Tyler's New Journaling Spot

Author’s Note:  This story is written from the perspective of a 4th grader.  The language and sentence structure reflects this.

June 12, 2021

Dear Diary,

I want to go home.

There is nothing I want more than to see my family again.  I don’t like it here.  It’s cold and dark all the time.  The people here are all weird and make me feel very uncomfortable.  They kinda just walk around and don’t really say much.  I haven’t heard anyone laugh or try to be funny.  I tried telling this one guy a joke but I don’t think he got it.  He didn’t even smile.  This sucks.  I miss my mommy and daddy and my brother and sister.

June 13, 2021

Dear Diary,

It’s almost morning time now.  That’s why I wrote that it’s the 13th, Mommy says that the next day starts at midnight and I knew that it was past midnight.  There’s only one window here, all the others have wood boards over them and you can’t see through them.  I keep looking out of the one window I can see through.  I want to know where I am.  I don’t remember coming here, I was really sleepy.  I’m super happy that the guy from the window grabbed my diary though, that was very nice of him.  He told me his name is Andrei.  I don’t think I know anyone else with that name.  Maybe he’s not from here.  He talks kinda funny too, he talks like an old, smart guy.

It looks like everyone’s getting sleepy.  Everyone is going to the basement now.  Andrei told me that when I get tired, I should come to the basement.  He said there’s an open bed for me and told me to make sure that I stay away from the window until I go to bed.  

Goodnight Diary.

June 13, 2021

Dear Diary,

It’s night time now and I just woke up.  I slept really well.  I didn’t think that I would sleep well though because the bed that Andrei told me about was just a weird shaped box with a lid over it.  It looked comfier than the ground though, so I slept in it.

Everyone’s awake now and we’re back upstairs.  I got really thirsty but the sink didn’t have any water in it.  I told Andrei that the sink must be broken or something and he said he’d get me something to drink.  He gave me this super dark red drink that looked like juice.  It was really tasty!  It made me feel more awake and it gave me more energy.  

June 14, 2021

Dear Diary,

I didn’t even realize how late I was staying up tonight but I saw some pretty colors in the sky super far away when I looked in the window.  Everybody started going to the basement again but Andrei stayed upstairs.  I was very upset and was crying.  I told Andrei that I was worried that I didn’t get any sleep tonight because I have school in the morning.  I asked him if he could drive me to school.  I have math tomorrow and we’re doing multiplication tables again.  I have to be at school and have energy so that I can beat Leah in our times tables test.  She beat me last time but I’m better at math than she is, I can even do some two digit problems now!

Andrei said that I don’t have to go to school anymore because this house doesn’t go to school.  I was pretty upset at first but then I realized that I can do whatever I want now because I don’t have to go to school!

I’m going to bed now.

Goodnight Diary.

June 14, 2021

Dear Diary,

I just woke up a little bit ago.  It feels weird not going to school but it’s like a vacation!  It’s not a very fun vacation but I still don’t have to go to school, which is cool.  Mommy and Daddy brought me to Disney World last year for vacation, that was a lot more fun.  I want to go to Toy Story Mania again, I miss going there.

I miss my friends.  I like vacation but I always want my friends to come.  They don’t come to our vacations though, there’s already five of us in the car when we go on trips.

I saw some of the people who are old like Mommy and Daddy leave the house tonight.  I don’t know where they went.  I think maybe they went to go drink beer.  Mommy says that daddy does that some nights.  Mommy doesn’t like when he does that.  He always acts kinda weird when he comes home those nights.  

Andrei gave me some more of that juice, he says I need to drink some at least once a day.  That makes me happy because it’s really good!

June 15, 2021

Dear Diary,

My friends Jake and Sadie are here!  The old people who went outside tonight brought them here.  I was very excited to see them.  They seemed very tired and not happy though.  They kinda look like the rest of the people here.  They both have two little red dots on their neck.  I told them that they probably got bit by spiders.  Sadie told me that it looks like I got bit by two spiders too.  That’s probably why my neck hurt the day I got here.  I didn’t tell anyone about it hurting because Daddy always says: “Tyler, you need to be a tough boy or the world will be tough to you”.  

Tonight when I was looking out the window, I was sad.  I still don’t know where I am and I miss my family.  Jake and Sadie already went to bed so I couldn’t talk to them.  Andrei was still awake though so I talked to him.  I asked Andrei if I could go see my family because I miss them.  He said that I can’t go home because I look very pale and sick, so if I went home, they’d be very worried about me.  I told him that I want to get better so I can see them and he said that I’m going to have to eat a lot if I want to get better.  He said that he’d take me out to eat tomorrow night.  I’m very excited to get out of this place and go outside!

Goodnight Diary.

June 15, 2021

Dear Diary,

I thought that Jake and Sadie would feel better when we woke up but they’re still acting really weird.  They look very sick and are acting too much like everyone else.  They move like they’re sleepwalking kinda.  

Andrei took me out to eat!  We walked outside and it was super dark out but I could see pretty well still.  I asked him which restaurant we’re going to but he said that we’re not going to a restaurant, we’re getting a home cooked meal.  We went to some house I have never been to before.

Then, the craziest thing happened!  Andrei started floating!  He floated up to the upstairs window and then came back down and taught me how to do it.  It was actually pretty easy to learn.  Now I can float!  I’m like a superhero!

Andrei told me that we just need to ask the person in the room if we can come in because we can’t go inside until they tell us we can.  He said that the man inside would scream at first but that’s just because everyone’s afraid of the dark.  He said if we ask nicely enough, he’ll let us inside.  The man did scream when we floated up to the window but he calmed down after Andrei talked to him a little bit.  He asked if he could come in and the guy in the room said yes.  Then, I asked him if I could come in and he said yes to me too.  He didn’t look very happy about it though, he had a very straight face and was just staring straight forward.

Andrei told me to close my eyes and wait a second.  When I closed my eyes, I heard a loud thud but Andrei said it was okay.  He told me to keep my eyes closed because the food I was eating was a surprise.  He grabbed my arm and walked me forward a few steps.  Then, he stood behind me and bent my head forward.  He told me not to look but to just bite the food and suck, don’t chew.  I thought this was kinda weird but I did it.  It was delicious!  It tasted like the juice that he gives me but with something extra in it that made it taste even better.  I told him that I wanted to eat that every day!

June 16, 2021

Dear Diary,

When we were coming home from the house, I noticed that I do know where the house is.  It is the house from across town that Mommy said no one has lived in for years.  It doesn’t look very nice, Daddy would want to paint it.  It’s kinda weird that I’m staying in that house but I guess it’s kinda cool.  

A little while after we got back, even more people showed up.  Some more of my friends from school came, the guy who let us eat in his house, and even the principal of the high school.  They all had the spider bites on their necks too.  Maybe there’s an army of spiders attacking anyone who goes out at night.  That would be really scary.

I was very sad tonight.  I was happy that I got to eat some really good food but I was sad that I couldn’t see my family.

The colors in the sky were really pretty tonight.  There was orange and purple all over the sky.  I asked Andrei to come look at it but he said he can’t.  He said that I shouldn’t even be looking at it.  He said I need to make sure that I get down to the basement before the sun comes up.  When he said this, I realized that everyone avoided this window when it got close to the morning time.  Maybe they just don’t like pretty colors.  That would be silly though, I think everyone likes pretty colors.

I stayed up late after everyone else went to bed.  I was still very sad and felt like being naughty.  So I went to check out the window.  I wanted to see the sun.  When I went to stand in front of the window, my arm started to burn.  It was the worst pain ever.  It felt like I put my arm in lava.  I tried not to cry but I couldn’t help it.  Daddy wouldn’t be happy with me.  I didn’t put any more of my body in front of the window after that.  I’m never going to let the sun shine on me again.  Nobody woke up though, they all kept sleeping in their weird boxes with the lids shut.  My arm feels better now that it’s not in the sun anymore, so I’m going to bed.

Goodnight Diary.

June 16, 2021

Dear Diary,

I really don’t like it here anymore.  I tried showing my friends from school my cool trick that Andrei taught me but none of them looked like they cared.  They said it was cool but then they all floated too.  They aren’t fun anymore.  I hope they get better soon and stop acting like this.  Everyone here acts the same too.  No one wants to play with me, I just sit here and draw or read books that I find in the house.  I want to go home so that I can be with my family.  They’d never act like this.  They would play with me and laugh at my jokes too.  

Even more new people came to the house today.  A bunch of people left tonight to go get them, I don’t get why they all like beer so much.  Daddy let me try a sip once and I hated it.  

There were some kids like me, some teenagers, some old people, and some of the old people were dressed up all fancy, like they work at some fancy place.  

I went out to eat again tonight at a different person’s house.  It was really really good.  This meal tasted even stronger.  I still don’t know what it is that I’m eating because Andrei won’t let me look but I don’t care, it tastes too good.  

When we got back from eating, there were even more new people here.  I guess everyone at the house had a bunch of friends.  Even the mayor of our town was at the house!  I said hi to him, it was cool talking to a famous guy, even though he barely talked.

June 17, 2021

Dear Diary,

It’s very crowded in the house tonight.  There must be a bazillion people in this house.  It’s like Andrei is trying to get the whole town to come stay here.  This isn’t going to be a very good party though, everyone is boring and it seems like no one likes to have fun.  Everyone keeps complaining about being starving and some people that have been here for a while said they might have to get people from the town next to us when we run out of people in this town.  This is going to be the biggest party ever.  There’s no way they’re all going to fit in this house though, we’re going to need more houses for everyone.  But Mommy and Daddy and my brother and sister still haven’t come yet.  That makes me very upset.  I sat by myself for a long time because I didn’t want to talk to anyone.  

I’m so happy!  Andrei came up to me tonight while I was at the window and told me that I get to see my family tomorrow!  He said that they were next on the list anyway and that they’re going to bring people from that side of town tomorrow night.  He said that he’ll get a group of four people from this house, one for each person at home (not including me because I’m staying here), and go to my house to get my family!  He said that my family even invited them to stay for dinner before they come here.  Andrei told me that I still can’t come though, he said they need to have “grown up conversation”.  But my family is still coming tomorrow!

I can’t wait for my family to get to the party, it will be much more fun with them here!  They’re going to be so happy to see me too!  I’ll finally be happy on this vacation!  

Goodnight Diary.