I didn’t mean it when I said I wanted her gone. It was that one wish that ruined my life. If I hadn’t insisted that we venture into that cabin, would my sister still be here? Every night I wake up in cold sweat drowning in the guilt of losing her.
It all started on October 17th.Today was a special day because it was my little sister Ava’s birthday, as well as my own. Ava was turning 7, and I was turning 14.
“Lex! Come downstairs”, my mom called.
“Coming!” I yelled back.
I went downstairs to find pancakes on the table; they smelled wonderful. Ava came racing down the stairs, screaming “I’m 7! I’m 7!” I couldn’t help but smile at how happy she was. She raced over to me and screamed, “Happy birthday!”
I grinned and calmly replied, “Happy birthday Ava!” After breakfast, I suggested that we go for a hike, and everyone happily agreed. This day was Saturday so we didn’t have school.
As we got ready to leave, light rain began to fall, so we threw on our rain jackets. Ava had a polka dot raincoat, I had a light blue one, and my parents had green rain jackets. We drove to a nearby hiking trail and set off on our journey. I loved going on hikes with my family; it was just us and the woods, and I didn’t have to worry about school or anything else.
We hiked for about an hour when I spotted a silhouette of a building. “Look! Look!” I called, as I pointed towards the building in the distance. “Can we go check it out?” I asked eagerly. My dad sighed, “Sure, Ava and your mother can stay here.”
“No!”, Ava screamed, “I wanna come!” Ava sat down and started pouting. My mother and father exchanged a look before finally giving in. I rolled my eyes at how easily they gave in to her every wish.
As we got closer, I could tell the building was just a cabin and looked pretty worn down and vacant. After half an hour of walking, we finally arrived. I was amazed at the cabin’s size; it looked a lot smaller when we had seen it before. The cabin had a tall rusty fence surrounding it and a large metal gate that was swinging loosely on its hinges. There were vines creeping over the fence and weaving in between the bars. The cabin itself had a dark eerie vibe to it. Some of the windows were broken, and others had been boarded up. The steps leading up to the cabin were covered in debris and leaves.
After a while admiring the outside, I was curious about the inside. I went around to the front and began pushing open the gate on the fence, when I heard my dad yell.
“Stop! What do you think you're doing?” he demanded.
I turned around guiltily. “I just wanted to take a peek,” I admitted.
My dad looked mildly annoyed, “Someone could live there, Alex, use your head.”
In the midst of my dad lecturing me about going into strangers' houses, Ava ran over and started rambling on about how she wanted this and that for her birthday. It was at this moment when I just wanted Ava gone. She always got what she wanted, and I barely got anything. Ava always got all the attention. Ava could just start whining about how she didn't have something, and my parents would immediately get it for her.
I cleared my throat loudly. “Dad can I please go into the cabin, I’ll be quick! Please!” I begged.
Eventually my dad gave in, “Fine, but take Ava with you.”
I reluctantly agreed. Ava and I pushed through the gate which made a loud creak . I pushed Ava behind me as we approached the thick, dark oak door. I slowly turned the knob and pushed the heavy door open.
Ava squealed with excitement and raced past me into the cabin. I chased after her not wanting my dad to yell at me. Once I got inside the house, the first thing I noticed was the terrible smell of old mothballs, sewage, and something else that I couldn’t identify.
“BOO!” Ava jumped out from around the corner. I screamed and leapt backwards slamming the door shut. Ava started rolling around giggling.
“That’s it! We’re leaving!” I yelled as I grabbed Ava’s arm.
I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her messing around and this place was giving me weird vibes. I yanked hard on the doorknob, but I had pulled it too hard. The doorknob came flying off, sending me tumbling onto the floor. I tried prying the door open using my fingers, but it was stuck. I didn’t want to call my parents because they would think I’m irresponsible, so I turned to tell Ava we had to find another way out. But no one was behind me.
“Ava!” I yelled, “Come on this isn’t funny!”
I looked around and saw a shadow running down one of the narrow halls. I sprinted after it into a small room that appeared to be a small lounge. I looked around and saw a small bit of fabric caught on the edge of a coffee table. I grabbed the fabric and gasped when I realized it was part of Ava’s rain jacket. All of a sudden, I started to hear desperate screams. I sprinted down another hall, tears streaming down my face.
“Ava!” I yelled.
I started to panic. Where was she? How could I have let her out of my sight? Then suddenly everything went quiet. All I could hear was the pounding of my feet and my heavy breathing. My heart was racing. I had lost my baby sister. My eyes were blurry with tears when I remembered how badly I had treated her this morning. I stopped running, but the footsteps continued. I spun around, but no one was there. The footsteps grew louder and louder until suddenly I was slammed against a wall. I frantically spun around, but the hall was empty.
After seemingly hours of searching for Ava, I finally gave up. I found a window that didn’t have bars and smashed the glass with the leg of a table. I crawled out of the shattered window while ignoring the sharp glass creating long shallow gashes in my arm. I ran towards where I remember my parents standing when we entered the cabin and embraced them.
“I-I lost A-Av-Ava” I wailed. My parents looked confused.
“Dear, who’s Ava?” my mother questioned.
I stepped away. “Ava, she’s my s-sister” I stuttered.
My dad chuckled. “Sweety, you don’t have a sister.”
Five years have passed since the incident. I still wake up from nightmares with Ava’s screams echoing in my head. No one remembers Ava; it was like she never existed. The only thing that I have to prove she was real is a small scrap of polka dot fabric. All I know is that my wish came true, but I would do anything to undo it.
~Maya is a teen contributor