The gem

Miya Gomez

One day a girl named Layla went to a mall. While she was walking around, Layla saw this strange store. It looked magical, so she thought she might like it. A woman was at the front desk.

The old woman said, “Welcome,” in a creepy voice.

Layla walked away and started looking around. She saw witch stuff, like potions that were in tiny bottles, old spell books, and a magic pot. Layla ended up in the back of the store, where she found a door. The woman appeared in the back of Layla.

She told her, “You may enter if you dare.”

Layla just thought it was a break room for employees. The woman opened the door and shut it closed, locking Layla in. Layla saw something that she didn’t want to see. There, sitting on a small table, was an eyeball. She picked up the eyeball, it felt slimy and cold. In the dark appeared another woman wearing a black long dress with a big hat. She said, “I see you have found my missing eyeball.”

Layla saw that one of her eyes was missing. She gave it back to her. Layla ran and kicked the door open. She went home. She never wanted to go to the mall ever again.

A year later, Layla’s friends called. They asked if she wanted to go to the mall. Layla said yes, never remembering what happened. Her friends’ names were Katie and Sasha. While they were looking around, they all saw the magical store. Layla started to remember what happened. Her friends wanted to go in. Layla shouted “no!” but they went in anyway. Layla felt scared and thought they were going to see the creepy witch. The creepy old woman that Layla saw last time was there. She said, in her old creepy voice, “Welcome.” Sasha said, “Hello,” and thought nothing about her. Layla was so scared that she wanted to get out of the store and run home like she did last time. She knew what was going to happen. She went with her friends because she was worried that her friends were going to get hurt. They all were looking around and saw what Layla saw last time: tiny bottles of sparkly potions, magic spell books, and a huge black pot. They saw a door, and Layla was going to pass out because she was scared.

Chapter Two

Sasha and Katie thought that this was a Halloween store. They moved away from the door. Layla was about to walk out of the store.

The creepy woman said, “Where do you think you’re going? You will stay here for as long as you live.”

Sasha thought it was a joke and started to get hungry. She made her way to the door. Out of nowhere, the woman blasted lightning out of her old finger, and the door shut closed. Something started to glow in her hand, and she pointed it at them. They were in the back room. It was so dark; the only light there was a huge black pot. The top of the pot was glowing. The creepy witch appeared with dark potions instead of colorful ones.

The witch said, “Hello, Katie, Layla, and Sasha.”

Katie was getting scared, just like Layla. They connected their arms, and Sasha didn’t know what they were doing because she was confused. The witch’s eye was gone; it was on the table with her potions. When she was done putting all the potions in the pot, she put her eyeball. The witch told them to drink, they drank it not knowing to say no because they were scared. They passed out in seconds. When they woke up they were in a huge forest. There were fruits, a beautiful waterfall, and lots more. They kept on walking until they saw a little girl. Layla said she looked like her mom. Katie thought the witch brought them back in time.

The little girl looked at them in a fierce look. “Why did you come here?”

Sasha was scared and was all over the place. Katie and Layla let her go until she passed out.

Katie asked the little girl, “Who are you?”

The little girl said, “My name is Faith.”

Layla thought to herself, That is her mom. Faith welcomed them to her village. Her village was no old, normal village. They saw tons of fruit, rock climbing, and swimming pools with a waterfall.

Faith said, “You have to go through all the obstacle courses.”

Faith’s dad came over.

He said, “I see you made friends.”

Layla thought about Faith’s dad. She started to think that was not her mom.

Faith said, “You may begin,” not even giving us any direction where to go.

Layla, Sasha, and Katie went to the rock climbing. They had never rock-climbed before. A sign said “Rock Climb the Cliff. When you get to the top, jump off the cliff, swim through the water, and get the gem.” They just wanted to go home, so they started to climb. They got to the top. They were so scared, they held hands and jumped. There in the water, a gem was glowing. Layla grabbed it and walked out of the water. Faith was standing by the water.

She said, “Thank you, no one ever wanted to jump.”

They all disappeared. They ran home and never wanted to go to the mall.