Story

Braden Fenlong- Grade 10 Mrs. Amberg – Lesson #7 ELA 10 “Doors to Stories” Domiciles Project Door #1 Gouverneur High School The Closet to the Past Ready, set, go! I ran to the back of my cousin’s house eager to look for a hiding spot. After a quick look around my cousin’s room, I noticed a small door in the corner. I walked over to the door and noticed the front of the door was blocked shut by a small board. I knew that this was going to be the best hiding spot. I then broke off a piece of the small board which revealed a door handle. A quick turn of the knob and the door swung open revealing the inside. I heard my cousin in the other room yell, “Ready or not, here I come,” and I jumped into the back of the closet and closed the door. I leaned back as far as I could and closed my eyes to make sure I didn’t see him outside and start to laugh. After what felt like an hour or so, I opened my eyes and opened up the closet door. I immediately knew that I was not in my cousin’s house anymore. I looked around what looked like some prehistoric jungle and began to wonder how I could have gotten here. I began to investigate and decided to do a quick walk around the jungle floor and see if I could figure out how I got here and if I could figure out a way to get out. I noticed the huge gigantic green leaves and the extremely tall and old trees and knew that I had never seen this place before in a picture and could not even recognize the trees. As I continued my way around the jungle and just as I was about to make my way back to the closet, I heard this huge roar off in the distance. This scared me so much I ran back to the closet and tried the door to hopefully get back home. No luck. The door was locked and I was stuck here, wherever here was. I decided to look around the closet and see if there was another way inside, or maybe even a way to unlock the door and get back inside. Sadly though, I didn’t find anything that could help me out. “ROOOOARRRR!” There was that loud roar again. This time it sounded a lot closer and whatever it was, it sounded huge. I decided it was a good idea to follow the sound and head in the direction it was coming from. Since I couldn’t get in the closet it was doing me no good to sit around here and do nothing. The longer I walked through the jungle, the more I noticed the strange, jagged leaves with bright vivid colors, and the huge weird plants that looked like they were not from this world. I also noticed how there seemed to be no sign of human life or of any other life besides that huge roar that I heard before. It seemed to be leading me in the direction of some huge mountain. The closer I got, the more confused I was; everything was so weird how this happened. How could a closet take me to some weird jungle? What where the other kids thinking now that I was gone? Again I heard the roar, this time much closer and louder. I started to regret coming up to the mountain and seeing what this thing was, but since I was already so close, there was no sense in turning around and going back. As I walked the last couple of feet to the top of the mountain, I noticed a clearing in the brush and headed in that direction. When I stepped into the opening, I was shocked to see a huge nest made out of dead leaves and brush. In the middle of the nest sat four big and colorful eggs. I walked over to the eggs and felt them; they were warm and full of life. At that exact moment I heard the animal that was making the roar crashing through the brush, obviously on its way back to its nest. I hid behind one of the large towering trees at the edge of the opening and waited to see what this animal was. A couple minutes later I heard the huge echoing footsteps of this animal just at the edge of the clearing. I knew that it was too late to run now, and there was no sense in it anyways. All of a sudden it burst through the opening of the brush and there it stood, a T-Rex! I was terrified the animal that everyone thought was dead was alive? How would anyone believe me back home when I told them that I saw a T-Rex. That was when I noticed the key was attached to a thin string around the beast’s thick and muscular neck. I wondered how I could ever get that key when it’s attached to him. I then devised a plan to wait until it fell asleep and then sneak up to it and take the key. It took about three hours till it fell asleep and that’s when I decided it was now or never. I was starting to get hungry and had no idea what was safe to eat and what wasn’t. I tip-toed my way closer and closer to it, each time my heart beating a little bit harder and faster. I was now a foot away. I could smell the rotten flesh on its teeth and I was terrified. I grabbed the key. The string broke easily and I was off. I ran as fast as I could before finally stopping at a nearby tree. As I stopped and caught my breath, I heard the footsteps of the T-Rex following me. Terrified, I ran as fast as I could down the mountain and to the clearing where the closet was. Seconds passed by and the T-Rex was getting closer and closer. I finally reached the closet and frantically unlocked the door and opened it. I slammed the door behind me and leaned back and closed my eyes like I had before. I heard a loud crack and lost all my senses and whereabouts. When I gathered myself, I peeked through the boards on the closet door and I recognized the interior of my house. I was finally back home.