‘Are you for real?’ by Aasiyabanoo Mansoor, Penwortham Girls’ High School

My eyes flicked open at 6am, when I heard the voice of someone whispering my name, I got terrified as there was only me in the room, as I live abroad for my studies. I covered myself with a blanket and tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn’t. After a long time, I fell asleep, that wasn’t exactly where it stopped. I heard someone knocking and scratching on my room’s door, I got terrified again and I started to call my parents, neither of them answered it and I checked the time and it was daytime and nobody answered it, I was getting more terrified. I got off my bed, and I opened the door slowly. When I looked out, there was no one in the corridor. I looked at both sides and there was no one in the corridor far and wide. Then I closed the door and as soon as I lifted my leg up, I heard the noise of the anklets, I got terrified again and quickly jumped on to my bed. I waited until 8 o’clock so everyone could wake up and talk to them. I didn’t go to sleep until 8am. Then at 8:15 I opened the door to go out of my room. Then what I see is my childhood friends, and they told me that they tried to wake me up before and they made the noise to scare me.