Story: The Three Friends

The abandoned house

(source: sherlocked)

Once there were three friends who lived in a suburban neighborhood. The friends were named Zach, Derrick, and Cody.  The three boys were entering the fifth grade, and they were beyond excited to finally be the top-dogs of the school. After each day, the boys would get off the school bus and all walk to Derrick's house. It was here they would all work on their homework and play basketball in the driveway. On there daily walk to Derrick's house, they would pass by an abandoned, decrepit house that resided on the same street. Zach would constantly tease the others on the idea of checking out the house and discovering any mysteries that might be inside. Of course, the other two would disagree and drag Zach to the safety of Derrick's home.

October rolled around and the boys had continued to stick to their daily routine. Even though the boys were remaining static, the world was changing around them. The leaves began their yearly transition of color and the air had a crisp chill.

The boys got off the bus just like any other day and began their walk to Derrick's house. As always, they passed by the abandoned house. Zach stopped immediately.

"Let's finally go in there and check it out!" Zach proclaimed.

Derrick looked at Cody as a secondary voice of reason, but he was surprised to see Cody had a look of curiosity upon his face. Derrick began to grow frustrated with Cody. He knew the house wasn't safe. The only reason he was able to keep Zach from the house was because he had Cody constantly supporting his decision

"Zach, no. It's dangerous. Don't you agree, Cody?" Derrick replied.

"Listen, we pass by this place every day and we never go inside. It's almost Halloween. Why don't we try it? We're fifth graders, we can handle anything," Cody said.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Zach screamed as he ran toward the house.

Derrick sighed as he realized he was outnumbered. He better go with his friends. At least he could do his best to keep them out as much danger as possible. Cody and Derrick jogged ahead to catch up with Zach. Once on the front porch, the boys turned the knob and entered the house.

The house looked just as dilapidated on the inside as it did on the outside. Zach looked around the foyer and was instantly drawn toward a white door that seemed in better condition than the rest of the house. Zach opened the door and motioned for Derrick and Cody to join him. The boys used the flashlights on their iPhones to illuminate the the stairway down to the basement floor. After they reached the basement floor, Zach shined his light on the wall and let out a gasp. He began frantically shaking his phone as he gazed upon the horrors that filled the room. The basement was filled with medieval torture devices. The basement had been transformed into a dungeon. Zach shined his light to the corner of the room and saw a skeleton shackled to the wall.

"Let's get out of here!" Zach screamed.

The boys began to head for the stairs when they heard the basement door slam shut. Cody let out a blood-curdling scream. Zach felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned around and shined his flashlight to find himself face-to-face with the skeleton that was previous shackled to the wall. Zach fell to the ground and looked up at the corpse. Derrick saw that Zach was in trouble and scanned the wall for anything he could use as a weapon. He instantly spotted a medieval flail and grabbed it off the wall. He swung it at the skeleton, instantly causing the skull to break into pieces. The skeletal body fell limp. Derrick grabbed Zach's hand and called for Cody to follow after them. They approached the closed door and Derrick wasted no time using the flail to break open the door. The three boys ran straight out of the house.

"Derrick, you were right. We should have never gone in that house. From now on, we're going to stay far away from this house on our walks house," Zach said.

The boys never returned to the house. They all valued the safety Derrick's home had to offer even more after their haunted experience.

--

Author's note: This story was based on a Jataka tale called The Three Fishes. In the tale, three fish leave their life in the safe waters and go to visit dangerous areas. In this place, the two fishes are captured and it is up to the third fish to save them. He does and they return to the safety of their old water. I basically used this plot and converted the fish into humans. It was a fun story to right as I also modeled it after Halloween.

--

Bibliography: Babbitt's More Jataka Tales
Link to this story