Tim James Aged 15
Wimbledon NumberWorks’nWords

Out Of The Shadows
It was a cold, gloomy Saturday night and my parents were out, so I had the entire house in my possession. I decided to relax for a while, so I sat on the sofa and watched television, as a few of my favourite programmes were on. Suddenly, I felt distracted by a cold draught of air and thought a window, or a patio door, must have been open. This seemed a little odd as I know that my parents religiously checked them before they left the house. I went into the kitchen to inspect for any open windows or doors. They were all closed and the door was locked. I decided to not worry so much about it and went to make myself some food to cheer me up as I had now missed the TV programmes I had planned to watch, as my mind was playing tricks on me. Strangely, the microwave wouldn’t turn on, which was soon followed by the lights going out. I was stranded in darkness for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. I thought about restarting the power, but the switch was downstairs and, unfortunately for me, happened to be in the basement, the very room I did not want to visit …
As I made my way downstairs to the basement preparing to enter the realm of darkness I got a gut feeling I was not welcome in the room. In a desperate attempt I searched and searched for the power switch, the key to light, which was my only way of driving out this darkness which haunted this room. But just then I had felt a gust of wind. I could not see or find the door from which it was coming, so in a desperate attempt I began searching for the power switch and, to my delight, I eventually found it and turned on the power. It took a bit of time before the old, dusty, cobweb invested lights would actually turn on and, not surprisingly, one of them actually remained off.
I turned around to close the door but the door was neither open nor closed, instead it was smashed down, now I could see that wherever the gust of wind came from, something else had come with it. I could not see anything outside, except hear the trees whispering to themselves and see nothing, as all there was the never-ending, haunting darkness.
I went up the stairs from the basement intending to call the police, but the door that separated the basement from the kitchen was locked. It was then that I started to panic, and bang on the door, and shout “LET ME IN”! But there was no answer and my voice just seemed to bounce from wall to wall and echo in the room I was in. It was like talking to myself.
I had been waiting in the room for a number of hours now, though surprisingly I had not heard any sounds upstairs, not even a whisper. I wanted to call the police, but the home phone was upstairs and my mobile phone was out of charge, almost as if it had died with the power. I wouldn’t dare go outside in the darkness in case the person who had terrorised me, may have been waiting outside, waiting to kill me.
I had been trapped in the basement for at least six hours now, and I was beginning to believe I would never get out of this mess, never get out of this room … but then suddenly the lights went out and the shadows returned, engulfing me in darkness, leaving me petrified. I tried to shout for help but no sound was produced and the sound just faded in the darkness. As I had done before, I tried to find the power switch and I did and my heart filled with joy and relief. However, the lights failed to illuminate. So in a panicky, desperate attempt I rushed to the locked door and tried to smash my way through, but the door was just too dense and too strong for me. Then suddenly I heard a series of footsteps drawing closer, moving through the darkness. And then I felt a gust of wind stroke my cheek, a gentle yet menacing stroke and I knew, in the brink of my eye, my fate had already been decided …