Run, Child, Run

So I stumbled across this short story challenge from last year and I thought I’d do it, even though I’m kinda late for it, lol! I don’t know if there is a word limit to this or not, but I don’t really care, I’m just going to give it a go XD

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Clutching the teddy bear, little Mavis stood in the centre of the living room, staring at the interior of the ancient, crumbling house with trepidation. Vines were slowly tangling themselves around and through the structure as if they were slowly trying to suffocate the building while paint pealed off of the walls like the tears that had fallen down her own face earlier.

“M-mummy?” Mavis whispered in a tearful voice, terrified to speak too loudly for fear the men in the black coats and the strange symbol on their arms would come for her like they had come for her family. “Mummy, are you here?”

She had promised she’d be here.

When the men with the strange symbol were banging on their door and demanding they open up cause they thought they were hiding Jews.

“Mummy, what are Jews?” Mavis had asked her mother.

“People. They’re people – they’re the guests that your Daddy and I have been taking care of,” Mavis’ mother whispered, her eyes wide and pale as she fastened Mavis grey coat.

“But they’re hurt, Mummy. They’re injured. And the old woman plays with me, what did they do wrong?” Mavis asked, terrified for her new friends. Her mother grabbed Mavis beanie and placed it on her daughter’s head and then slipped on the mittens.

“They haven’t done anything wrong, darling,” the mother said, picking Mavis up and heading towards the back door while Mavis father came over and kissed Mavis on the head.

“Be a good girl,” he whispered, slipping her her teddy bear, before heading down to the basement where the people they were helping were hiding.

“But, Mummy, if they haven’t done anything wrong, then why-“

“Hush, darling. You must go. Get out of here.” Mavis started to panic as her mother rushed her out the back and over to the back gate. “Climb the fence, Mummy can’t lift you.”

Mavis looked over at her mother who was starting to cough. Her mother had been loosing all her hair, and she was getting skinnier and skinnier. “Are you coming with me, Mummy?”

“Climb the fence, Mavis! Hurry!”

Hesitating for a moment, Mavis managed to climb the fence, her mother giving her a little bit of assistance here and there. Once she was over the fence, Mavis looked back to her mother. “Mummy?” she asked, a tearful plea for her to come.

Her mother looked at her as tears started to fall from her eyes. “I’m sick, love. Very, very sick. I’m not going to be able to come with you, not now. Go. Go to that old house that we played in last summer. Your daddy and I will escape. We’ll find you. We’ll meet you at that old house when I have my strength back.”

“Mummy-“

“GO!”

That was the only time her mother had ever raised her voice at her.

But it was enough for Mavis to turn and run, run down the back alley and through the back streets, tears streaming down her face the whole time. She had kept going to the old house way out in the forest where her mother had told her to go.

But her mother wasn’t there.

Mummy, where are you?

Mavis huddled up on the main staircase, pressed up against the wall, curled up into her teddy bear, too scared to explore the house anymore, waiting for her mummy and daddy to come out of one of the rooms and pick her up and cuddle her, assure her that everything was alright and that they could go back to the house.

She waited there for days.

But they didn’t come back.

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So, not sure if this made sense, but it was something that I wanted to try. Let me know what you think!

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