Highly Commended Story - It was not a Dream

“It was not a Dream” by Harsh Jha, D.A.V. Public school, Bistupur, Jamshedpur, India, is the Highly Commended story in the junior category of the first biannual Short Story Contest 2019.

It was not a Dream

It was our school excursion. We were very excited as we were going to visit the National Museum. We were all energized with the look of the museum. It was a grand building with several vehicles parked all around. We first went to the prehistoric zone to see the skeletons of some of the dinosaurs. We were spellbound with the life-like skeletons. The beautiful statues never let us take our eyes off them. Statues of great personalities, some great monuments of the world, but there was a statue that grabbed my attention. Nobody paid any notice to it. I went near it, and was amused to see that it had no board of some information about it. The statue was of some unusual creature, with a fierce look. It was frightening.

We had our lunch and played some games in the nearby park. I had completely forgotten about the statue, but I saw a glimpse of it, while we were getting on the bus. We were having fun, but soon it was my stop. I got off the bus and walked down the pavement. As I was walking, I heard some footsteps being dragged on the pavement just behind me. I turned around, only to find the cool air slapping on my face. I paced up towards my home. The footsteps were following me, as if they were my own shadow. I rang the doorbell, my mother opened the door and I went inside and bolted the door. From the side window, I was searching for the person who was following me. The whole road was clear; no one was to be seen.

I was watching TV, when somebody knocked on the door. ‘He could have rung the doorbell’ I wondered. I was waiting for my mother to open the door, but she didn’t do it. Suddenly, the person started banging the door, as if he was going to break it. I went to the door and opened it but found nobody! Who was playing these silly pranks with me? All of a sudden, I saw a pair of red, bloody eyes, from my neighbor’s garden, staring at me. A chill ran down my spine. I closed the door and as soon I turned, I saw the same statue staring at me. I was scared. I wanted to speak, but no words came out of my mouth. I took a step forward and to my horror, the statue moved towards me too. I pulled myself back, but the statue didn’t go back. It kept on coming towards me. I screamed, “Whoever it is, please don’t do this!” but the statue kept on moving closer. I called for my mother, but she didn’t reply. Had the statue done something to her? I opened the door and ran for my life; the statue was behind me. I saw my neighbor’s house, so I thought it would be better if I went to them for some help. I unlocked the door, and opened it. I turned back to see the statue, it was just on the pavement moving towards me. I went upstairs, ran into the attic and closed the door. It was dark so I switched on the lights, and kept my eyes closed, praying that if this is a dream it is the best time to wake up. It was so silent that I could hear the door being banged. I suddenly remembered that I forgot to lock the door. Boom! The door broke open. I could clearly hear the statue’s dragging. It was climbing the stairs the next moment. I was petrified. Unexpectedly, the attic door opened. I tried to pull up the door, but the statue had grabbed it. Suddenly a silly idea grabbed me and I pounced on the statue. The statue punched me in my face and I was rolling on the floor with a broken nose. With the entire scare and the hurt, I fainted. I woke up in my bed, with my parents by my side. I was relaxed, but there was a piece of the statue in my hand. It was not a dream.