Her Name Was Ada
By Elara, Year 8
Her name was Ada. She had three brothers and one baby sister. They lived in Victorian England.
“Ada!” I stride through the house, eyes peeled for the subtlest movements.
“Ada, where are you?” Today no answer awaits me.
“Aaaadaaa, come here!”
The house is deathly silent. My vision blurs and corridors shrink and elongate, the roof lurches towards me as I stagger, tripping over in my confusion. My heart pounds powerfully, sending my chest heaving as I gasp for breath.
Then, just as quickly as it began, the moment passes and my vision becomes my own. My heartbeat slows down again, and I breathe deeply, calming myself. The danger has passed. For now. But I need to find Ada. More danger might be coming.
The lights above me flicker, and a faint, lovely tinkling melody floats down the staircase. I beam, and take the ascent two steps at a time, my feet thumping down on the dark timber. As I enter my bedroom, I spot my old music box, the beautiful ballerina pirouetting three, four, five, six times before the classical music slows. Ada slowly closes the lid of the little ornate box.
I step towards her, as if in slow motion, my foot slowly resting on the fluffy white carpet sprinkled with dust.
“Ada,” I say. You can never be too sure with Ada – one day she’ll be curious and friendly, the next she’ll be panicked and shy, ready to take flight at a moment’s notice. But we’re bonded. If something happens to Ada, it happens to me too. That’s why my eyes were stolen downstairs. It happens when Ada is in danger. Of course, no one believes me. So it’s my sole responsibility to make sure Ada stays safe, and doesn’t leave the house. If she leaves the house, Ada won’t just be recalled to the Kingdom Of Night, she’ll be banished. Forever.
This piece, Her Name Was Ada, by Elara, was written as a part of Ghost Stories. In this workshop series students are inspired by spooky texts from around the world and use their imagination to create their own take on ghost fiction. Over eight workshops students learn about the conventions of ghost fiction, engage in character and world building, and create poems and pieces of short fiction that evoke a pleasing terror in their readers.