A night in the cemetery
Chapter 1
As I was sitting on the canteen chair that day, Jack and his friends taunted me incessantly “Tom is a sissy! Tom is a sissy!’’, making me want to burst in rage. Jack has been my arch enemy since grade one and we were always competing against each other for better grades. I disliked Jack as he was the proud and boastful kind, we always could not get along together well and we always ended up in fights. Not long ago during a class lesson, a creepy cockroach landed on my table causing me to scream in fright when I was least expecting it. The class laughed out loud and teased me a sissy. After that incident whenever Tom saw me, he would call me a sissy. “Enough!” I bellowed. “I’ll prove to you I am not a sissy. Dare me!” I yelled back. “Ok,” Jack replied with a faint laughter in his voice, “if you spend a single night in the cemetery and take a video of yourself there as proof, we will call it quits.” At first I was reluctant, but I knew I had to do it in order to prove that I was not a coward. “Ok,” I said with some hesitation in my voice. “And how will I know you are not a sissy too,” I said annoyingly. “Ok, we will meet at the entrance of the cemetery nearest to your house, I will be awaiting you tonight.” With that, Jack and his gang walked away proudly with their heads held high.
Chapter 2
When I went home after school that day, I reluctantly fooled my parents into believing me that I was going for a sleepover at my best friend’s house that night, and they fell for it. While I was resting at home, fearful imaginations flashed through my mind, like a hideous monster grabbing me then tearing my arm off and using it to club me to death. I was scared, I was not entirely ready for spending a night in a cemetery. But I knew I had to do it, in order to prove to Jack and to teach him a lesson never to mess with me again as I was no sissy. I pushed those wild imaginations aside by reminding myself that there were no such things like monsters and the undead.
I then packed my backpack with the video recorder to record as proof to Tom that I went to the cemetery (in case he was scared and didn’t show up), a torchlight (as I supposed it would be dark), a crucifix (in case any spooky things happened), and two large bottles of water, a dozen packets of snacks (in case I got hungry) and a pocket watch to tell the time. After that, I kissed my parents goodbye and set off on my journey to the cemetery.
The walk to the cemetery was long and tiring and I walked till my legs got a little numb and my toes got blisters all over. According to my map the nearest cemetery was at least three kilometres away! As I walked, the fearful thoughts kept coming back to my head. I imagined all sorts of terrifying creatures. But something in my head reminded and encouraged me repeatedly that I had to continue on my journey to prove myself to Tom that I was not a sissy. I stood up to those fears and had my mind set on achieving my gaol.
Chapter 3
It took me ages to finally arrive at the cemetery. Jack was nowhere to be found. I waited and waited for him, but he didn’t show up. That cowardly bastard! He must have chickened out. “Now who’s the sissy!” I thought, annoyed. “Well since I’m here, I might as well spend a night here, then he will never make fun of me again and maybe even start treating me with some respects.”
The cemetery was overgrown and neglected. Enormous Oak trees and Yew trees had spread their roots under the packed headstones and forgotten memorials, toppling many of them to the ground. Thousands of deceased men and women were buried there. I felt as if every single one of them was quietly watching my every move. Goosebumps started appearing on my body. I felt as if every single strand of hair on my body was standing. As I walked, I examined the names on the tombstones. One very old but grand and magnificent tombstone caught my eyes. On the front of the tombstone was this faded picture of a wise-looking elderly man dressed in a smart business suit. “He must have been a rich business tycoon” I thought curiously. I soon realised that the only birds I saw there were old owls and crows which were dead-black in colour. I supposed no bright and lively birds would want to live here anyway. All of a sudden two oval-shaped, yellow eyes flashed at me in the nearby trees. The plants inhabiting the cemetery were faddish in colour and I could not even spot a single flower in the entire cemetery. ‘Ugh, this cemetery is just too spooky, ugly and torn-down, the people in charge of this place should refurbish it once in a while’ I thought disgustedly. All of a sudden two oval-shaped, yellow eyes flashed at me in the nearby trees. “Ah!” I screamed with fright. To my relief, the two eyes belonged to a grey owl as I saw it fly away, startle by my scream.
I made my way to a tall dead Oak tree in the centre of the cemetery and settled down. To my surprise I saw a strange message carved onto the tree bark. I took out my torchlight and flashed it at the message. The words in the message looked as if they were carved out in a rush as the letters were of different sizes and there were several spelling errors. The message read ‘bewar wen the our han hits minight’. The message sent a chill up my spine. Could this be some kind of a joke; well if it was, it sure wasn’t very funny as somehow the message had freaked me out quite a bit. But if this message was true, it meant great troubles were coming. It had to be true as the evidence was convincing. Was the message trying to warn whoever read it to beware of some terrifying creatures, vampires, werewolves or just what? ‘I wonder what time it is now’ I thought fearfully, embracing myself for the worse. I pulled out my pocket watch to look at the time, cold fear gripped me as I was only a few seconds away to midnight......
Chapter 4
“Tick tock, tick tock,” my heart beat faster as the seconds died away. “TOCK!” The second hand struck twelve. Suddenly, the smell of rotting flesh filled the air, the fog around me got thicker, the pressure of the air rose and the cemetery became dead silent. I felt as if my heart was frozen in my chest. “Creak!” The ground started to split open and many rotting hands could be seen waving themselves in the air. I was horror-stricken as decaying and disfigured corpses crawled out of the earth and started to approach me with their hands held up like claws. I was petrified. I was in a living horror show! I tried to run but I felt like I was rooted to the ground. I screamed in fear as the living corpses approached me nearer and nearer. The look on the corpses’ faces were revolting, their faces were disfigured and repellent. A corpse came close and grabbed me by the arm, I tried to pull myself away, but it refused to let go. “Let-go-of-me,” I grunted trying to haul myself out of its clutch. I looked behind me and saw a sharp tree branch, I snatched it and with all my might plunged its sharp tip into its decaying forearm. The corpse let out a howl of distress and released its grip just long enough for me to stagger back, coughing and spluttering, until I crashed against the Oak tree behind me.
All of a sudden I remembered I brought a crucifix. I quickly took it out from my backpack and flashed it at them. “Arrr!!!!” The corpses growled at the sight of it. They backed away from me wearily, powerless in the face of the cross. I ran for my life. I ran for the gate, but “BANG!” the iron gate slammed shut. I tried climbing over the gate but a strange force pulled me to the ground. “Ouch!”I yelled in pain as I hit the hard ground. I held the crucifix in my hand and yelled at the top of my voice “Save me god!” Suddenly a bright, holy light flashed from the crucifix. The corpses backed off and used their hands to block their eyes. A sudden force pried the gate open and I ran for it. I ran and ran not daring to look back, grateful for the help. I didn’t care anymore about the stupid dare, I just ran!
Unfortunately the corpses didn’t give up. They got up and continued their chase, angry at my escape. It was as if I had a bounty on my head and they were bounty hunters, and that catching me would have them rewarded with an unimaginable amount of money. While running I repeatedly flashed my crucifix at them as it seemed to slow them down. I ran like never before, I felt like my legs were burning. Then I looked back, and to my amazement, the corpses seemed to have stopped the chase and hopped into the forest and disappeared from sight. But I was still afraid they might return, so I continued running not daring to look back.
Chapter 5
I ran and ran till my legs got sore. They could not still be hot on my trail right, as it was already ten minutes and I had not seen a single one of them so far. “Yes!” I shouted in a state of pure happiness. “I’m alive, thanks to heaven!” From there I took it smooth, recounting on what happened. But still my senses told me something was not right. I look around and all I could see was the old road, the dark wide-open sky and the old, large trees surrounding me. The place was dead silent. I could only hear myself breathing. “Twick!” It sounded like a tree branch breaking into halves. “What the heck was that?” I exclaimed. I shivered. I turned fearfully in the direction the sound was coming from. I was facing the forest. Slowly, red dots appeared in the darkness. They brightened. I walked closer to take a better look. Every part in my body was vibrating violently. Again, as my eyesight was poor, I took a step closer. I was now staring face to a face with a strange light. “RRGH!” A hideous-looking face popped out in front of me. The corpse stared at me in the eyes. “Yikes!”I screamed as I jumped back and hit the ground. I was so scared I wetted my pants on the spot. Just then, more undead corpses jumped out of the woods and started to come towards me. For every step they took towards me, it was only an inch I took to crawl back from them. ‘When is this going to end?’I thought at the back of my head. Then once again I remembered I brought a crucifix. I took it out and flashed it at them. “What?”I said, puzzled. It didn’t work. I was stupefied, I couldn’t believe that the crucifix played me out at this very crucial moment. I lay there thinking it was the end of me. But at the very moment, memories rushed through my mind. I remembered my family and my friends and all the fun and loving times we had together. I knew I shouldn’t give up all hopes of survival. I picked up the crucifix, and with miraculous strength, threw it straight at the filthy undead. The crucifix seemed to give out an invisible heat rays which burned the rotting flesh of the undead corpses. “ARGH!” they groaned painfully. As the saying goes, strike when the iron is hot. I saw this as my ultimate chance for an escape. I pushed the corpses out of my way and ran for my life. After a short while the corpses recovered. Realising that I had escaped, they burst into anger and gave chase after me in hot pursuit.
Chapter 6
The chase continued. I was being chased by a mob of angry and degenerated undead corpses. As I was running my heart palpitated heavily. As the corpses were running, one of them actually had one of its legs drop off. Even with its leg gone, it didn’t give up and continued crawling mercilessly towards me. “Arggh!” I exclaimed in fright and disgust. It was a never-ending chase. I was getting tired, I tried to pull myself up but I was really exhausted. My legs were numb and I was drenched in sweat. I started to run slower and slower until my legs could not move any longer. I went down on my knees. I was thirsty and totally exhausted. Then I remembered I brought some water and snacks! I took the water bottle out of my bag and drank up all the water in one gulp. As the water rushed down my throat my whole body felt immensely relieved and energised. I quickly got up on my feet and ran. It was like a race, but just that the corpses could not get tired. Then I saw a streak of sunlight in the far horizon. It was the break of dawn. The sky gradually turned from black to orange. I looked behind me and saw that the corpses were backing away from the light as the light shone across the ground. Soon the light was shining on them. “Rgh!” they screamed in pain as their body slowly melted away in the light. Slowly they melted into liquid and the liquid started to sizzle and boil until it completely vaporised. Yes! I knew this was the end to the torments as it was no longer night. I sat down below a tree and rested; I put my hands behind my head and relaxed. It was over. It was no point telling anybody what had happened as nobody would believe. They might even think I was insane. ‘What a day’ I thought, ‘well at least now I can boldly say that I am no sissy but Jack is because he didn’t turn up.’ It’s now time to head home. I couldn’t wait to give Jack a piece of my mind. His face shall meet my fist!
My stomach was growling, I was dying for something to eat. I took out my packet of potato chips and savoured every single bite of that delicious and crispy chip. Never before had it tasted as nice. A rush of energy returned to my body. I felt empowered once again. I’ve never felt so relived and happy in my entire life. I stood up and slowly walked home, admiring the birds, the trees and flowers on the way home.
Chapter 7
When I reached home I pressed the door bell to alert my parents I had returned home. “Ding Dong! Ding Dong!” The doorbell rang loudly. “Oh that must be our son.” I heard my mother saying within the house. My father was not home as he normally left for work before the break of dawn. My mother opened the door and just stared at me with a blank expression on her face. “What is it Mom? Why are you so shocked?” I asked. After moments of delay, she finally said, “You are so dirty! What happened?” I looked at my body and only then did I realise that I was so freaking dirty. My clothes were covered with brown mud and my hands and legs had scratches and were muddy all over. I quickly thought up of an excuse to what happened. “Oh, this morning on my way home, I accidentally slipped on a puddle of mud,” I said quickly. “Oh I see, well come in and take a bath, you still have one hour to school,” my mother said with astonishment. I couldn’t wait to get to school, my mind was hell-bent on beating Jack up. After I bathed and changed into my school uniform, it was already time for school. I sat in my mother’s car and she took me to school. On the way I thought of all sorts of ways I could cause pain to Jack. He shall suffer!
Chapter 8
When I reached school and assembled in the hall, Jack seemed to be avoiding any eye contact with me. ‘He must be afraid!’I thought. I knew I could not carry out my plan to beat him up until it was recess time. I didn’t want to get myself into trouble with the teachers and allow Jack to get away scot free. When it was recess time, I walked up to Jack and shouted in pure rage. “Jack! You are a sissy! You didn’t turn up at the cemetery last night! You chickened out, didn’t you?” “Wait, you were the one who didn’t turn up! Tom is a sissy!”Jack denied and tried to taunt me again. What the heck, he is ignoring the fact and trying to put the blame on me! Trying to put the blame on me!!!! Now I am really angry. I felt my blood pressure shoot up; I was totally red in the face. I charged at Jack and punched him hard in the face. I pulled him to the floor and kicked him in the head repeatedly. “O-o-ok, O-ok! I didn’t turn up! I won’t tease you again! J-j-just stop kicking me, i-i-it really hurts.”Jack was groaning in pain, begging me for mercy. “Ok, you loser! Now everyone will know that you suck!” With that I walked away satisfied with my actions. The many onlookers walked towards him and started teasing him, “Jack is a loser, Jack is a sissy.” ‘Even the school supports me now, hehe,’ I thought jovially.
From then on, Jack dared not tease me ever again and now people started to despise him. Haha, now he shall have a taste of his own medicine. The members in Jack’s gang disbanded as they now saw Jack as a pathetic loser, and they propose to me to be their new leader! Did I accept their offer? Of course I did! Now I love it whenever I walk past Jack with the gang because it makes him feel upset and ashamed. From then on the new sissy is Jack.
