In Between

by Greg Wilburn

was worried about where she’d run off to, but her dad had told her that Stacy needed some time alone and would return when she was ready. That statement created a chunk of time for Stacy to get more worked up and plunge deeper into despair.

  By the time fifteen more minutes had passed, Stacy had stopped kicking and beating and yelling at the doors in attempts to get free. She tried to use her tiny body to ram through, but after four tries, she gave up because her shoulders were throbbing. At that point, she retreated to the far wall and huddled into a sobbing ball, tucking her knees into her chin and weeping in the darkness.

  When she had cried herself out, left to be a whimpering mass in the dark, Stacy perked up in fright when she thought she heard a giggle. It came out of the darkness above her, and Stacy stood up quietly and backed up against the dusty wall. She listened attentively to the darkness, hoping the sound had simply been her imagination.

  She gave a small yelp when another giggle filled the space. After a few moments of silence, Stacy worked up the courage to ask the emptiness “Hello? Is someone here?” Her heart quickened in the intermittent silence and it leapt into her head, colliding with her brain in shock for a solid second, when a soft-spoken “Hello? I’m Sophie. What’s your name?” bounced off the walls of the triangle.

  Stacy decided to take a risk in saying something, and she thought this new friend Sophie could help her escape the triangular dungeon she’d become trapped in. “Hi Sophie. I’m Stacy. Do you live here?” Sophie responded immediately in excitement, saying “Stacy! I like your name a lot! Yes, I do live here. I’ve lived here a long time. Do you want to be friends Stacy?”

  Stacy felt warmth in Sophie’s voice that made her feel safe. Stacy was finally able to calm herself down enough to want to get to know this new friend. In that moment, all of her troubles, her family—her entire life—was a fleeting memory as she lost herself in the excitement of having a friend. Although there were a lot of other kids in her neighborhood, Stacy hadn’t made any friends yet. She spent most of her time indoors, playing games with her stuffed animals with her right hand man, Mr. Tusky, always at her side. And with the prospect of finally having a friend after her long bouts of loneliness at her tea parties and other games, Stacy was more than happy to talk.

  She responded to Sophie with an excited “Yes! I want to be you friend Sophie! Do you want to be mine?” Sophie responded with a shaky “Y-yes, but I haven’t had a friend in a long time, so you have to promise to stay and play with me as long as I say. O-okay?” Stacy responded quickly without thinking about what that last statement meant. She said “Okay! I’ll play with you until past bedtime and as long as you like after that!”

  Sophie yipped excitedly and clapped her hands together, but they made no sound. That didn’t bother her anyway because she was used to not hearing much—even less herself—in the stale blackness of the secret space. Sophie began to speak with great enthusiasm, asking Stacy “What game should we play first?” Stacy stood still, thinking and rubbing her chin with her right hand. After a moment she said, “We could play hide and go seek. But I’m really good. Wanna play?” Sophie came back in jubilance, saying, “Yes! That’s one of my favorite games! But I bet you’ll never find me! You count from ten while I hide, and then you try to find me! Ready? Go!”

  Stacy covered her eyes with her hands—which was useless in the darkness—and counted down slowly from ten. She wiggled her ears attentively to catch any sound that Sophie might make, but none came. She reached ten promptly, uncovered her eyes, and began her search. Stacy thought it would be an easy game because she’d already explored the space, and it wouldn’t be hard to find the girl in there. She searched carefully, running her hands up and down the walls and across the floors in search of Sophie. She spent a good long time searching every nook and cranny of the space but couldn’t find anything.

  After a while, Stacy sat down in frustration by crossing her legs and folding her arms across her chest. She was angry that Sophie was so good at hiding. She was mostly jealous because when she played with her parents or cousins when they visited, they could never find her. She was always a good hider, finding the most deceptive means to conceal herself from sight. And she was a good finder too. She would always find anyone playing with her in record time, making her the all-time champion of the game.

  She sat angrily in the darkness until Sophie called out to her, saying “Why did you stop looking Stacy? Do you give up?” Stacy responded immediately, stating in a whining tone, “I wanna play a different game! You cheated!” Sophie recoiled invisibly at the accusation and defended herself. “Nuh-uh! You just aren’t a good finder!” Stacy got to steaming at that remark and said “You’re mean! I don’t wanna play wih you anymore!”

  That statement hurt Sophie, but she let it go for fear of losing her new friend. She changed the subject quickly by asking, “How about we play a tea party instead? That would be fun to do!” Stacy quickly recalled Mr. Tusky’s absence, but let the sadness in her heart fill with the idea of having a new friend to have tea parties with. She quickly decided that she wouldn’t need Mr. Tusky any more when Sophie could take his place. “Okay! But we need tea and cakes and more friends!” Stacy said happily.

  “That’s okay! I already have all of that downstairs!” Sophie said. “Downstairs?” Stacy asked in confusion. “But we’re trapped up here. I can’t get out.” Sophie responded with surety, saying, “I know a secret way. Follow my voice and it’ll lead you downstairs to the party room.” Stacy perked up in anticipation. “Party room?” Stacy didn’t know there was such a thing in her house. She thought her parents hadn’t told her about it because they didn’t want to invite her to their grown-up tea parties. As she thought that, Sophie called out to her, beckoning Stacy to follow her voice.

  Stacy followed willingly, and the voice led her to the back wall of the room. “I can’t go anymore!” Stacy called out, but Sophie said “You have to push really hard at the bottom and you’ll come downstairs to be with me.” Stacy obeyed reluctantly, pushing hard against the aged wood. The wood creaked and groaned, and with one powerful shove the wood cracked, causing Stacy to fall through.

  Stacy fell fifteen feet down, landing in another secret room. She would’ve died if it hadn’t been for the insulation panels near the bottom that broke her fall. Stacy was stopped by them, and after standing up on their shaky foundation, they gave way and sent her to the dirty ground. Stacy went unconscious for a minute after hitting her head on the floor and regained consciousness in the dark.

  She tried to move, but she squealed in pain because when she moved her leg and side hurt a lot. She didn’t know that she was bleeding from her head and internally as well, which would cause her death to come more quickly. Stacy started to cry again, but mostly out of fear and pain. She wanted her mom and dad to find her because she didn’t want to play games any more. As she cried, she heard Sophie’s voice ask her “What’s wrong Stacy? Did you get hurt?”

  Stacy responded sadly, and through her whimpers she said “My leg hurts. I want mommy and daddy. I don’t wanna play anymore.” Sophie responded coldly, saying “You can’t go Stacy! You promised to play with me as long as I wanted! We still have to have our tea party!” “But I wanna go back upstairs.” Stacy whimpered. Stacy jumped when Sophie yelled “No! No! You have to stay with me and be a good friend! You have to play tea party with me! Right now!”

  Stacy started to cry more, but Sophie didn’t care. She wouldn’t let Stacy go until after they had their tea party. After a few minutes of crying, Stacy rubbed her eyes and let them adjust to the darkness. She couldn’t make out much, other than a few wood walls, a cement floor, and a dark shape sitting on the far side of the five-foot room. Sophie called to Stacy again and said, “Don’t cry Stacy. If you have just one tea party with me, I’ll help you get back upstairs.”

  Stacy was starting to feel dizzy because of the bleeding contusion in her head, but she consented anyway so that she could see her mom and dad as soon as possible.
Sophie saw her nod amidst her whimpers and said “Okay Stacy. You come over and sit next to me. Then we’ll start our party.” Stacy dragged her pain-ridden body over to the dark figure, ready to behold her friend for the first time. Her vision was blurring, but she didn’t notice because of the fuzziness of the darkness in that space to begin with. She reached the far side of the room and sat against the wall, out of breath. She looked to her right, and could somewhat make out the dark figure sitting next to her. It was very skinny and was wearing a puffy dress.

  “Hold my hand.” commanded Sophie as Stacy studied her body. Stacy—now with significant loss of blood—slid her hands weakly over to the thin hand of the dark figure. She recoiled at how cold and stiff Sophie’s hand was. But after Sophie commanded her to hold her hand again, she grasped the bony hand in both of hers. Stacy studied Sophie’s body slowly, and as her eyes adjusted even further in the darkness, she realized that Sophie’s body was nothing but bone and dress. Sophie started to cry again. It wasn’t because of the bones—she hadn’t seen anything like them before—but it was because a sinking feeling in her tummy made