“I’m bored!” Melody said for what, to Anna, sounded like the hundredth time that day and they had only been together for an hour. Anna and Melody lived in a housing complex with around fifteen different towers. Each tower had about forty condominiums, making it a crowded but still fun place to live. The two eleven-year-old girls had been friends since they were four. Melody lived in Tower 13 and Anna lived in Tower 7. The two went to the park every evening to hang out. However, all their friends were at least a year older than them, which meant they all had more weekly tests to write and more things to study, often leaving them with no one to play with but each other. They had their own private games, and they could always just play badminton, but everything got boring after a while. So, they decided to find their own private place, and they came up with a perfect idea.
The Terraces.
Each tower had a terrace, more of a public balcony, but almost no one visited them. So, they had their perfect private places – the terraces of Tower 13 and Tower 7. In addition to this, they would also visit random towers’ terraces, just to explore the place and pass time. It was one normal day and they decided to visit the terrace of Tower 4. It was simple. Take the elevator up to the fifth floor, enjoy the view from the terrace for a few minutes and take the elevator back down again. That is what should’ve happened this time, except that the lift stalled on the way back down. The elevator shook and rattled. Immediately, Mel and Anna knew something was wrong. They tried getting out, but then the lights went out, causing the girls to emit a shriek. After about a minute (and a prayer) the doors opened on the ground floor. However, the chatty tower guard was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the delivery boy waiting for neighbours who lived in house 411 to collect their parcel. They looked out to the park, but no children were playing there, and there were no grannies knitting sweaters for their families either.
No young parents pushing their babies in a stroller. It was like the world was empty, except for them. Anna whipped out her mobile phone and called her parents. Melody followed her example. Neither’s parents picked the phone. They raced home but it was all a blur. Mel broke down at Anna’s house, crying- ugly crying. Anna tried to comfort her, but she was feeling the exact same thing.
Neither said it but they were both wondering what happened? Is it just us now? Alone?! Mel composed herself. “We need to plan. We are obviously in a sort of muddle right now! You grab all the suitcases you can find, a few clothes, like winter jackets and things like that and some eatables. We’ll do the same at my place and then get some stuff from the shops. Mel and Anna went over to the shopping Galleria and ran to the grocery store. The complex had quite a few grocery stores, two chemist shops and a toy shop. As they had no money, the two girls were secretly piling up packaged waffles into a magenta suitcase when the lights went out again. “Probably because nobody is here to operate power stations” – Mel explained to Anna, who was clutching her friend’s arm in fear. The lights came back on within a minute. Just as they did, someone tapped Anna’s shoulder. They turned to look behind and a cashier was standing there with a questioning look on his face.
They knew at that moment that there was only one thing to do. The girls took a deep breath and- RAN! (With their suitcases, of course). “I don’t think we’re going to be welcomed there anymore.” Mel panted. “Yeah, you got that right.” Anna whispered back. “What happened though? The lights go out in the elevator, they come back on and nobody’s there. We cry, run to the shops, and start picking stuff up so we can fend for ourselves, and suddenly everybody comes back.” Anna speculated. Mel shrugged. As they were walking out of the Galleria, Mel saw her parents coming back in their car from work. “Quick, we must put this stuff back before my parents reach home!”
The girls did this task when a thought popped into Anna’s mind. Pulling her best friend into the alley, she said “Melody, is this our wish granted? Something indistinctly exciting to do during summer vacations. Or is it a creepy secret binding us to that mysterious terrace in tower 4 forever?” The listener looked at Anna with wide eyed amazement. In that moment, both knew that they wouldn’t be getting bored for the rest of the summer.