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Grade
7

The Cord

 

It was a crisp autumn day and I had begun the long walk to the old movie theater where all the kids met. The movie theater was once a majestic building, lined with hundreds of lights and gold trim, filled with the smell of popcorn and butter, bursting with the sounds of contentment, but over the years when the town had become grey and cold, fewer and fewer people had come to sit in the worn red velvet seats. I couldn’t remember a time I hadn’t opened the heavy steel doors.

By the time I had gotten inside everyone was already there and the meeting had already begun. Wilson, was an old man, who, as much as I loved him, didn’t know when to stop talking. Within minutes I had stopped listening to him, and was gazing around the ancient theater. Wilson had been in charge of The Robinson Theater since my mom was a little girl, but it had closed down before I was born. Wilson was now in charge of running the Robinson line, which we nicknamed The Cord. Before Wilson had started The Cord, it took more than two hours to walk home, but with the new system all the kids could get home in less than half an hour. 

Our school lay in the center of town, which was built for the rich families, and was surrounded by a dense forest, which had been superficially grown so much that it had created a natural border between the wealthy folks, and the poor ones. No one was sure how big it was. Outside of the forest was the factory complex which is where poor kids like me and my family lived. My mother worked in factory #7 making whatever the Government decided. My mother wanted me and my sisters to go to school in the Inland, and the Government demanded most of her paycheck. We almost never had enough food.

All the factory workers, who sent their kids to the Inland, pooled their money in order to build a safe direct way through the forest called The Cord. It had two main entryways, one on the left hand side of the theater, which the kids who lived on the Eastside took, and one on the right hand side, for the Westside kids. Each kid who took The Cord had their own way to get home. 

I glanced at the clock. It was around 7. Wilson had been talking for over half an hour but I was too distracted thinking about if there was going to be food on the table that night. My father died when I was 7, so now it was me: Raven, and my 2 sisters: Claudia who was 5, and Lisa, who was 9. My dad had always been my best friend, and I missed him everyday. My mother hated talking about him, and she had never told us how he had died.

“Ok I think it’s about time you kids get home.” Wilson said. “And, don’t forget what about the change in procedure.” I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I figured it wouldn’t matter. I slowly stood up and gathered my coat and homework from that day. I yawned, I hadn’t realized how tired I had gotten. I walked to the left side of the theater. Wilson stopped me.

“It seemed like you were distracted today Raven, is everything alright?” I nodded. 

“Just a bit tired is all.”

“Ok, tell your mom and sisters I say hi.” I smiled at him and proceeded to walk to the door.

I opened the door and a cool gust of wind hit me. A leaf floated down from a nearby tree. I laughed aloud, it was always a surprise to me, seeing something so green and alive, in our factory ridden town.

I took a step and placed my hand on the worn down rope. It smelled like spring even though it had been a blistering hot day. I turned around and waved to Wilson but he had already walked away. A few feet ahead of me, laid the entrance of the forest marked by a rusty gate with the words Osseus Forest carved above the handle. The gate had always looked sad and neglected, and I sometimes thought how the gate had looked when it had first been built. I walked closer to the gate, and reached for my necklace, attached was a key to the forest. Wilson had given it to me when I turned 13, two years ago. I slid it in, then turned it to the left and heard the lock click open. I took out the key and placed it in my pocket. I opened the gate, eager to get home. I then I started walking down the dusty path covered by clovers, which led me to my first landmark. I cautiously stepped over a makeshift bridge, using the cord for balance. I looked ahead of me, and saw the cord disappear, leading me deeper into the forest.

 

I had been walking for quite some time, and I had gotten so deep into the forest that everything started to look the same. The tall trees were blocking the night sky, so I couldn't tell what time it was. It seemed like I had been walking for at least an hour, I usually got home around sunset, but Wilson had talked for so long that there was no telling when I would get home. It always seemed so peaceful walking underneath the stars, there was something so dream-like about it. I had made it to a clearing surrounded by birch trees, and I stopped to catch my breath. I had gotten so used to holding the cord that I barely noticed when the cord fell slack. That's when I realized the cord had been cut. 

Oh no. 

I started spiraling, I couldn’t think straight. This had never happened before, and I had no clue what I would do. It felt like a dream. I whirled around, trying to find if the cord continued. 

It didn’t. 

Tears started streaming down my face, just from being terrified. I started to remember the stories about these woods, when I was younger I would gather around the fire, and beg the elders to tell me stories about the terrifying creatures and tales of villagers never coming back, from lack of water. I started to panic, but there was no one around me to hear me cry. While I panicked the sun had slowly started to creep down. I made up my mind: I was not going to spend the night in the forest. I looked around trying to find any sort of sign of direction. There were no footprints anywhere, and no signpost in sight. I took a deep breath, let out a gasping sigh and walked out of the clearing, in the same direction the cord had been leading. I couldn’t afford to be scared anymore.

As I walked, I tried to think about how much my mother and sisters needed me, and how hopefully people would come looking for me. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if I didn’t make it back. I pushed that thought away, there was no sense of worrying about something that hadn’t happened yet. Instead I focused on the sound of the crickets in the trees and watched as bats flew from one tree to another. I looked at the beautiful shades of leaves, dark oranges and reds, colors that were scarce in our dreadful town. The scenery was the only positive thing in being stranded in a forest alone.

By this time the sun had set long ago. I was exhausted. The last time I had had water was well over 12 hours ago, when I was going to bed last night. I decided to stop for just a minute, I sat down on a fallen log, and closed my eyes for only a minute. I felt my body collapse, but when I tried to sit back up, my muscles felt like lead. 

The next thing I knew it was morning and I was sprawled out over the forest floor, I sat up and rubbed my eyes, something was scratching my arm. I pulled up my sleeve to reveal a deep cut. Blood dried, and a scab forming. Poking into my arm, was a jagged piece of wood. I turned my head, and examined the cut. I carefully extracted the long piece of wood, and the pieces slowly came out. I was relieved, I didn’t need another thing to worry about. I gathered some clean leaves, and tried to tie them around the cut. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t even walk in a straight line, I felt insanely dizzy and lightheaded, and it felt like I would collapse at any moment. I needed to press on, for Claudia and Lydia. I thought of how happy I would be when I got home. A little bird twittered a soft sweet song, so I decided to follow it. It took me every which way. I started to feel numb, It hurt to swallow, but still I followed the little bird, I was so tired, that I was too weak to stand, so instead I crawled along the floor of the forest, I stumbled along, feeling every pebble and stick carve into my hands. I noticed a thin stream of blood creep down my thigh, I couldn’t feel it though. But then I heard a voice:

“Look sweet child, look down at what the heavens have brought you.” my head jolted up. There in front of me was a beautiful tall moose, gazing at me with two big brown eyes. It’s mouth moved again.

“Look down, at the magnificent feast, we have brought you.” I looked down, and there before me lay foods I had never seen before, glorious sweets and meats of all different shapes, colors and sizes, and the smells, the smells! Wafting from a magical rotisserie chicken came smells of honey, and roasted chestnuts. I smelled thick dark chocolate, and saw bright red strawberries. The best part was the cake, it was a 7 layer rainbow cake, topped with buttercream frosting. I couldn’t just look at the food anymore. I picked up the chicken and cut a huge slice, and stuffed it in my mouth. I took slice after slice, dollop after dollop, cup after cup. I still didn’t feel full though, even after I finished all the food. But boy, had it gotten late. It was hard to remember when I had first entered the forest. I needed to get home. Now. The forest was pitch black, as I walked by myself through the lonely forest. 

I suddenly saw a dash of light, I whirled around to see a light in the distance. Had someone come for me? Would I be able to get home? I heard someone call my name:

“Raven, are you here?” “Please come home!” “We’ve come to get you” Those were the voices of Claudia, Lydia and my mom, and one that sounded like a male voice. I was going home, and then I saw him: my father. I stood up as fast as I could, and shouted his name.

 “Papa! Papa!”

He simply looked down at me, with a sad look on his face. I shouted again:

“Papa! Papa!” “I’ve missed you so much!’ tears started falling.

“What’s wrong?”

He simply lifted a hand, as if to say goodbye, and slowly faded away.

“No! You don’t get to leave, we need you!” 

 

One Week Later

“Does this match the description?”

“Yeah, looks like it.”

“Too bad, just like her father.”