The rubbish bin murder

My name is Fergus Darwhale, and this is my story.

Part One.  The Begining 

It stared at me and I stared back. I could hear my heart pounding as I walked slowly towards the big green bin. I held my breath and wrenched open it's putrid jaws. This was it. The moment of truth. Everyone was there, watching as I tested the legend of the old man that lived in the bin, only coming out at night to murder small children.

 One of the seniors, the one who had a notebook with every date a child had gone missing since 2004, was scribbling frantically, recording my crazy act of bravery. The kids started to shout, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1 !!!"
I forced my eyes down and saw... a black hole. Everyone held their breath.
"The bottom leads into a tunnel!" I shouted.
Kids surged forward, eager to see the tunnel.
"It's true! It's really true!" The kids swarmed around chatting excitedly.

"WAIT!" Ann Burnscathe, the control freak, stepped forward. "Who will go in with Fergus?"
"I'm going in?!"
"Of course you are! It's your mission. You don't want to just be known as the person who opened the bin, do you?"
"No."
"Good then. It's all arranged. But who will go with him?"
The class idiot, Rex Slickdun stepped forward.
"I will."
I was glad, because although Rex wasn't too rich in the smarts department, he was very strong and could easily hurt an old man.
"I will too."
Everybody gasped. Nora Wallace was one of the prettiest girls in school, and no one could figure out why she of all people wanted to risk her life to go down a muddy hole and chase a murderer.
"Why do you want to go?" Susan Longhawk sneered.
"Why should the boys have all the fun?"
All the girls nodded, chatting among themselves.
"I shall go too." Susan said with a decided nod.

Ann looked around, with that look in her eye she got when she was about to launch into full organizing mode.
"Hey! You guys are boy scouts right?" She shouted at a bunch of boys who nodded in return. "Go get all of the skipping ropes you can find in the PE shed, start making a rope and hide it under the bushes for tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow?" One of the boy scouts asked.
"Well you can't possibly expect them to just jump in without any preparation, can you?!" Ann scoffed
They all ran away without another word.

Next, Ann turned to a group of kids.
"Tomorrow, you will bring extra lunch for the adventures to take with them OK?!"
They all looked very scared and nodded.

Ann then swivelled around to face a pair of girls.
"You guys can do Karate, yes?," They nodded. "You can teach them some moves and show them some basic warm ups."

"Done yet, Ann?" Susan asked, sounding a little worried.
"Nearly," Ann then turned to the rest of the kids, "Bring whatever else you think might be useful."

Last of all, she turned to me, Rex, Nora and Susan.
"Eat a good breakfast tomorrow, wear old clothes and raincoats, go to bed early tonight and remember to say goodbye to your family."

With this sentence the realization of what we were going to do dawned on us. I mean, who do we think we are? Four crazy kids who found a hole in a supposedly haunted rubbish bin and planned to go in. This might be the last time we see daylight, let alone our families.

Suddenly, my bubble of thought was popped by a voice saying,
"What about their parents?!"
Everyone went quiet.
"Well...," Ann started, "tomorrows Friday, so why don't we just tell them that your sleeping over at each others houses?"
Everyone cheered.

That night I wanted to stay up to spend time with my family but, for once, when mum told me to go to bed, I didn't object. 

Part Two.  The Vote

The next morning, I ate so much breakfast I felt I would pop. I also dressed in my oldest clothes. In my bag I packed:
1. A Torch
2. A Raincoat
3. My sisters longest skipping ropes
4. Gloves
5. A note book and pen

When I got to school, a few kids ran up to me holding a tightly sealed envelope. I put down my bag and ripped it open.

Fergus,

Please make your way to the Library ASAP.

When you get there, Tammy and Scott the Librarians will

take care of the rest. The password is Fossil. See you soon,

Ann

I pocketed the letter and ran to the school Library. When I came in, Tammy and Scott rushed over. They pointed at the door of the conference room. The conference room is the place where teachers and students can book a thirty minute meeting. I knocked on the door.
"Password." A muffled voice called.
"Fossil."
The door creaked open and Ann's stern little face peered up at me.
"Come in Fergus, we have been waiting for you."
"Sorry, mum couldn't find the car keys."
"Hmmmm. Well, hurry up."
I stepped in and Susan gestured to a seat next to Rex.

When I was seated, Ann clapped her hands once.
"Right, lets get down to business. Tammy!"
Tammy poked her head in the door.
"Yes, Ann?"
"Go and get the Karate girls."
"Yes, Ann."
After a few minutes, Tammy returned with the girls.
"Everybody, meet Grace and Ruth." Ann announced.
We all chorused in 'Hi". They answered shyly back.
"They will help you learn the art of self defence."
And they did. To this day I can still preform a few moves.

After Grace and Ruth left the room, Ann sat everyone down again.
"Good. Tammy!" She shouted.
Tammy popped her curly head in the door.
"Yes?"
"Go fetch the lunch kids."

A few minutes later, four kids were pushed into the room.
"Welcome!" Ann smiled. "Lets see the selection."
A girl named Morgan put all of their lunch box's on the table. She told us what they had in them.
"We've got four of everything. There are Apples, Donuts, Juice box's, Water Bottles and those little box's of Trail mix."
Ann nodded happily, thanked them and waved them off.

Later, at lunchtime, as I tied my length of skipping rope around my waist, I looked around at the scene that lay before me. Nora was posing on a red beach towel for the secret kids newspaper. Rex was lifting weights while the Splitskin twins giggled and blushed. Susan was signing women's rights pamphlets. Nobody paid attention to me.

 Except, maybe I was wrong! I felt a light yet firm tap on my shoulder and spun around. Ann stood before me holding a clipboard.
"Are you ready?"
"I guess."
"Well, I have some news."
"What?"
"You might not have to go down the hole after all."
This was news to me.
"Has the adventure been called off?!"
Ann shifted on her feet nervously.
"Um. Well it's more like this. We have a replacement for you."
"What!?"
"Kurt Bashwell is going in instead of you. Well if the kids vote for him."
"A VOTE!?"
"Yeah. You and Kurt will each have time for a speech on why you should be the one to go, then the kids will vote."
I groaned. Kurt was perfect. He got everything he ever wanted. I was going to lose.
"Why is Kurt suddenly battling me for the chance to go down a dank sewer after a creepy old man?"
"The Rugby team threatened to beat my brother up.'
Ann sighed. Her brother Rob was in the same year as us. He was skinny and weak and couldn't even win a fight with me.
"Fine. I'll do it."
Ann brightened up.
"Lovely. Go work on your speech."

Speech

 

I have nothing to say.                                                

                                                                                    

                                                                                     

                                                                                

 

 

 

"Today we decide who will go in to the hole with Nora, Rex and Susan," Ann shouted, "Kurt and Fergus will each have time for a speech where they will give their reasons for being the winner. Then you will go to the voting desk on the left of the playground. First up will be Kurt. Good luck to all!" Kurt stepped onto the 'stage' (Which was a sturdy bench) and cleared his throat.

"Hello, everybody. My name is Kurt, you may know me from the Rugby team. I would like to have the extreme honor of leading the adventure into the legendary bin because I am a fast runner." He finished with a smug smile and stepped off stage.
Everybody went wild for his stupid, up-himself speech. Ann was pulling me toward the stage.
"Um. Hi. I'm Fergus. I'm the kid who opened the bin. I think I should be the one to go down the hole because....because....because, when was the last time a nerd got to do something. So what if Kurt is a fast runner, it just means he can run away and leave you all stranded. I can sort out the map of the tunnel or tell you what to do if someone is exposed to a rare virus. So, what I'm trying to say is... vote for me because I am a worry wart nerd."
The crowd ERUPTED with applause! I felt amazing.

About fifteen minutes later, Ann ran over to me and squealed.
"You won!"
Everyone kept coming over to congratulate me and Susan, Rex and Nora said that they were glad it was me because otherwise Kurt would have turned it into a story where he saved everybody or something like that. Today was my day, and nobody was bringing me down.

Part Three.    

This is what we trained for, I think to myself, This is the moment, your time, my palms are sweaty, you can't back out now. 

I look at all the faces around me, the faces I have been seeing for the last five years of my life. The faces that have been crowded around in the hall ways, lined up in the cafe. Ann's talking to me now, asking if I'm ok. Her face is lost in a fog. Huh, funny, I never noticed that she has a tiny spot just below her left eye. 

"Fergus! Fergus! Are you ready? We've decided that you can go in last 'cause you look a bit green. Is that okay?" Ann's face suddenly swims back into view, everything is clear again.

"Um, yeah, that sounds good." 

She looks concerned but doesn't say anything about it. 

Susan, Rex and Nora walked over and handed me a walkie talkie. Susan starts to talk. 

"Um, keep this with you no matter what." 

"Thanks." I replie, strapping it on my belt.

"Anyway, we realised that none of us really know each other soooo, we were going to go to the rope swings and talk for a while. Do you want to come?"

"Sure!" 

When we got there, we sat down in a circle and talked about our favourite stuff to do, eat, read, watch and play. I found out that when you get Nora away from all of her popular friends, she is actually pretty down to earth. And Susan can whistle REALLY loudly. Plus, Rex is fairly smart and rather good at knots. At some point, Ann came and joined us and , strangely, she was really relaxed and happy. Eventually, she looked at her watch and stood up.

"Sorry guys, but we have to go now." 

We all stood up and went to claim our destines.

                                                     Next installment coming soon