The Curse [fiction pt 2]

Abruptly, Scarlet awoke. Had she dozed off reading? She didn't even remember falling asleep! Someone had even put her into her bunk bed, which, come to think of it, would have been impossible, since she slept on the top. How did she get up here?

She knew she was in her bunk bed because the ceiling was only a foot away from her face, which she was used to. But the ceiling was now wooden beams instead of plaster and paint, and someone had carved into it the words "2011 Mom gone". In fact, now that Scarlet noticed, these same words were carved all over the ceiling in different handwriting. Scarlet was confused, as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep. Was she still dreaming?

"Mom?" she called out tentatively. Her voice seemed to flow out slowly from her mouth.

"Wake up, Scarlet. It's almost 10am," her mother replied. They must have come home from Aunt Lisa's while she was reading in her room, Scarlet thought hazily.

"Okay," Scarlet called out in relief. She made no move to get out of bed and instead kept looking at the carved words. Did "2011" mean the year? She felt so foggy, so tired...she wanted to ask her mom what year is was, just to make sure, but suddenly she was gripped by fear. What if she asked and her mom said, "2011"? Then what? What did it even mean?

Scarlet heard the phone ring and her mom answered it. "Hello? Yes, it - " Her voice cut off and she heard a large thud, as if someone had fallen. Scarlet went to get out of bed but she didn't have the strength. She turned her head and could strangely see the kitchen from where she was. She saw the phone on the floor, and an outstretched hand, her mother's hand, lying next to it....

She felt the terrible knowledge that her mom was dead. She had to get help and...

But her eyes closed as if she had been drugged, and Scarlet thought of nothing more.

&&&&&

Scarlet jerked awake again so suddenly her head hit what she thought was the ceiling. "Oh good," she thought. "I'm finally awake." She couldn't see anything; it was pitch black.

She tried to push herself up but her head bonked into the ceiling again. "What's going on?" she asked aloud. She felt more alert this time, so she knew she was genuinely awake. Scarlet felt so relieved her mom wasn't really dead she felt like laughing. She tried to turn around and slide out of bed sideways, but she hit a wall. "Did I get turned around in my own bed?" she asked herself. She turned the other way and hit another side. Scarlet lay still for a moment. She explored with her fingers and felt walls enclosing her in on all sides. Scarlet was not normally claustrophobic, but then again, she was rarely inside what felt like a box.

"Let's stay calm," she told herself. She felt around some more. Beneath her was smooth satin, unlike her cotton sheets at home. She also couldn't seem to raise up more than a few inches. She wiggled her toes and stretched out her legs, but she couldn't feel if there was a bottom to what she was in.

Scarlet realized she was in a dress. She felt all around her sides and face and discovered she was wearing thick makeup, lipstick, and mascara. She figured she probably looked like a doll. Her red hair was done in thick curls and she felt lace on her dress, which probably meant she was in something fancy by way of a prom dress. Scarlet had not started to panic yet. Obviously, she was in another dream and should try to wake herself up. Sometimes, in her dreams, she started frantically scratching herself in an attempt to cause pain and thus wake her up. Conversely, she'd also FELT pain in dreams and had not woken up. Undecided, she felt around more and received a splinter for her trouble. She WAS in a box, and a wooden one at that. Scarlet yanked the splinter out of her finger, causing more pain. She put the tip of her finger to her mouth and felt blood. She'd never bled in her dreams before.

The first spirals of panic bloomed into her vision, searing the dark. Maybe she wasn't dreaming. Or if so, maybe she could change the dream, take control? Scarlet banged her hands above her, and drummed her bare feet against the side walls. Suddenly, something brushed her face and she screamed. Her first thought was SPIDER, which she hated. Her second thought was string. String? She felt it again, on her lips, then by her ear. It WAS string.

Immediately Scarlet realized where she was; she couldn't believe how she didn't know it before.

She was in a coffin, in her grave.

The string was attached to a bell outside in case she was actually alive.

Scarlet pulled the string and heard nothing. She pulled again, harder, faster, and still heard nothing. Then Scarlet heard another noise. It was a soft thud. Another, and another, and another. It was dirt falling on the lid of her coffin. She was being buried alive. She screamed.....

...and then darkness.

to be continued

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