Twinkle Twinkle Little Star(Fatimah Peters) "Shanley, don't hide from daddy." my dad said getting closer to my hiding spot. "Shanley, dammit, where the hell are you?" he said angrily, gripping his butcher knife tighter. I was in the little closet that was hidden by my bunkbed. It was dark and scary in there but I told myself, 'unless you want to die, stay in here.' I squeezed my dolly too hard, and its red flashing light came on and it said, "Hi, Shanely, come play with me." Its little mechanical voice put me in grave danger, "Oh so you're under the bed." my dad said getting on his hands and knees. I jumped out of the closet and scooted out from under the bed. I grabbed the knife that he set down on the ground and ran. "Get back here." he said running after me. I ran out the front door and down the street, the snow on the ground instantly freezing my 8 year old toes. "Help me!" I screamed, running to the piece of woods that surrounds our house. "Shanely!" my dad screamed right behind me. "No!" I screamed running straight toward the trees. It was dark. so dark, I couldn't see anything. I just had to keep running, and running, and running. Then my foot caught a branch and I went airborne and hit my head on a branch and blacked out.

"Shanely! Get the hell up!" my dad urged smacking me. I pulled, trying to sit up, but I was tied to the bed. "Help! Help me!" I screeched. "Shut up." he said, putting the knife to my chest. I started crying, and crying and wouldn't stop, no matter how much he slapped and punched me. "Ugh, it's useless, you were the dumb stubborn child anyway, i'm gonna sleep." he said leaving the room and shutting the door. I tugged on the ropes that bound my hands to the bed. My hands started to burn so I stopped. I looked up at the rope, and it was a fat rope so he couldn't have tied it that tight and if I just kept pulling it would soon come undone. "Yes!" I whispered excitedly, one hand was free. I reached over and untied the next hand and stood up on the bed. I crawled over to the door and I heard the toilet flush, and his footsteps coming towards the room. I crawled back to the bed and slipped my hands through the ropes, but not tightly, and just stared. "What am I doing, of course you're still here, you couldn't go anywhere if you wanted to." he said going back into the hallway. He walked down the hall to his room and slammed the door, and I heard the creak of him getting into bed, and 5 minutes later his snoring.

I crawled on the floor again to the door and pulled it open quietly, and got back on my hands and knees and crawled to the kitchen, and there she was, my mom, blood coming from the gaping hole in her stomach. "Mommy." I whispered, touching her cheek. so cold, she was so cold. I felt the tears coming, hard stinging my eyes, making them burn, and my throat getting tight, and hurting. "No, no crying!" I yelled at myself quietly. I kissed my mom's cheek and crawled over to the refrigerator and quietly pulled it open. I stood up and grabbed my sandwich Mommy made me for lunch, and the juice box that was next to it, and stuffed it into a plastic bag that was on the counter, trying not to make too much noise. I pulled out 3 yogurts, and two bottles of cold water, and put them in the bag, and I shut the fridge, and ran. I opened up the front door, and ran as fast as I could, then turned around and went back to the house. I went back to my room and pulled out a sweater, and grabbed my rainboots mommy bought me for my birthday, then ran back outside, and this time I ran as fast as I could without turning back.

I ran for the woods. I was scared and it was the only place I could think of. I ran and ran and ran and ran and ran, and didn't stop. I kept running and running, when the sight of an old cottage came into view. I ran inside, and felt for a lightswitch on the wall, and it flicked on. The place was really old. there were webs on the walls, and the light was dusty, but it was safe and I was so far away from the house, and daddy. There were 3 rooms. the one I was in now was empty, except for what looked like used to be a furnace on the wall. the next room was the kitchen, the sink was rusty, and it made a weird sound before the water came out, and there was a door next to the nasty beat up refrigerator, which was a bathroom. The last room was one with a big window, and a beat up bed underneath. the bed was nice and cleaned up, but the blanket looked ancient, but at least I'd have somewhere to sleep. I went into the first room and sat on the floor, and opened my bag and pulled out my sandwich, and ate. it tasted so good, the way mommy made it, the mustard and mayonaise inside, with a little bit of the secret ingredient, but she'll never be able to make me a sandwich again. I drank my juice,and just sat on the floor starring into space. I was scared, so scared, and helpless. that's when I felt my throat get tight and my eyes get all stingy inside. I got up and walked to the room with the bed in it,and got under the covers and cried my heart out.

I woke up and the bright sunlight hurt my eyes I knew it was noon, and it was cold. I went into the used to be livingroom and grabbed my sweater, and slipped it on. I opened my bag and took out a yogurt and ate it with my fingers. my stomach stopped grumbling. I was thirsty though, so I went outside and grabbed some snow and held it in my mouth while it turned into water and drank it. it was so good, but my fingers were freezing. I went back into the cottage and sat on the floor and stared straight ahead. I was scared, so I closed my eyes. I thought about my mommy. two days ago we went to the mall, and she got me really cute earrings to wear for my birthday party. but when daddy found out he hit her, and then she fell on the ground and didn't get up, but daddy said she was just taking a nap.

My eyelids snapped open, and it was dark outside and I heard a noise, a crunching noise, then a deep voice. I jumped up and shut off the lights and ran into the bathroom and shut the door quietly. then I heard it, the deep voice was louder. "Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are, where the hell are you Shanely? I hope you starve." daddy said, opening the cottage door.

I slid open the tiny bathroom window, hopped up onto the sink and pushed my head through the window, and a cold breeze rushed across my cheeks, freezing them immediately. I slid the rest of my body through the window and hit the ground with a crunching thud. I got up and ran towards the house, my long brown hair swaying in the wind behind me. I didn't know where I was going to go. maybe Mrs. Masden's house, she could call the cops and get help for me. I had a long way to run and I knew it, but I wouldn't stop running, I didn't want to die yet, not yet. I heard the voice of my daddy far behind me,"Run,run,run as fast as you can I'll catch you, i'm the killer man, haha." I ran even faster, watching out for tree stumps and branches. there was no light except from the moon which was barely visible due to the trees. I saw the houses right up ahead, and ran faster. I opened up the door to the house and ran into the kitchen and saw mommy's body was gone. I stood there and stared at the floor. then my daddy's arm was around my throat carrying me to my room. and he tied me to the bed with tinier ropes that i'd never be able to get out of. He went into the kitchen for a while, then came back with duct tape and a knife, he wrapped the duct tape around my mouth carelessly and my hair at least 7 times. I felt a tear slip out of my eye when he held the sharp gleaming knife over me. "Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are, haha, this is the end of Shanely Denarve." I closed my eyes, and felt a huge stabbing sensation over and over and ove...

THE END

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