(Matilda's POV):
"Thanks for saving our rear ends, Matilda," Charlie gasps when we're out of earshot.
"Thank me all you want this time because that's the last time I'm saving them," I sniff.
"But that's what you always say," James exclaims.
"Well...this time I mean it," I babble out quickly.
"And you always say that too."
"I can't fight all your battles for you."
"But you aren't. You're just helping. Besides, what if it's something we can't get ourselves out of?"
"Like what?" I scoff.
There's a moment of silence, save for the whistling wind.
"Like...like...like what if we're turned into squirrels?"
Charlie and I freeze. We look at James as if he'd escaped from a mental hospital.
"When are you ever going to be turned into squirrels?" I ask.
"It could happen!" James retorts.
"The only thing you're gonna turn into in relation to squirrels," I spit back.
"is a nutcase if you keep talking like that!"
"Guys, stop," Charlie gasps.
We screech to a halt and turn. The rusty iron fence makes the gloomy sky even darker.
"There it is."
Almost everyone who lives in this town knows what the fence bars; the famous Willy Wonka factory. After spies were caught sneaking in and stealing recipes, everyone was fired and the factory never opened its doors. It shut down completely. But three years later, smoke began puffing from the big cylindrical chimneys towering over the factory grounds.
"Nobody ever goes in," James whispers.
"And nobody ever comes out," Charlie finishes.
A chill slithers through my spine. They're right. Ever since it began working again, no one has ever entered or come from the factory. At least, no one alive.
"Well go on," James urges me.
"Huh?" I groan jumping from my thoughts.
"It's your turn to touch the fence."
"Oh. Right," I shiver.
Everyday, coming to and from school, we pass the factory gates. And one day we decided it would be a great idea to grab ahold of the fence coming home from school; it's to prove you are still a dedicated Wonkarer. Charlie did it yesterday and James did it on Wednesday. Now it's my turn.
Slowly I approach the gate; its long, dark shadow shrinks me down to the size of an ant. As I come closer, I feel dizziness invade my head, one that I've been feeling for a while now. Taking a deep breath, I extend my trembling hands and grab onto the cold, chipping metal.
Another chill surges through me, only it's much quicker. Suddenly it begins. First barely audible. Then louder and louder. The voices of squeaking, scared squirrels. A few of them have a familiarity in their voice; it makes me shiver even more.
"Matilda?" I hear an echo ring in my ear.
I try to pull away, but my hands seem to be stuck to the fence and I feel as though I'm being pulled towards it; pulled by tiny, clawed paws. Suddenly I feel a pair of little feet running up one of my arms. Next I feel as though I'm being scratched. Wincing in pain, tears fall from my face.
"Matilda!" James yells from a distance.
I can't bare it any longer. Painfully I pull away from the fence and fall to the ground.
What comes next are the most frightening feelings of all; stillness and silence.