By Dasha Young, TIWP Student

1. The Diamond

She took a sip of tea, but as she put it down, she noticed something strange.

“May I be excused?” she asked before sneaking the diamond she found in her cup down her silk sleeve and retreating to an empty sitting room.

She lit a candle and asked the maid not to bother her as she sat on a velvet chair. She stared at the diamond for hours, enchanted by its beauty. Everything around her slowly faded away and turned into darkness, when she realized that she was neither breathing nor blinking. She tried to look away but not a muscle moved. She tried to scream, but no voice came out. Later that evening, when people started looking for her, the maid found her dead on the floor.

The doctors never found the cause of death and the diamond that she was holding was gone.

——————————————————————————————-

2. The Friend

He walked back home with his friend, when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. 

“Did you see that?” he asked his friend

“See what?”

“Never mind. It’s late, I’m probably imagining things”

“Ok. Well, this is your house. See you Monday?”

“Yeah, see you.”

Something felt wrong as he was trying to fall asleep. He looked at his clock – 1:00 AM. Still, he felt the need to call his friend. He grabbed his phone and called – no answer. “He’s probably asleep,” the boy thought, so he went back to bed and slept with an uneasy feeling.

The next morning, he woke up and went to get breakfast, but he noticed his parent’s faces seemed grave.

“Did something happen?” he asked

“Son, we need to talk,” his father said

“What is it, tell me.” he asked, getting more worried.

“Your friend was found murdered last night.”

——————————————————————————————-

3. The Girl

The girl skipped back home from school, enjoying all the pretty flowers she saw on the way. She knew her parents weren’t home but, at 6, she felt old enough to take care of herself. She unlocked the door using the spare key under the mat and ran upstairs to get her mom’s makeup. She was getting ready to give herself a full rainbow face, when she noticed something strange about the mirror – it was black. Right as she noticed this, the lights flickered off and a strange figure appeared in the glass. It was a ghost-like girl with a wide smile and ripped clothes.

“Wanna play?” the girl in the mirror asked and reached out her hand

That night the parents filed a report of their missing child.