THE LOST SPIRIT

The Lost Spirit

A Short Story by Firy (5A)

Once upon a time, there was a village tucked deep in the forest. The villagers were quite unfortunate because they encountered several tragedies like hurricanes and earthquakes. Many people have died. There was a little wooden house in the village where a sad family lived. A father, a mother, and their ten-year-old daughter called Alice. In the last earthquake, they lost the youngest son, Tom. Indeed, sadness filled their home and everywhere else in the village.

One day, Alice’s mother asked her to go out to buy some cloth. So, Alice carried a basket and went to the town. When she arrived at a cloth shop, the sky suddenly turned dark. “What a bad weather! It’s raining now,” Alice said. “You can stay here until the rain stops,” an old woman said. Alice was unhappy and told the old woman, “Thank you very much but I must be back home before sunset. Otherwise, my family will worry about me.”

The old woman gave Alice a cup of tea and said, “Take it easy, girl. It will be fine soon,” Alice drank some tea and felt sleepy. She tried to stay awake but her eyes wanted to sleep. She saw the old woman coming towards her. Alice closed her eyes. She opened her eyes again slowly and saw the old woman’s hand reaching for her face. Alice fell asleep.

When Alice woke up, she found herself in her bedroom. “What happened? Why am I here?” Alice walked out of the bedroom, and she saw her basket on the desk. There was a teddy bear and some cloth in her basket. “Is anyone here?” Alice asked. However, the house was still in silence. She picked up her teddy bear and started to play. Suddenly, the bear said, “Hi! Alice. From now on, I’m yours. I can take you wherever you want to go!” Alice felt shocked and said, “Really? It’s so amazing! I’d like to go to the--” Alice stopped talking. The voice sounded familiar. Could it be her brother, Tom’s voice? She suddenly remembered what father used to say that when some people die in tragedy, their spirit would be lost in the world. So, she decided to take the teddy bear back to the cloth shop.

It was still raining outside and when Alice arrived at the cloth shop, she was all wet. The shop had closed. She went to the back and tried the back door. It was open. She went inside. It was dark and the only light was from the streetlights beaming in from the front windows. She saw a figure. It’s the shadow of the old woman. “Hello,” said Alice “I just want to return this teddy bear. It’s not mine. I think you put it in my basket by mistake.” The shadow seemed to turn to face Alice. “It has always been yours. But if you don’t want it, you can leave Tom here. They can rest here, too,” the old woman said. She raised her hand and pointed to the shelves by the wall. Small dots glowed in the dark. Alice looked at the teddy bear she was holding and saw its eyes light up, too! She quickly placed it on top of the counter and ran out of the shop.

Alice finally arrived home and found her mother waiting by the door. “Where have you been, young girl?!” mother demanded. Alice wanted to tell her everything but she hugged her mother instead and started to cry. “Tom is fine, mother. We can be happy again,” Alice said as her mother hugged her back.