14 Year Old Dedrick Would Like to Tell You a Story

I’ve dabbled in all kinds of work over the years. My portfolio ranges from traditional public relations to web production, ‘live’ music performance and recording, event management and even stage performances (a little-known secret that I keep closely-guarded).

As I grow older and wiser, looking back at some of my past work can occasionally yield some cringe-worthy moments.

“Did I really create that garbage?”

But occasionally, I create something that manages to withstand my ever mounting scrutiny. The following short story is one such example.

I wrote this when I was a 14 year old, secondary 2 student studying in Saint Gabriel’s Secondary School. Our English teacher gave us a 1-hour exercise where we had to write a composition that uses the following opening:

“I woke up suddenly. I tried to go back to bed, but it was hot and I could not sleep…”

This is what I wrote:

“I woke up suddenly. I tried to go back to bed, but it was hot and I could not sleep. I glanced over at the digital alarm clock on my bedside table. It was 3 am.

I tossed and turned, hoping to eventually fall asleep, but my body was sweaty and the heat was unbearable. I got out of bed and went to open the window. A cool gush of air rushed over me as I slid the window open. I stood there for a moment, relishing the relief from the heat. As I glanced out of the window, I was taken by how beautiful the city was. It was quiet and shrouded in darkness.

As I surveyed the city, an apartment across the street caught my eye. It was the only apartment with its lights still on and I spotted a disturbing commotion.

A young woman was trying to flee from a tall, hooded figure that was carrying a kitchen knife. She nearly made it to the door of her apartment, but she was too slow. He pounced on her and dragged her to the living room before straddling her, knife in hand. She struggled but she could not overcome him. He stabbed her repeatedly as the blood gushed from her convulsing body.

And then she stopped moving.

I stood there, shocked and dumbfounded. The killer was kneeling over her, knife in hand, when his head suddenly looked up and we caught each other’s gaze. He scrambled to his feet and ran out of the apartment.

Terrified, I pulled the blinds down and dropped to my knees, hoping he did not see me. I was consumed by fear and spent several moments on the floor when I heard a loud banging sound on my apartment door.

Even in the cover of darkness, I could see the door buckling and budging under the strain of each violent attack.

I reached for the phone on the nearby table and called the police. As the phone rang, I frantically waited for someone to answer my call. After what felt like an eternity, I finally got through…to an answering machine.

At that moment, the door finally succumbed and flew open. The same pale, tall creature, drabbed in a black hood, stood at my doorway, knife coated with blood. I ran to close the door of my bedroom as he rushed into my apartment. He stopped me before I managed to close the door and he forced his way in.

The tussle threw me to the floor and he began to straddle me as I grabbed onto his hands, desperate to keep the knife at bay. We struggled for a moment before I tucked my legs under him, and kicked him away with all my strength.

As he staggered backwards, I crawled away from him and towards the hockey stick I kept leaning against the wall. I reached for it when I suddenly felt his cold, clammy hand on my ankle. I turned to see him falling towards me, knife in hand. With one last desperate attempt, I reached out for the hockey stick. And then…

I woke up suddenly. I tried to go back to bed, but it was hot and I could not sleep… “
(546 Words)

When my teacher gave me this assignment, I’m pretty sure she wasn’t expecting me to write a gory thriller, but she like it and she asked me to read it to the class.

In hindsight, I wonder how appropriate it was to have read this to my fellow 14 year olds…