Week 13 Story: IT

The following story was inspired by Henny-Penny in the English Fairy Tales (1) Unit by Joseph Jacobs (1890) and Stephen King's It (1986). 

Photo by Blake Cheek on Unsplash

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 The day was Halloween. Olly started out of the house with his candy basket, ready to go fetch his friends so they altogether could start trick-or-treating. He was wearing a bright banana costume. On his way, he saw a red balloon floating in the air. Too excited to see his friends, he left the balloon and carried on walking. But the red balloon floated along, too. It seemed to follow him.

Soon he reached Sammy's house and rang the doorbell. Olly excitedly told Sammy about the floating balloon, but Sammy, who was dressed in an astronaut suit, rolled his eyes. As they walked together to Elle's house, Sammy noticed the balloon following them.

Then they reached Elle's house and told her all about the balloon. She didn't believe them either, and changed the subject to ask if they liked her pirate costume. They agreed, and the three of them went on their way to meet their fourth friend Zach, and on the way to his house, Elle noticed the balloon following them.

Zach was dressed as if he were on a safari. They eagerly told him all about the floating balloon, but he didn't believe. As the four friends walked together house to house, they stopped at the sound of a strange voice coming from the street drain. A clown peered out from below, asking if he could join them in trick-or-treating. 

"But first," the clown said, "I have a trick for you." Excitedly, the children prepared for the clown's trick.

But suddenly, the clown grabbed the ankle of Sammy and dragged him down the drain. The children were horrified, crying out for their friend.

Before they could move, the clown drug Zach down as well. Olly and Elle were in tears, but being just children they were frozen to the spot. Next, the clown grabbed Elle and swooped her down the drain.

Before the clown could grab Olly, Elle cried from below, "Olly, get out of here!"

And Olly sprinted as fast as he could back home.

Author's Note:

Henny-Penny reminded me first of Chicken Little with its plot revolving around a character who thinks the sky is falling, but because one character tricked the others and started killing them, the remainder of the story reminded me of It by Stephen King. So, I decided to write this story but with similar elements that were in It. I made the story Halloween-themed though to explain why kids would trust a clown in the drain, and what they would be doing together.