“Desiccated,” “shriek” and “unnatural” were the three key words for this year’s Scary Story Contest.

Run by the Coquitlam Public Library, Port Moody Public Library and Terry Fox Library in Port Coquitlam, the festive competition was open to students ages 11 to 18 who live in the Tri-Cities. Young scribes had a strict 500-word maximum limit to enter, for a chance to win gift card prizes to Coquitlam Centre mall.

Now more than 25 years old, the writing contest was judged by Richard Dal Monte, the former editor of the now-defunct Tri-City News. This week, in the lead up to Halloween, Freshet News is publishing the top three winners’ stories in the 11–14 and 15–18 categories.

•••

The Cat and the Mouse

By Zoe Wang, age 16, Coquitlam

Second place (15–18 category)

—–

The cat and the mouse, steeped in fame:

A perilous dance of hunter and prey,

The mouse trapped again every time it escapes.

Now watch, dear reader,

And see where this saying derived its name…
—–

The time is 4 p.m. You make yourself a cup of tea. You sit down and drink. You are feeling relaxed; you do not realize that something is amiss.

The time is 7 p.m. You take out some bread and cheese: a simple dinner. You are cutting the cheese when something glints off the metal of the knife. An image. A creature. Warped, desiccated. You blink, and it is gone. You keep cutting.

The time is 9 p.m. Night has fallen. You step into the shower, but you cannot relax. You are apprehensive, glancing this way and that. You feel as if something is watching you — something unnatural. You would be correct.

The time is 10 p.m. You check your phone. You are putting it away when you glimpse a reflection on the black screen. The creature, hovering over your shoulder. Its skin is shriveled, stretched tight, its body in strange proportions, its sharp-fanged smile splitting its face from ear to ear, its pupils in slits. You spin around. No one is there.

The time is 11 p.m. You cannot sleep. Your eyes dance around the room. Wide, alert. Searching. Fear rolls off of you in waves. Just the way I like it.

The time is 11:48 p.m. You see me now, creeping toward you, but it is too late. Your mouth is open in a silent shriek, your face the picture of horror. How amusing.

The time is 11:53 p.m. You lie frozen in bed as I peel off your duvet. Your muscles are tense, the room a blur, your eyes unfocused. You do not breathe.

The time is 11:57 p.m. You watch my mouth open. Wider, wider, a black abyss. Tears leak from your eyes. You don’t resist as I lean forward, slowly, slowly. You can barely feel my icy grip on your arms.

The time is 11:59 p.m. The head is the first bite, the body the second.

The time is 12 a.m. The clock chimes. The house is empty.

—–

And so it continues, to this very day –

The cat circling ever around her prey;

Til the night she grows weary of this endless game

And leaps, and devours,

And finds a new mouse with which to play.

 

Featured image: Nick Shandra/Unsplash