Halloween story: The well

The well

8 of may, 1999.

The bell rang. Amanda, just like every other student ran towards the school’s exit, very eager for the weekend. She walked to the bus stop, when she realized that she had forgotten her jacket in the playground. She ran as fast as she could back to the school and she managed to get in just before they closed the gate.

Everything was unusually quiet. The curtains moved with the wind as she walked across the playground. She spotted the green jacked in the corner where she left it and intended to go and get it when suddenly she heard someone mumbling something she didn’t understand. She shook her head both ways but no one was there. As she got closer to her jacket she could hear the voices getting louder and louder. Suddenly the area where kids usually played happily turned into a dark somber place.

When she was heading towards the stairs that led to the parking lot she heard a childish voice saying ‘do you want to play?’. She turned around once again and saw the silhouette of a young girl. She freaked out as no one was supposed to be at school at that time so she started running as fast as she could to get out of there still terrified about what she had seen.

Amanda later realized that if she told someone about what happened that evening they would think she was out of her mind, so she decided to keep it to herself.

However, what she never knew is that behind that terrifying encounter there was a story that went back at least 50 years.

31st of October (1949)

Emily had always wanted a little sister. Staring at her dollhouse, she imagined how different her life would be with someone to play with. She felt lonely. The truth was that since her mother’s death her father would never tell her fairy tells, watch snail races with her in the backyard or draw beautiful princesses and ugly monsters with her in her green notebook, as her mom usually did.

Whenever she felt that she didn’t have anything else to do, she would explore the house. She knew every corner of it except one place.

There was a well in the backyard covered by wood planks and she was certain that down there there was a magician that could grant her wish of having a friend to play with. Without any doubt she decided to open it to she what was down there. Emily knew where her father stored his tools, so one evening when her father was away at the grocery store, she decided to put an end to her loneliness. She worked really hard to lift the heavy planks, but finally, after a loud creak, she was able to stare at the complete darkness from inside the well. The little girl bent over in order to see what was in that dusky and endless pit. She still wasn't able to see anything so she ran all the way back to the house and reached for a flashlight. Emily pointed directly to the hole and with difficulty she managed to see some blurry shadows. Anxious to discover what was in there see she stretched out her arm and dropped the flashlight, in an attempt to catch it she fell down the hole. She died while she was going down at the same time as his father was parking his car. Emily's dad ran as fast as she could, desperate to save his daughter, but he wasn't able as she had already fallen down. He called the police and the ambulance. They arrived a few minutes later and immediately they started to look for the little girl hopping they could save her. After hours of searching they couldn’t find anything and accused Peter, Emily's dad, of being crazy.

10 years after Emily's death, in the same place where the old house stood, a school was built. The legend says that the right corner of the playground next to the dining room is where the little girl died, that's why the shape of the steps isn’t perfect. During the day everything is normal but when the ring bells everyone has to leave the school. If you don’t do so, you could find Emily running around looking for someone to play with, as it happened to Amanda. No one knows if this is true but it has been said that the formless paintings that are hanging around the school are the ones that Peter painted after her daughter died and they took him to the asylum where they thought he would be better.

A. Revilla and P. Martínez