“A Haunted Clubhouse”

Do you enjoy writing stories?

If I didn’t know it existed, I wouldn’t care what happened to it. But now I know. And you will too! Please enjoy my high school Honors English “Writing Prompt #2” written in December 2006. Don’t ask me what the question or assignment was. Fitting for Halloween I reckon! Mystery? Horror? Thought-provoking? Relevant? Trash? You decide?

(Besides moving a few commas around, nothing about the content of this piece has been altered or edited).

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The room was square, silent, and shady. My eyes quenched when they encountered a bright light. A round, dark-skinned man was standing in the corner and walked towards the table where I was sitting. I couldn’t remember where I was, and exactly why I was there until I noticed the man was in a police uniform. He then started asking me questions about the night before.

“Tell me, Ms. Imani, what exactly happened?” the officer questioned.

I blinked slowly and stared at the man with uncertainty. My mind started to recuperate, and then I told him what happened.

“I was watching Family Guy the night before it all happened. The show was interrupted with an important news report — ‘We’re not sure if some kids are playing a prank, whatever it is, we need to watch out!’ the news reporter exclaimed. ‘Poor innocent toddlers are lost and could be even dead.’ By then, my mouth was two inches above the ground and I was sitting on the edge of my couch. ‘It all happened earlier this afternoon when a poor lady realized her son was missing from the park. Let’s hear what she has to say,’ the news reporter continued.

“A woman who looked as if she has gone mad started screaming, ‘I watched him and a couple of other children run towards the woods, and I yelled for him to come back, but the other parents said it was okay. They said there was a playground with a huge clubhouse on the other side of the trees. So I sat back down and enjoyed my afternoon with other parents.’

“What happened next?” the news reporter asked in interest.

“Well, it got dark pretty early for some reason, and it was time for us to leave. I volunteered to get the other kids as well as mine from the playground. When I walked through the bushes, no sight of life was to be found. A strong wind blew and I began to worry. I screamed the kids’ names plenty of times, and there were no answers. The other parents came to see what was taking so long; by the time they saw my frightened face they just whispered, ‘It’s happening again.’ I panicked and said, ‘What’s happening again? What’s going on? Where’s my son?’ They gave a long glare towards the large clubhouse and pulled me out. I looked back and began to cry.’

“The news reporter started saying something, but I turned the television off before she could finish. I sat looking puzzled and I had to do something about it. I knew exactly what happened to their children. That clubhouse is haunted. I have been through this before and I had to remember how to get into their land. They control that clubhouse and anyone who walks in it.”

The policeman interrupted, “Who are they?”

“They are people, demons matter of fact, who rule the dark side of that playground. It’s not even a playground; it’s a death trap! Now, may I please go on? So, I knew that there was only one way to get into the dark side of the playground. I had to become a child. I had to find the inner child with me and think like one. However, this was not easy. Every time I tried to think childish, the demons from the clubhouse would haunt me. It was an evil spirit from a kid that was trapped, and it would terrorize me. All the mirrors and glass in my house began to shatter, the water pipes cracked, and I was losing air. I pulled myself out of that mindset and I could breathe again. I just couldn’t stop; I tried it repeatedly and things got worse I could no longer do this on my own so I had to ask my best friend Eddie for help.

“He was the only person that I told about the incident I had. He was the only one who knew that I was a survivor of that clubhouse. He told me what I had to do. The first thing I had to do was cherish, love, and get close to a kid. The only way I could think like them was to observe their every move and the way they thought. So, I studied his baby sister. Once I thought I knew her well enough, I tried the thinking process again. Unfortunately, the demons came right back. I didn’t stop this time though. My mind was set on saving those children, so I didn’t give up. The demons saw my determination and grabbed Eddie. I had the choice to stop or lose my best friend. I could look in his eyes and tell he wanted me to save the kids, so my mind didn’t stop. Suddenly, they were gone and I was at a playground. A large, dark clubhouse stood in front of me. It looked uninhabited for years. There were cracks in the wall and moss grew everywhere.

“I saw a small entrance behind the slide and ran through it. The other side was different from what I remembered. I stood looking dumbfounded until I heard a harsh scream. I ran towards the scream and peered around the corner. Three demons were taking turns pulling out a kid’s hair and slapping him! I couldn’t handle it anymore and started crying. I then saw Eddie. He was hung on chains on the wall. It was horrible! A fat demon came my way and tried to slash me. Another came and threw knives at me. A knife slit my lower stomach. I ran into a room and shut the door. Behind me, a group of kids was sitting. They thought I was the Mother demon and started screaming. I hushed them and told them I was there to help. I asked them where all the others were, and they said the demons only had one kid. They started taking them out one by one to torture them. I told the kids to wait there and I promised that no one else was going to get hurt. I dashed to the torture room, and on the way, I saw an ax lying against the wall. I grabbed it and went crazy on the demons. One by one they fell to the ground. I huffed and puffed as I looked at the toddler who was red and his hair was half gone. Blood was oozing all around the room.

“The kid and I hurried to the room where the other kids were and I led them towards the exit. I unchained Eddie and carefully helped him down off the wall. I was sure that there were more demons somewhere, so we had to get out quickly. I trailed behind the kids on the way out. I forgot that when I came in I had a child’s mind, and I had to crawl in. I must have turned swiftly and hit my head off the entrance because before I knew it everything was black. I woke up to find myself here at the station wondering what happened to Family Guy.“

The police officer stared at me in amazement. He then asked — “You saved those kids by yourself, am I correct?”

“Yes,” I replied looking at him in a weird way.

“You killed all the people, well, demons?” he asked.

Once again, I replied with the same look on my face, “Yes.”

“It seems to me that you had a rough time on the dark side of the playground.” I already knew he didn’t believe me. “However, you cannot be charged with murder because they weren’t people, they were demons. Also, you did manage to get every child out of the playground safely. The children that could talk well did say that you saved them and that there were demons. So far, the parents let it go through one ear and out the other, and they are waiting to hear what you had to say. Thank you for your honesty, I hope you recover well. You will now go down the hall and into the second door on the left, and there a few people want to talk with you. Other than that, you and I are through.”

“Wait, where is Eddie?” I wondered.

The officer stopped, slowly turned his head towards me, and took a deep breath. I didn’t even want to hear what he had to say.

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How do yall think I did? Haha! 16-year-old Moni clearly wasn’t ready for law school yet because she didn’t exercise her right to remain silent and gave a statement to a police officer. Don’t ever do that! Lol.

Happy Halloween, Folks!

“Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That you may silence the enemy and the avenger.” — Psalms 8:2, NKJV.

Moni Jay, Off the Record