The Shack

The Shack


Swimming in the deep blue water with bubbles of the surf tickling my head, I am busting for breath but I am happy as I haven’t been to the beach in ages!
When I burst out of the water I see a little Shack on top of some sand dunes, not far away from where I am. I decide to go and investigate, just because I am curious and like to explore.

As I walk up to the Shack it starts to seem a little scary and mysterious. But, now I am transfixed. The Shack seems to be drawing me towards it.
I try to walk away. I’m getting too scared but I find that I can’t take a step away!! I look around to try and find someone who could help me… I spot a man wandering down the beach, I start screaming at him asking for him to come and help me. But he doesn’t seem to be able to hear me! Even though he is only about twenty meters away!!!

I stop screaming suddenly as I start to hear whispers.
‘You cannot escape me… You are too weak!’
I start to really panic now!!
‘Your will is no match for mine. I will drag you into me and consume your soul. Then you will take my place till you can find another to do the same.’
‘ What?!’ I scream ‘What do you mean; take your place?’
‘I am trapped in this Shack, my soul is tied to it as was the person before me. I was a human like you before this Shack chose me to inhabit its walls and provide it with a life force.’
‘Is the Shack cursed?’
‘Yes, it is, and therefore so am I.’
‘AAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!’

I see a stick that is jammed into the ground a few meters away from me.
I tense up and try to move towards the stick… But as I try to move towards it, I find that I am unable to move!
‘HA! HA! HA! I can feel you struggling against me! You will never win!’
I realise every time I try to move backwards, away from the Shack, I stop moving. But I don’t go towards the Shack or away from it… I stay in the same place.
So I tense up again and stop moving. But this time is different, I brace so I can stay tensed for a long time, hoping that my strength and will are strong enough to wear out the cursed Shack.
‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’ The Shack screamed at me.
‘I am resisting you, I really don’t want to die!’
‘NOOOO!!! STOP! LET ME CONSUME YOU!!’

I feel the Shack losing its hold on me, and I actually start to move backwards! It is screaming insults at me trying to break my concentration. My vision starts to blur and my muscles are all burning form the strain of being tensed for so long. My energy is almost totally drained, the Shack feels just too strong for me.

I decide there is one last effort in me and decide I will try to lunge away from the Shack. Just so I feel like I have done my last effort and have put up a good fight. I muster the strength I have left and dive away… as I land I hit my arm on something… curious, I loom up wearily and realise I have just landed on the stick! I grab it and start to laugh in joy ‘hahaha! I made it!’
‘NOOO!!!’ the Shack screamed in agony ‘Don’t leave me here! Free me please!’
‘No, you are finished, I beat you. I win!!’

I rest, holding onto the stick for a while but not long enough for the Shack to recover fully. Then I make a last desperate lunge, towards the edge of the sand dune… And I fall down it. When I reach the bottom I start crying in relief.
‘I beat the Shack! Hffff’ I sniffle then I run back down to the waves and dive into them.
When I look back to where the Shack had been, it was gone!
‘FREE!!!! THANK YOU!!!’

I hear something whisper in my ear… Then I realise that by beating the Shack’s influence I must have broken the curse and freed the trapped soul inside it!

I start to tear up again with elated joy, I show how happy I am by playing and smiling in the ocean.