The glass of darkness remains unbroken, its cold icy claws reaching through the wall and leaking into the rooms. It stains the walls, floor and ceiling, leaving behind an eerie aura.

Creak, creak, creak. The floorboards bend and twist underfoot, and give way to thorny brambles that leap up to catch the figures dancing through them.

Shadows are cast at the end, threatening to steal anyone who has made it past. A thin thread of crimson blood is laid across the shadows to hold them in place, tied to a thorn and stuck in the ground. Many threads have faded and been lost where new ones have been laid. The lush green brambles are not finished yet. With their last strength, they curl around and reach out to grab a foot, a leg, an arm, a head. Too tired. They are too tired, and let themselves rest, giving up any hope that had been left on catching the intruder. The shadows give a disapproving sigh, and the air becomes thick with anger.

Ahead, a purple flower blooms from a patch of rich brown soil. Dark berries tempt with promising looks and try to be eaten. Their sweetness and juicy pledges are almost accepted, and the air becomes tense as one is plucked. No. Their trick is not fallen for, and the awaiting berries are disappointed as the plucked one slides through fingers and they are all left behind.

No more. No more tricks to be thought. Treasure has been lost. The hallways remain empty and there is no more shouting, no more pleading to survive. The quiet is broken with a simple creak. A heavy lid is lifted to reveal more wonderful treasures than can be thought.

A trap. Sharp teeth dig into soft flesh, and scarlet is dumped onto the floor in bucketfuls. Yanking, pulling, attempting to escape from the cold metal claws that hold in place. Click, click, click. Buttons are pressed and the monster lets go. The shadows are unhappy as they watch them flee.

Author's Note: This untitled piece is meant to make you really think. If you haven't figured it out, this is basically about an old house "trying to stop" someone from reaching the treasure below it. And the creature at the end? A simple bear trap! See how with just a different use of words and describing, I fooled you into thinking this was really complicated?

A Summary of The Ghost Children

One of the books I recently read and finished is called The Ghost Children. It is about two orphans who go to live with their Aunt and what she calls "the children." The children are 7 life-sized wooden dolls, three girls and four boys, that stand on wooden poles in the backyard. In the past, there used to be another girl doll until she "died" because she was shot by some hunters. Some people have admittedly heard the children talk when passing by. Eventually, an unfinished doll and the "dead" doll are stolen, and the orphans decide to rescue them.I recommend this book to people who enjoy creepy books with a hint of mystery!

The Flower

A petite cat hid, waiting, in the shadows of a very well grown tree. In one of the partially hidden branches a squirrel sat, trying to chew through a thick stem that had sprouted from the tree. On the end was a delicate, dark blue flower, and while the squirrel just thought the beautiful flower would make a nice, quick snack, the feline below knew that if the flower was protected and given enough time if would bloom and allow the cat, or any other animal who was present at its blooming, to have a wonderful feast. And so, the cat had dedicated herself to watching over the flower, day and night, only leaving to get food and water so that she did not starve or dehydrate while protecting the treasure. The squirrel, on the other hand, did not know a thing about the cat or the blossom and was about to have a delicious meal before the latter bloomed. The cat unsheathed her claws and scaled the large tree until her bright, almost glowing eyes were watching from hardly any feet away. The squirrel had made decent progress in chewing at the solid stem and was very close to being able to simply bite the whole stem apart in one try. The cat knew she had to do something quickly, so she crouched down and narrowed her eyes, swishing her tail in the leaves to make sound and draw the squirrel further from the precious flower. The squirrel hesitated and sat up,  beginning to flee towards the end of the branch in a hurried panic. Suddenly, the feline quickly pounced, letting out a loud hiss of warning as she did so. Her prey let out a squeak of terror as she easily caught up to it.

“You should have known better than to come into my territory. You must be very brave to have come to my Feast Tree, too, of all the places…” The cat snarled, raising her paw and suddenly swiping it up by its tail as it tried to escape. The squirrel opened its mouth to speak but was cut off by the cat. “And no, don’t say you thought it was a normal tree,” She gave the smaller animal a serious glare, “Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows what a Feast Tree is.” She flicked her tail and glanced over at the flower. “Never enter my territory ever again.” She hissed finally, flicking her paw forward while sheathing her claws, causing the squirrel to go flying away from the tree. The cat smiled a bit as she padded over to the flower, sat down and wrapped her abnormally long tail around her paws- Twice. “Well done, Vris.” She purred to herself, obviously happy with her work. She laid down and curled up, effortlessly falling into a deep sleep.

Vris awoke to the sounds of bubbling and popping and to the smells of delicious stew. She sat up and stretched, yawning, before glancing around. The heat of a warm fire seeped through the air, bringing with it a light smoke. Vris sniffed once, then twice, and narrowed her eyes at a small make-shift bowl. Below it an undersized fire was dying out, and Vris let it die fully before she examined the meal.  She paused before quickly, suddenly wrapping her tail around the flower- This had to be some kind of trick! But, no, there was the bowl, sitting with no one in sight, and she could not smell any trace that anyone had been here. “Just one little sip couldn’t hurt me, could it?” She sat up and bit and bent her neck, suspiciously lapping up some of the soup. She smiled, clearly happy, as she glanced over at the flower. It had bloomed over night.

So Vris, despite her selfish and mean personality, was able to enjoy a nice breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for a month of her life. And she wouldn’t dare complain about it, for it was the most amazing month of that year.

"Evil is always possible. Goodness is a difficulty." -Anne Rice

My interpretation of this quote is that when someone is in a  situation, there are usually two ways to get out of it- A good way, and a bad way. Most of the time, the bad way is easier, simpler and seems safer to choose.  Some will choose the bad way, but some will decide that, despite the difficulty, the good path is the best way to get out of the situation they are in.

An example of this is when someone is low on food. They can either go steal food or go buy some, and luckily most people choose to buy some food!