Ellie

I wrote this story because I wanted to try to create an atmosphere of suspense that leads into a cliff hanger, I think I might have just achieved the latter but its good practice anyhow! :)

“Ellie!”, Tom cried, his voice broke but that didn’t concern him, “Ellie!! Come back... please!” his mind full of all the dreadful things that could have happened to his best friend. Why would she do that, why would she just go wandering into the woods at the dead of night. Moments passed, they seemed like days to Tom, he was standing out in the open of a field in pitch black listening for a scream, or a reply, or something. Peering into the wood, looking for movement. Nothing came, he was getting desperate, he knew as soon as Ellie suggested “going for a walk” that she was up to no good, she had a habit of playing tricks on him, he always tried to get her back but, much to his surprise, she always had a way of knowing what he was planning. But this time, was it a trick, this was a phrase that Tom finds himself saying far too often. “This has to be a trick” he muttered under his breath, “Come on out Ellie! Very scary! I know what you're doing!” Still no reply... As if he expected one, when Ellie plays a joke on him she always goes all out, after all, it did always get the best response out of him. But not this time, he convinced himself that it was a joke. He began talking to himself “This is England, there isn’t anything in the woods here, the closest thing in the whole country to a terrifying animal is probably Ellie's pet snake.” that moment he remembered the day she got that snake, he went to the pet shop with her to help choose a dog but as soon as she saw that snake, it and her had some kind of connection, one that Tom could never understand, that thing would probably eat her for lunch if it had the chance. That was a fun time long ago. He made his choice, he wouldn't stand around waiting for Ellie to sneak up behind him, he walked into the forest with confidence that this was the time that he would finally get her back.

It had been at least an hour since Ellie had disappeared and Tom was still just walking around a forest with no direction. Admittedly he could have, and probably should have been more concerned about the whereabouts of his friend but he was just occupied with the thought of finally being able to get her back for all the tricks she had been playing on him lately. Finally, he heard a noise, a stick breaking, no, more like two or three, it was a loud snap, maybe Ellie jumped out of a tree, or fell. It’s strange how much of an effect that one noise had on Tom, that one snap triggered more concern and worry in him than he had felt all night. He suddenly and beyond control plunged into the dark abyss of worry. Nothing was impossible, the thing that caused that snap had the chance of being an infinite amount of beings doing an infinite amount of things but to Tom that was Ellie, that was her falling. Why didn't she scream? Why didn’t he hear a thud? Why didn’t he see anything? Nothing mattered to him “because that must have been Ellie and she must have fallen out of a tree”. He ran further into the wood as fast as he could, dodging trees and ducking under branches until he came to a small opening. The area was beautiful, from an aerial view it would look like an almost a perfect circle. Tom imagined how in the daytime it would trap the sun, it would be lovely. There was a tiny hill in the centre of the opening with a spring of the clearest water he had ever seen flowing down and off through the trees. Even though it was dark, the grass was a really bright green, it was covered in dew that shimmered in the moonlight. Tom was transfixed by the place, but he knew he had to keep going. Just that moment he heard something from behind the hill, he sprinted over and there she was, after worrying for hours, after waiting for hours, it all seemed worth it now that he knew Ellie was safe. She sprung to her feet, brushed off the dusk and looked at Tom in a confused way. “Are you alright” Tom asked “ I heard something, I thought you might have been hurt”. “No, I’m fine.” she replied, “ this place is pretty awesome though, don’t ya think.” it seemed like she was trying to change the subject. Tom was persistent, “Are you sure you're ok, why are you here, why did you just disappear, why did you take so long?”. There was no answer, she just stood there, frozen, not saying a thing. “Ellie… Ellie!!”. She fell on the ground, collapsed. To Tom everything happened in slow motion, she was falling through the air with no emotion on her face, her eyelids closed halfway through the fall covering up her piercing green eyes, her long dark hair fluttering, like a butterfly's wings. Eventually she hit the ground, the soft, bright, green grass broke her fall and everything returned to real time. Tom was panicking, “Ellie, are you alright!? Ellie what happened?” He was distraught. “Ellie… please!!!!”

Author's Note

Sorry for any mistakes, I have checked it over quite a few times but you never know if one slips through.