from the light coming from Johnny’s torch. He was squinting into the darkness and could see a cupboard shaking in the far corner of this huge empty room. The room appeared as if no-one had ever entered, he wondered if his grand-parents even knew it existed.

Scared out of his wits, he approached the cupboard. As he got closer it vibrated more and more and more. There was a latch keeping it closed, with a deep breath he lifted that latch. Before he had a chance to open the door it swung open, knocking him off his feet. He banged his head on a chair which caused him to pass out.

Feeling delirious and confused, Johnny could feel a heavy weight on his chest. As he slowly opened his eyes they began to focus on a strange shape sitting on him. Sat on top of Johnny’s chest was the most peculiar thing he had ever seen. It was covered in matted hair, with horns protruding from its head, it appeared no bigger than a garden gnome.
The creature was staring down at Johnny, smiling widely. It cleared its throat and spoke in a gruff voice

“Hello Johnny” is all it said, before Johnny passed out again.

After sitting in silence for a few moments, mouth gaping wide open. Johnny leant up onto his elbows, with an almighty shove he leapt from the ground. The poor creature was taken by surprise and went catapulting up at least six feet into the air.

Screaming as loud as his lungs would allow, Johnny ran as if his life depended on it. He tripped, and stumbled on rakes and plants on his way but managed to make it to his attic room without being followed by the strange creature. Unable to catch his breath- he stood staring at his door for what felt like a lifetime. He silently prayed that the silence would not break with the dreaded footsteps he wished not to hear.

When he began to feel safe again, Johnny took a quick spin around his bedroom, checking that everything remained in its place. His chest was rising and falling to the sound of his clock and slowly he allowed himself to relax. He gingerly sat at the foot of his bed, trying to piece together all that had just happened. But he could in no way comprehend it. Had it even happened? Maybe he had been dreaming and hadn’t left his room at all?

Just as he was beginning to convince himself, there was a creak on the landing directly outside of his bedroom door. It took Johnny less that than half a second to shoot across his bedroom, grab the key from him desk, and lock his bedroom door. If the creature was out there, there was no way of it getting to him now. That is when he noticed it, there had been light leaking in under the crack of his door cast from the landing light- the same landing light that was off just moments ago.

Johnny was grappling with the idea that perhaps the racket had woken his grand-parents and they were checking the house. Distracted for a moment, he almost did not see the light change as a shadow crept across the floor from the light coming in under the door. There was definitely something out there, lurking in the hallway.

Almost as quickly as the shadow had appeared, it was gone again. Johnny was petrified. He took a step forward towards the door and gently rested his head against the wood. It was cold against his ear, sending shivers down his spine. He listened intently, there was a sound. It was only a faint sound, but he could hear something for sure. It was a sort of shuffling, scratching sound. The strangest thing was that it was not coming from the floor. It appeared as if the sound was high up- on the ceiling perhaps. The very thought terrified Johnny. Whatever it was that was out there, it could climb walls.

The sound got louder for a few moments, as if the creature was grappling or struggling with something. With a sudden loud tear, everything went quiet.
Not knowing whether to feel relieved or anxious, Johnny began looking around his bedroom. He didn’t feel alone, the feeling grew and was confirmed where the shuffling sound that was outside, began to happen within his very bedroom.

Frantically darting around his bedroom, Johnny tried to locate the sound, it was coming from behind his bed! With all the strength of Hercules, Johnny dragged his bed out from the wall and laid his head against the cool wallpaper. The thing was in the walls and it was moving, fast. The creature was making a grunting sound, its breath heavy, desperate to come in.

Johnny could have kicked himself, suddenly remembering the grate in the chimney breast. Although he hadn’t a fireplace in his bedroom, there was a small mettle grate set within the chimney breast so that the air could feed the fire downstairs in the sitting room.

Leaping over his bed, he darted for the other side of his room where his desk sat. He climbed under it, in the vain hope to cover the exposed grate. His body went cold, all the blood drained from his face leaving him feeling nauseous. The grate had been ripped clean out of the wall, bloody scratch marks surrounded the edge of the big gaping hole, the hole that led to the walls of the house!

This could only mean one thing; the creature was in his bedroom, with him. The bedroom door was locked, he was trapped and definitely going to die.
Johnny was still sat beneath his desk staring at the hole in the wall when he felt a presence standing directly behind him. Johnny stopped breathing; it was as if the whole world were holding their breath with him. It was just him, and whatever it was that was standing behind him, practically panting on the skin of his neck.

The creature extended its clawed hand and tapped Johnny firmly on the shoulder. As slowly as you could imagine, Johnny began turning his head. To confirm that this was no dream, the creature from the mystery cellar in the shed was staring wide-eyed at Johnny’s face. They stared into each other’s faces for mere moments when the creature leaned forward and exhaled wit one short breath “boo”.

At this, Johnny let out the loudest scream of his young life whilst struggling to get to his feet and locate some form of weapon on which he planned on beating the creature with. The sound of Johnny’s scream must have alarmed the creature as he too began to scream. The sound coming from Johnny’s room was horrendous. Although Johnny was terrified of waking his grand-parents, he couldn’t force his mouth closed. His scream just kept on coming, as did the creatures.

Johnny ran towards his desk and grabbed the first thing that his hand fell upon. He grabbed the lamp, yanking the chord free from the wall and began chasing the creature, swinging the lamp wildly in the air. All the time, both remained screaming.

Round and round they went, with Johnny swinging the lamp and the creature narrowly avoiding each swipe. He dodged every hit with a swift ability, jumping all over the bedroom. Johnny finally managed to trap the creature between his wardrobe and his desk, just as he pulled his arm back readying to hit the creature, it smirked, clicked its fingers and disappeared before his very eyes.

Taken aback, Johnny stumbled back and dropped that lamp which came crashing to the floor. At this, Johnny began to cry. A loud click towards his left made his head com snapping up. The creature had reappeared at the end of his bed. There were tears burning down Johnny’s face, barely able to see he stuttered

“Whh-hh-aa-ttt are you?”

The creature replied “what , what am I? Pleaseee Johnny, I think you should be asking- who am I?!”

Johnny took a deep breath and turned to face the creature face on, he managed to hold his voice steady and asked;

“Ok , WHO are you? And why are you trying to kill me?