the tapping (standard:fairy tales, 841 words)
Author: katherine f. ballatt	Added: Jul 11 2005	Views/Reads: 4083/3	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
a story of a boy who moves house to find death waiting

The tapping 

Tossing and turning, Tommy struggled to get comfortable in his tiny
bed.He had just moved house;it felt quite strange in a new house,new 
room and to top it all off a strange,small hard bed.Horrible.It was 
alot better living in Tulip Avenue, when the village was being built it 
wasn't planned to be called Tulip Ave, but to be Shadow Street.It has 
the sign that clearly says Shadow Street however, the people in the 
area know it as Tulip Avenue and always will. It was given the name 
because of the beautiful,fresh,wild,rare tulips that grow there. 

Tommy awoke, ice cold sweat streaming down his face,he had clearly had a
nightmare.He checked his digital clock. "Six AM," he whispered to 
himself unsteadily, "one hour,one hour and you can get up.It's gunna be 
okay, mum's in the next room." He paused, trying to block out 
unpleasant thoughts, but thinking how strange it would be to sit and 
watch somebody talk to themselves, however, strangely enough he could 
imagine sitting watching himself talking to none other than himself nd 
would consider that to be normal. 

Thomas Jack Feather was a short,shy and the sort of,
off-in-his-own-little-world kind of kid.At eight years old Tommy was 
always cautious, alert and basically careful. Tommy peeled open his 
sleepy eyes and glared once again at his small digital clock and 
noticed the time had skipped not one hour, but two!The morning was 
bright and cheerful, he took a deep breath and sighed.Pushing himself 
away from the cold hard bed he gasped with relief, his kind, caring mum 
was up. 

"Tooooommmmmyyyyy!!!" She screeched with a blood boiling shout. "Were's
the T.V remote you were the last one to use it.Well...WHERE ON EARTH IS 
IT?!" "Errrm...I dunno...i think it's under... no wait it's in the..no 
hang on...OH stop confusing me!" He yelled,irritated by being blamed. 
"OHHHHHHHHH, i'll find it later." "You'd better, or you'll be sorry." 
He yanked himself off the bed and got dressed. 

As he dashed down the stairs he hurt his arm catching it on the
banister.(Tap Tap Tap.) "Mum?Did you hear that?" "don't try and change 
the subject." "Oh,just forget it." He cried giving up. 

Tommy wandered about the house investigating what his
no-choice-to-be-there home was like.He searched every room and felt 
like a stray dog,lost, looking for home.Tommy liked to scramble through 
places.Drawers ,cabnets and even larger places like rooms.Let's face it 
he was a sheep led away from his flock, a bee in an unfamilliar hive,an 
abandoned dog that's been adopted by a complete and utter stranger.He 
was in a strange new town, his life up until yesterday was all in the 
past, he couldn't go back,even though he so desperately wanted to.He 
eventually tired of this and decided to clamber down the creaky, new, 
carpetless stairs to watch television. 

The news was on "and there you have it folks a tragic robbery and
murder,that's all from me, over to you Jo Anne." "Oh my." Sobbed 
Jennifer (Tommy's twenty eight year old mother.) "what's up mum," asked 
Tommy sighing and not looking really bothered. "are you okay?" "No 
Tommy,no I'm not.You know that house that was robbed and that poor 
woman lost her life to that villan, well he took his fully grown tiger 
into the house and her death was caused.Tulip Ave was the adress and 
the evil nusance asked where ...(sob sob)...where I lived and took the 
life of that woman who lived in our old house and he thought she was 
lying so he set the tiger on her." (Sob Sob.)Tommy sat there no 
expression on his face, just blank, blank with fear.He slowly marched 
up to bed without another sound. 

(Tap tap tap.)Tommy awoke this time with a long yawn and strech.He
ignored the sound and sleepily, so sleepily slumped down the stairs to 
the kitchen he snached a glass from the sink, quickly rinsed it and 
filled it half full with water.(Tap tap tap.)Tommy pulled the glass 
toward his mouth and as the sound reached his ears he jerked the glass 
down and.He remembered,as he accidently splashed some water down his 
PJ's, when he'd checked the house,he realised he'd left out the 
basement! 

He rummaged through the draw and grabbed the torch, he flicked the
switch and edged down to the basement.(Tap tap tap.) Petrified he shone 
the light upon where the noise was coming from thinking of the tiger 
when,there, infront of him was a bigish pile of ... BIRD FEATHERS! It 
could only have been a bird.He shone the light higher and found a small 
nest wedged in the top corner of the wall.That confirmed it, it was  a 
bird making all the noise.Reliefed he turned to leave when out of the 
corner of his eye he saw...BLOOD!It was the tiger it must have killed 
the bird. 

Two days later a neighbour came over with a welcome gift,but noone
answered the door bell, so finally  the kind person gave up.Strangely 
both Jennifer and Tommy were never to be seen again. 

Copy writed by katherine f. ballatt


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