The Shoes.

By: Honor Tam, Sam Sperling, or Samantha Sperling. Sam S. Sam.

Edited By: Vivian Lin, Honor Tam

For October, 2020. 1st edition

It was night. The buzzing of flies flooded the room. The wind blew in through the windows and the curtains were flapping. She was going up the stairs when Alex heard footsteps coming from her room. She lived by herself and didn’t know who it could be. Alex grabbed a heavy book from her table and crept silently and carefully up the stairs.

Bursting into the room, she didn’t see a person, just piles of dirty socks. But, as Alex went around the room, she saw a pair of socks that weren’t hers. They were orange and pink striped.

Suddenly there was a painful, high pitched noise in Alex’s ear. Then, deafening silence and her hearing were gone! She saw people silently moving across the room and into the wall, almost like they were on a screen. After a few seconds, she could hear again. Strangely, the people weren’t in her room. Alex was overcome by exhaustion and shock and lost consciousness.

When Alex woke up, she heard noises coming from the hallway. She stumbled toward the noises, and in the dimly lit hall, stood a tall, dark figure with long, sharp nails. It had horns that were orange and teeth sharper than its nails. Alex screamed as the figure began to come toward her.

Throwing open the front door, she ran until she got to a gas station convenience store. Chips and water bottles were lying on the floor. Stepping around the mess, Alex went to the door on the side of the building and skidded through it. She found herself in a room that smelled like sweat and cheese. Books were on the floor. Socks were scattered around the room, socks like the ones in Alex’s house. The ones that weren’t hers.

Alex tripped. She saw people in suits and ties. They were using video game controllers and there were people with headsets. The video game controllers and headsets were orange. There were more people in suits and ties. There was a sign. On it was, “Alex, tested for a computer project.”