Since my story will be basically a movie (in the form of an extended trailer), the actual amount of writing is minimalistic in order to present a more visual format. I am also still working on the full story, but here’s what I have:

ESCAPE    

By Sara Webber

Setting down the last box and collapsing with a heavy sigh, Emma was relieved to finally be done. “Took you long enough,” Ryan said with a smirk. Emma just shook her head, too tired to come up with a witty reply. “What did you wanna do for supper?” “I dunno,” she replied, “maybe we could just get a pizza.” “Okay!” Ryan was always in the mood for pizza, so there was no arguing that suggestion.

Lying in bed, they were both hoping this was the place. The fresh start they needed. “You made sure the plumber was thorough?” Emma asked. “Yes, he checked.” “And the seals were good, no duct tape or anything like that?” Ryan chuckled, “No duct tape. Just solid pipes that won’t burst like the other ones.” She hugged him tighter and exhaled. “So, we’re good right?” “We’re good babe,” he said kissing her forehead.

After a couple of days, everything was unpacked and in its proper place. Ryan and Emma sat side by side on their new couch watching TV, like they always do. Emma played with his hand unknowingly while she watched, but complained when he let go to get a Gatorade.  He made a silly face at her, which made her laugh and instantly forget she was ever mad. “Oh, my mom asked what we were doing for our anniversary,” Ryan said as he chugged the rest of his drink. “And what did you tell her?” “I said ‘I don’t know’…What did you wanna do?” “We could go to Murphy’s Law and get some drinks,” Emma suggested. “And just break our tradition of going to Olive Garden every anniversary for the past 5 years?” “Well, if that’s what you wanted to do, then why didn’t you just say that?” she grinned. Ryan didn’t respond, he simply shook his head and sat down next to her. “Olive Garden it is then,” she said snuggling up to him again.

She felt like someone was watching her. Turning around, she saw a hooded figure behind the tree in the backyard. Her eyes narrowed as she realized this man, or person, or thing had been staring at her for God knows how long. She got chills and goose bumps began to appear on her arms. Emma knew she needed to get away or else she was going to get hurt. She tried to move but her legs wouldn’t let her. They felt like jelly underneath her. Her glance darted around the yard, looking for something, anything. Someone to help her maybe. She felt terrified and began to panic. The figure had her locked in its sights. If she didn’t move now, it was going to get her. She shut her eyes tightly and prayed for a solution. As Emma opened her eyes, she realized she was at the grocery store. Her mom was picking out stuffing. Comparing brands and prices and ingredients. Carefully selecting as she always does. She asked Emma if she could go back and grab a lime from the produce section. “Make sure it’s firm,” she called as Emma walked away. Not really familiar with the store, Emma tried to find her way back to the produce. She simply tried to recall the path they took to get where they were.  After what seemed like an hour of searching, she finally spotted the sign for limes. “Sale, 2 for $1” As she went to reach for the lime, she realized she had been away from her mom for a while, probably longer than she should have been. Grabbing the fruit, she began to quickly tread around the grocery store. Her mom was nowhere in sight. Emma went up and down every aisle, searching and searching, but to no avail. She began to panic and felt like everything was a blur. She ran outside in hopes to catch her mom waiting by the car, but the car was nowhere in sight. Her eyes started to fill with tears and her face drooped even more than when she found out her grandfather had cancer. She felt hopeless and desperate. As she wiped a tear from her eye, she looked up and recognized the person getting in their car across from her. It was her 5^th grade teacher, Miss LaChance. Without a second thought, Emma ran over to her blurting out the details of what just happened and pleaded for help. Miss LaChance politely agreed and grabbed her hand. As they walked back into the store, Emma felt her hand slip out of grasp. As she turned her head to grab it again, she observed the floor was wooden now…and wet? She glanced up and saw a shoreline. It was covered with dense amounts of oak and pine trees and had dark sand, almost like mud. A shoreline that was getting further and further away. Emma was floating on a wooden raft out to sea and she couldn’t do a thing to stop it. She saw someone standing on the shore, but couldn’t quite make out who it was. She was sure she knew them, but…who was it? It didn’t matter anymore. She screamed out for help and waved her hands above her head to get their attention. But, they didn’t notice her. Despite her pleas increasing in volume until her throat hurt, they didn’t seem to hear her. Emma’s hand fell down slightly and she reached it out towards the shore whispering “help.”

(Sorry for the change in point of view, this part is from my sample story)

I remembered I needed to flip my grilled cheese sandwich over at the same time I heard Ryan answer his phone. It was my Aunt Lynn calling back. He put her on speakerphone as I began to leave the back bedroom in our apartment. The kitchen was at the end of the hall, so I dawdled a bit to hear some of their conversation. “Describe what happened again,” she said. Ryan began to retell the details of what happened over the past couple of days in our apartment and how it has escalated to the current situation. I flipped my grilled cheese over and made sure I had a plate ready for when it was done. I wandered back into the far bedroom and sat on the floor…away from the bed. I heard my aunt say, “Yaa…that definitely sounds like you have a spirit.” I was afraid she would say that, but I figured it was the case. I always like to check with her though because she knows what she is talking about.

“So, what do we do now?” he asked in a heavy, sighing voice. Before I listened for the answer, I thought it would be a good idea to test out that spot on the bed, just to see if it was really true. Even though I figured it was, I thought “what’s the worst that could happen?” I quickly found my answer. As I leaped toward the edge of the bed where we thought the spirit had taken over, I felt a strong force take over. My body tensed as I floated above the bed, right where the spirit was. Suddenly, I was upright, my feet pointed toward the ground (and the edge of the bed), but I was still in the air. I shouldn’t have done that, I thought. Ryan was staring at me wide-eyed. My breathing got faster and I started to panic. What have I done? Why did I do that? How do I get down? I knew it was mad at me for testing it. My chest started to get heavier and my muscles got tighter and tighter. My breathing was now very rapid and it’s all I could hear. It was like the rest of the world had gone silent. I closed my eyes. I had to think of a way out. I have to calm down. I can’t let it know that I’m panicking. I tried to slow my breathing, slowly inhaling and slowly exhaling. I was taking very deep breaths in hopes that it would think I was calm and it could let me go. I apologized over and over for testing its existence. With my eyes still closed, I began praying for it to let me go, but its grip only got tighter. I think it wanted me to be scared of it. My breathing got faster again, I couldn’t help it, I was scared for my life, like any moment it could just as easily throw me against the wall. I made eye contact with Ryan again after what felt like an eternity. I couldn’t speak, but begged him for help, hoping he could hear the screaming in my head. He appeared as frozen as I was. Instead of asking for help, I desperately apologized over and over again, asking it to let me go. The soft comforter on the bed enveloped me like a cocoon. I realized that just as quickly as I had been lifted into the air, I was back on the bed in one piece. I scrambled into the corner with chills still down my spine. Pulling my knees to my chest, I stared at the floor, unable to speak. I felt a hand on my shoulder and my body tensed again. I looked over to see the familiar ragged tips of Ryan’s fingers.