First Semester Portfolio – My Favorite Piece

This is one of my favorite pieces. It is a short story that I wrote on a snow day. It’s about a girl who wanders into an old barn. When she gets into the old barn she discovers something and now she can’t get away from it. Here it is.

When you look at the barn…you think that it is just an ordinary barn. But when you look deeper, you see different things. In the dusty old barn there are shattered windows and ceiling beams on the floor. Cob webs stream the ceilings and walls. A hat is lying on the floor, tattered and dusty; little pieces have been chewed on by mice. I look to the corner and a man sleeping; he’s sleeping under a fallen beam. His hands are big, firm and intricate. He looks peaceful, quiet; he’s awakening for him slumber. I turn to walk out, but a hand is now lying on my shoulder. I turn
around to see that a stranger has is big fat hands on MY shoulder!

I push it off but he puts it back on. He’s not going to stop. He wants something from me and won’t leave until he gets it. I ask him what he wants. He wants me to follow him. I follow him into a shallow ditch. He says he needs money but I have my wallet in my purse which is in the car. So he allows me to go to my car and get my wallet and I have to be back in 2 minutes. When I get to my car, I think about driving away; but he will probably find me and kill me. So I do what is asked of me so I can go home.

While I’m walking back to the creepy old man I spy a shiny silver piece lying on the ground. I go to see what it is and it is a pocket watch. I pick that up to give to the man too. When I get to the ditch where the man told me to be at, he isn’t there. So I track the foot prints in the mud. They lead to a silo. So I start to walk up the steps and I go back down. I walk around the silo to see the man lying on the ground; dead. I look up and no one is there. I walk around the silo to see if anyone is coming down, or has run away. No sign or anyone. He must have done it himself. Did he feel bad about what he was making me do? What would have possessed him to do this?

Then I glance down and see a strip of news paper. A woman and two kids are on the cover. The heading said “Disastrous fire. Women and two kids killed.” Then I realize he died because he wanted to see his family. All these years he probably has been so lonely and when he saw me… I probably reminded him of his family. He wants to see them and no matter what he does he wants them to be here, in his arms. So every time I think of him, I’m sure that where ever he goes, he will be happy.