Hello! I'm entering this in a short story contest, and I'd love to get your opinion. I'm going to have to change Logie's name...but other than that I'm entering this!
Little Logan Mitchell panted heavily as he tried to find a place to hide in the new home he was just dropped off at, "P-please s-stop," he whimpered.
He could hear wicked laugher echoing around him. The noise surrounded his tiny body and swallowed him along with the darkness that appeared to be everywhere. The child tried to rack his mind for an answer. What had he done to deserve this?
Before the undersized boy could move another inch, he felt hands being pressed against his shirt, and grabbing onto the collar of it. He wanted to yell, he wanted this to all stop, but fear paralyzed his entire body. More snickering came as Logan was thrown to the wall that he had been standing in front of. The young boy could feel something wet dripping down his arm. Though he couldn't see what the liquid was, it didn't take a genius to know it was blood.
Suddenly, everything that had just happened became blurry in Logan's mind. He struggled to keep his cocoa brown eyes open as things began to slow down. The sounds of chatting and giggling from across the room got quieter and quieter by the second, though Logan knew that they weren't really becoming muted. His brain was beginning to shut down. He couldn't take the pounding in his skull from being flung around like a rag doll earlier. Before the little boy knew it, he had passed out.
Time passed by and the other kids had grown tired as well. Complete silence came over the room, and all that was heard were the faint muffled sounds of snoring children. Occasionally you could hear thunder blaring from outside. Blinking his eyes a few times, Logan sat up in the corner of a big, dark and scary room. It still felt new to him…he had only been there for a few hours. Honestly, he had no clue why he was there in the first place. All he could remember was the night before, his father and mother had been yelling again.
Logan threw his feet over from the side of his bed and stood up, tip-toeing over to his bedroom door and placing his tiny hand onto the cold metal knob. His feet made small squeaks on the old floorboards as he trekked over to the staircase. The boy sat next to the top stair and peered down at his 'so-called' parents screaming at each other. A little bit of anger rushed through his body. They focused so much time on being mad at each other that they forgot he even existed at times. They made him feel invisible.
Suddenly Logan could hear the front entrance swinging open. A tall man in a blue suit stood in front of his mother and father. More people flooded in, causing lots of noise to erupt through the house. Logan squinted his eyes shut and crossed his fingers that this would all be over soon. Two big hands were wrapped around Logan's waist, picking him up into someone's arms. Logan squirmed and cried he didn't know what was going on; he was scared, upset…lost.
"W-who a-are y-you?" Logan yelled, "P-put m-me down!"
"Don't be frightened, you're safer now." The officer spoke.
Logan couldn't find the words to say, so he just nodded.
"Can you tell me your name?"
Logan failed to respond.
Logan could remember that the whole entire ride, the officer explained a whole bunch of stuff that he didn't understand. He mentioned something about how the neighbors had called 911 when they heard yelling coming from his house…then he went off about how no child should have to live in a household with that much fighting and screaming going on. Logan could feel his body drifting off into a sleep while in the car, but tried to stay awake as much as possible. The last thing he could remember the officer saying was that he'd be living in a place called an orphanage.
That's where he was then…he must have been at the orphanage. Logan felt somewhat better now that he knew the name of the place he was living at…though everything in this place was still creeping him out. He should have been in his bed, though some of the other kids wouldn't let him. Logan also could remember why he felt so lightheaded now. The other kids must've beaten him up earlier. Tears trickled down the pale boy's face, he felt so worthless and weak at that moment.
The room was so cold. Logan was freezing, and had nothing to keep him warm. He curled into a little ball, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth. He was so frightened by the enormity of this place. He tried to hold back tears…but it was no use. Before Logan knew it, he could feel warm tears sliding down his cheeks. He sniffled a little bit, due to the crying. The small boy wanted more than anything to just stop whimpering, but it wasn't working. He was too upset to just stop…it was hard for him to wrap his mind around everything and get a hold of his emotions.
Logan wasn't exactly sure why this was happening to him. He never understood why his mother and father were so mad all the time. He was so little; it was hard to process the fact that his own parents didn't love him or each other. He never spoke to his parents…only to say good morning and good night. He was too worried to ever try and get in between their battles. He felt so…weird…when he thought about stuff like that. Unloved was a better way of saying it. He really didn't have anyone who loved him. He was alone…he always was.
Logan felt as if the darkness of the room was inclosing around him. He'd never seen darkness that looked like this. There wasn't any light at all. Not even windows that would give off moonlight…nothing…just pitch black darkness. He ran his hand across the wall in front of him. It was rough and rigid. The coldness of it sent chills up Logan's back as he sat there. Something now smelled strange. That odor had been floating around the room ever since he had first arrived, though now it was stronger.
With no lights, the room had grown colder. Logan felt a big gust of frigid air hit him in the face. Was it even possible for this room to get icier? Apparently, it was. Frosty waves of wind circulated in the tiny area making the tiny boy shiver. He felt more tears roll down his face. All the poor kid wanted was to be at home in his own house, in a warm and cozy bed, sleeping. It was so late, and he was exhausted, but failed to even try sleeping. The place gave him the creeps, and he feared that if he closed his eyes, even for a second, something would jump out and hurt him. Logan let out a sigh, causing a puff of gray to be admitted into the air.
Suddenly, the child could feel a drop of something fall onto his hair. He looked up and was startled by a bead of water that had fallen into his left eye. The ceiling must have been leaking. More water seeped through the holes above Logan, making his hair become soaked. He tried to scoot over a little, but there was barely any room to move away from the droplets. The dampness of his hair made the room seem 10x's colder than before.
The smaller boy hated doing this; he hugged his knees to his chest and sobbed. Warm tears slid down his cheeks as he tried to steady his breaths. Logan finally gave up. He didn't try to fight it. He let it all come out, though it only pained him more. Nobody cared. He was falling apart. He was so young; he didn't understand any of this. But did anyone care? Nope. The small boy wanted more than anything to just be accepted…to be loved for once in his life.
He was unwanted and worthless in everyone's eyes. Even his own parents didn't want him around. Now the poor child was sitting in a dark scary place, feeling as if this was a punishment for doing nothing more than just being himself. Being himself clearly wasn't good enough; he never was good enough to anyone. Buy why?
"I'm worthless." Logan whispered to himself. Those words mimicked daggers right to his body…it hurt, it hurt him so badly.
Without thinking anymore, he jumped up to his feet and looked at the area in front of him. His surroundings were masked by blackness, though that wasn't going to stop him. He put his arms out and felt around the space he was standing in. Logan felt his arms quivering, not from the icy air of the room, but from complete nervousness. The young boy could feel his lungs getting tighter and his body tensing up.
"J-just breathe…j-just breathe." Logan murmured inside his mind.
The 8-year-old placed his feet carefully on the wooden floor, making sure to stay as quiet as possible. The worst thing that could happen would be getting caught, right? All they would do is bring him back, or Logan hoped that'd be the least they'd do. He couldn't find out though…he had to do this. Even the child himself was confused. Why was he even doing this in the first place? There were too many things on his mind, so he simply dismissed that question and continued on.
Each and every step felt like one thousand as Logan tried to make his way to the door. He knew it was close, but for some reason, it felt a mile away. The small boy bit his lip nervously as he came to the huge structure. Placing his hand onto the knob, Logan tried to twist it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Come on." Logan said, "Please open."
The more he turned the object, the more he realized that it wouldn't budge. It had to be locked, then. Logan let out a sigh. Out of all the times, it's locked now. He dug around in his pockets for something, anything that could help him to unlock that door. Finally he could feel a cold shape, so he picked it up and ran his finger over it, soon to discover it was a paperclip. Carefully, the brown-haired boy pulled the clip into a long line and shoved it into the key hole of the door. He moved it around, feeling worried that someone would catch him.
Click
Logan's eyes lit up as he reached out for the knob again and rotated it. He was free at last…
If I win, it'll get published!
Would anyone mind sending me a PM or a Review with there HARSH and HONEST opinion? It's my dream to be published, and I really want this to be perfect...so even a little help would be amazing!
Hope you liked!
xoxo
~EMiLY
