In a flash, I hopped out of bed, made my way toward Zahra’s room, and hid inside her cramped, rose-coloured closet.
Gradually, darkness began to envelop the small, pink-painted room, except for a small pear lamp that glowed colourfully on my sister’s bedside table.
A peaceful quietness reigned around my sister’s tiny bed, cut only by a few raindrops that began to fall on the windows as she slept on her back, wrapping her doll, Red, tightly.
Suddenly, as I rolled my eyes in the gloom, I noticed Red sitting on the white, wooden side table, her neck slightly raised as if she were glaring at me.
My heart jumped up my throat as I tried to hold my breath, struggling not to make a single sound.
That was when I heard a faint voice hissing, “Zahra, hey, Zahra. Wake up.”
It was Red!
My breaths raced as the whispers of the doll, Red, echoed over my sister’s head as if it were a ghost roaming around her bed.
“Red! Let me sleep, please,” murmured Zahra, her eyes half-open.
“No time for sleep, my dear friend. It’s a great time for talking. I love walking out in the darkness,” hissed Red, her voice growing sharper.
“No. I don’t like to go with you,” mumbled Zahra, sleepily. “I am scared of the darkness outside.”
“I must take you with me. I will never stay in this house. Let’s go, please,” yelled Red as she stood up, shaking her arms nervously.
“Please, Red! You’re scaring me!” screamed my sister, pulling her blanket over her head in fear.
In a daze, I swiftly jumped out of the cupboard, grabbed Red furiously, and threw it on the floor when, to my great surprise, I caught Amina hiding behind Zahra’s bed!
“Amina? What on Earth are you doing here?” I yelped, fretful.
“L…aila, I…I am sorry. Please, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” she muttered, her words barely audible, as if she had eaten something sour.
“I can’t believe my eyes! How dare you scare our little sister?” my voice rising in anger. “Are you back to your villainous little tricks? The tricks that our mother forbids you from doing. Are you serious, Amina?! When will you finally grow up?”
“I am sorry, forgive me,” she pleaded.
“Amina! Look at what you’ve done to Zahra. You made her look crazy,” I yelled madly as my little sister began to cry.
Within a matter of seconds, my mother stormed in, her face red with rage as she grasped my sister’s arm furiously. “Amina, come with me, now. We have a long discussion to have.”
As my mum locked the door behind her, I heard her shouting irritably, “Scaring your sister, huh? I told you if you do any more tricks, you will be punished! This time, Amina, it’s enough. No pocket money and no going outside until you start behaving like an adult. Understood, Amina?”
“But, Mum…”
“Listen, girl. No more arguing, okay? What a pity! You should feel ashamed of your behaviour,” she added.
“Mum,” pleaded Amina, “Please, let me explain to you.”
“No, enough, Amina!” replied my mum firmly. “You have to learn from your mistakes,” she added.
“Do you know what? I have a better idea for you. Why don’t you ask Red to go outside with you? Heh? I guess she will be happy to do it.”
“But Mum, Red doesn’t talk!”
“Really? I think she does. I heard her talking to your little sister tonight, didn’t she?”
My mum rushed toward her room, leaving my sister whining bitterly in the gloomy hallway while I burst into laughter, cuddling my little Zahra gently.
“She deserves what she gets, doesn’t she, Leila?” whispered Zahra, her sleepy little eyes gazing at me, her Red nestling in her arms.
“Of course, she does,” I replied with a large, loving smile. “Now, it’s time to sleep. Goodnight, my little beauty. Have sweet dreams.”
I gently kissed her and tiptoed toward the door as I heard her breathing quietly while her agreeable smile widened over her adorable gleaming face.
A very beautiful story, great imagination. It has been a long time that I have not read your beautiful stories, and I am happy now to discover many of the stories you wrote, and I am very excited to read the rest of the stories, and I know very well that each story will be more beautiful than the other in terms of style, suspense, and wonderful expressions
Thank you, wonderful writer
Miss Iman, I missed your nice comments.
I am so happy to hear that you still enjoy reading my stories.
Thank you so much.
It’s always my pleasure to read You talented author