By Vyom Saraf, Class IX F
Harris needed to shift base immediately as he had been transferred to a remote village deep within the English countryside. The problem arose when he couldn’t find a house big enough to fit all his odds and ends, along with an ever increasing menagerie.
After days of continuous searching, he found his dream house. As it was a distress sale, Harris bought it for a pittance. The beautiful cottage by the wooded lake housed a family of black ducks. The interior of the house was even more beautiful.
As Harris settled in, he experienced some very peculiar happenings indeed! Whenever any local came to know that Harris owned the house by the lake, they flinched visibly and started avoiding him.
The problem started from the night of the full moon in August. The very one which is also called the Harvest moon. At midnight, Harris awoke to find himself in a small jail like structure with a low circular ceiling. How on earth was he to get out of a room without any door or window? To add to his shock, the wall of one side of the room shimmied away and opened into a cave.
It was frightfully cold as Harris moved cautiously into the cave. Harris felt as though he was exploring the caves of Northern Russia in deep winter. Suddenly, jagged stalactites and stalagmites started sprouting all over. He moved into its interior with alacrity trying to escape their sharp edges.
As he arrived at the exit of the cave, he moved out only to find himself at the very edge of the lake. Shocked, he closed his eyes and tried to regain his bearings. When he opened his eyes, he was surrounded by the fat black ducks staring at him.
All of a sudden, he heard a thundering of animals’ feet. He turned to see all his animals rampaging towards him. Naturally, all the ducks took to their wings. All of a sudden, the trees around him started swinging their aerial roots. One of the roots wrapped itself around him and threw him onto the roof of the house.
Upon landing, he felt tired, injured and shocked. As he painfully dragged himself to the edge of the roof and peered over the cornice, he saw strange things happening in the lake.
A dark inky shadow was rising from the lake. It had no light and was like a black hole, sucking all the light. The shadow started moving towards the house. It surrounded the house and started to engulf it. This sent shivers down Harris’ spine. Death seemed imminent to him.
Suddenly, from nowhere flew in his hawk and eagle carrying a wand. Using the magical wand, Harris burned the deadly shadow by torching out a magical flame. As the shadow disappeared, the surroundings and Harris seemed decidedly relieved. Harris came down to inspect the house. Everything inside seemed normal to him. All his animals were in place. He made himself a cup of hot chocolate and went to sleep.
The next day he searched the woods for evidence of events past so that he could verify ascertain what had happened. To his amazement, he did not find anything unusual except the fact that it was slightly cold in the woods. No trees swung wildly neither did any mist have its tendrils curling about. All seemed calm and normal.
