• Nervously licking her lips, she eyed her opponents, legs just wanting to run from this place before things got messy. Swallowing the lump in her throat, her green eyes darted to the older woman who stood far away, away from the disaster zone.
    Grace took in a shaky breath as the woman brought the silver object up, each second seeming to go faster even though she wished it would go so much slower. It felt like she was alone, like no one was behind her, backing her up on the same team.
    The teacher blew her whistle loudly, the sharp noise making Grace cringe.
    Dodge ball had begun.
    The rain of balls thundered past the high net, all seemingly aiming towards her. She backed away wishing she could be in English or Science rather than PE.
    Grace ran back narrowly dodging a ball but colliding with a girl on her team.
    “Oh for gods sake, stay out of my way!” The girl shoved her out of the way.
    Grace went flying straight into a balls path, whacking her on top of her head painfully. “Ow!” Her vision went dark for a couple of seconds but it soon returned, bringing a horrible headache along with it.
    “Grace, out!” Mrs Graham pointed to the bench, which was empty. It was no surprise to anyone, especially Grace as she was always first out in all games.
    She sat on the bench and watched the game, narrowly dodging balls that came whizzing towards her.
    Soon the bench started to fill up as the lesson dragged on. At least it was last period so she could get home and have a nice long hot shower. It was freezing outside and the classrooms had been like chambers of ice.
    Her mum would be working until late again so Grace would be cooking for her little brother Joshua again. He was such a sweet little boy, the only person left that reminded her of their dad that had horribly passed away. On Joshua’s birth date as well…
    The whistle blew again, this time it was a relief, end of lesson.

    “Grace, can I play out with Jamie?” Josh’s little voice got louder as he bounded into the kitchen. She looked up at him, his dark hair and eyes reminding her of their dad once more. It saddened her but she quickly pulled herself together.
    “Yeah sure, but be back by half five, I’ll have your dinner done.”
    “Thanks!” He jumped back out the doorway, the front door opening and closing, leaving Grace alone in the house once more.
    She sighed deeply, brushing light brown hair back over her slim shoulders. After school sucked almost as much as school did itself. Then again, during school at least she was with her friends.
    After school, her social life went downhill as she always had to look after Josh. She didn’t mind doing it just, this was her childhood she was wasting.
    “Well that’s life.” Grace muttered to herself and resignedly walked up the stairs to her bedroom. She dumped her school bag onto the floor and got dressed out of her school uniform.
    Poems were stuck to the wall over her desk, the one thing she loved to do in her spare time. They were about many things, life, death, emotions, parts of her life, memories… She sat down on the chair and started reading some off the wall. She loved writing them, forgetting about them and then reading them all over again.
    “Hmm…”
    “Huh?” Grace spun around in her chair, heart beating wildly, threatening to break free of her chest. There had been a voice…she was sure of it. Maybe it had been the radiator making weird noises as it sometimes did in the night.
    Time flew as she read the poems and before she knew it, she was downstairs making dinner.
    She just couldn’t wait until she broke this stupid routine. Making Josh’s dinner, Grace suddenly started to feel very tired, like she hadn’t slept in a long time. Yawning, she finished Josh’s dinner just as he came through the front door, dirty from playing football out on the small field outside their house.
    “Your dinner is ready and you better change out of those clothes after a bath. I’ll run you one now.”
    “How come you aren’t having dinner?”
    “I’m too tired. I’m gonna lay down after I’ve run your bath. Come up when you’re are finished eating”
    “Okay.” Josh opened the fridge to get out the mayonnaise, which he always had a big lump of. One day he was going to turn into a jar of the stuff, she thought, smiling faintly.
    Grace walked out and up to her bedroom. It was crowded with shadows and darkness that unnerved her. She had never liked the dark, scared of what she just didn’t know. Yet, the light wasn’t switched on as she walked in.
    The bed creaked as she laid down, pulling the cold covers over her. It felt weird still having her clothes on but the comforting feeling of the covers, protecting her from the outside world, soon overcame that.
    Outside, the sky was dark and gloomy, bringing on the winter blues to many people. Tiredness soon took over and as she close her eyes she drifted off to sleep.
    The shadows moved forward, looming over her sleeping form. Soft laughter seemed to come from all directions, chilling. Grace shifted in her sleep, lying on her back, one pale arm slung over her face.
    A tendril of darkness slithered towards her and stroked her arm gently. “Ahh.” The voice travelled on a slight breeze that lightly swept through the room. The shadows materialized into a tall figure and then another. They both stood there watching her for brief seconds before indulging in conversation, speaking in a language not known to humans.
    “What do you think?”
    “Interesting, very interesting. Very pretty too, I wasn’t expecting that after I saw her mother.”
    Soft but dark laughter from both the men. “Very true, so shall I confirm the deal?”
    “Hmm, yes, I guess you sense the potential inside her as well.”
    “Of course, she will be very useful to us. I shall speak to your mother and get everything ready to close the…exchange.” The man disappeared, leaving the other behind to watch Grace sleeping soundly, utterly oblivious of his presence.