Trapped | Teen Ink

Trapped

October 22, 2021
By Anonymous

On a nice Sunday like any day, my friends and I were on a playground. Suddenly out of the blue a man in a black mask walked up and put his hand over my mouth. My body was thrown then it tumbled into a van as I attempted to get out kicking and screaming the loudest and hardest as I could. My friends and I pressed our faces on the cold windows screaming and banging trying to get out. The engine started up with a rattling sound startling us. The windows went black. We sat, lay, and napped on the cold rough floor. The car just wouldn’t stop. It felt like we had been here for days.

Eventually, it finally stopped. The man in the mask had a black bag which he threw on my friends and me. A deep masked voice spoke,” Walk forward.” I thought to myself. What the heck is going on here? I took little steps until I reached this metal cold floor.

Next thing you know I was sitting on the ground with three of my friends around me. This big shining thing was facing me. I walked up to it and there was a flashing red light. It seemed like it had a purpose. People gave us names. They called me Margaret. Now my friends were called Mia, Matt, and Nick. 

Well, dammit now I have been stuck here for a like million years. At least I wasn’t alone. I still missed my family but I guessed Mia, Matt, and Nick made up for a little bit of that. 

One day the man in the mask handed us a piece of paper with our names on it. He told us to read it and the shining thing came out again. I got infuriated. How did they

get to control my life? It was so unfair.  The only reason I read it was because he still scared me. I read the script as best as I could.  “

Nick said you smell bad to the whole world” I looked at it with disappointment. Then Mia’s, Nick’s, and Matt’s all said horrible things about each other. We were no longer friends. Why would they want this to happen? 

“I never said any of this” I scream out of sadness. A little note came to me “be friends again?”  everyone got this and suddenly we were friends again.  

“No please, I want to stay!”

 I got dragged off set and dragged into a new one. Is this my life right now? Just as I settled into my life. I miss my old life. Mia, Matt, and Nick got dragged off with me. I wonder why? I woke up with a foggy memory. My eyes stared at the ceiling. It was blue. As I lay in bed I look around, curious to see. Pink walls, but I hate the color of pink. Yells from the same house keep calling 

“Margaret time to get to school” huh? The last thing I remember was winter in 4th grade. Oh, how nice the snow was, the kids yelling and screaming. But that was distant now. It's August I read on my calendar. I slowly rolled out of bed dreading my life. Why would they want me to move sets? Even so, why even kidnap me in the first place? Why did it have to be me? As the stairs appeared I rushed down they’re frightened of the people I may see. I see a blonde young woman and a young man.  Also, after I stare the blonde woman says” Honey is something wrong you can always tell mom.” Another mom? How could this be?

I hop in the car still very disoriented on a street with people saying hi to us like they knew who I was. I didn’t know them. Odd. After school, I see in the corner of my eye

are my friends, Matt, Nick, and Mia. Well, that's odd. I sprinted to them. They seemed even more confused than I was but the bottom line. We don’t know where we are but why would the man in the black mask do this? I keep repeating all these questions in my head circling attempting to find the answers. I think this is unsolvable. 

Anyways I look around in my classroom and the woman greets me, says her name is Mrs. Smith. Ok so after all of that I carry on with my day. As the day went it seemed to get stranger by the minute. A constant buzzing sound rang in my ears. I leave looking like what I know I am doing, no I don't. As I approached my friends Nick, Mia, Matt we looked at each other with the same looks. We talked with our eyes. It said what was going on. Mia starts to stutter “what's next” I look dead into Mia, her lips quivered, then the eyes dripping with water. The man in the mask comes. The room went dark, I clench the closest hand possible hoping it won’t happen. Somehow the lights brighten. I was blinded. The guy disappeared, as I looked down to see my hand with Nick. As soon

as we realized we let go as fast as possible Mia and Matt were just laughing so hard it got to me too. After it toned down, we looked NOW frightened of what happened. 

I found myself lying on the ground, the floor gave my back chilis. My body was dragged along the floor from side to side. I was incapable of even opening my eyes to the simplest human task possible. I went out cold until I found myself laying in my bed again. I thought “ok its drill wakes up in a bed new show” as my eyes start to adjust loud voice projected through the room  

“Welcome, you have been stuck here for a while nowhere” as it pauses, I think to myself”

“Why was it taunting me?” It resumes

“Every thought of living not on a tv set? If you want to see that day you must complete one simple task, kill me and you escape.”

The more that that sank in the more hope erupted from me. But the thought of murdering came into my head. I thought more and more the voice sounded pretty much like the masked man. If it was him, I wouldn't even care. I would do it for pleasure.  But before I could do anything I looked around the room and “HI '' as if I couldn’t get any happier standing in front of me were Mia, Nick, Matt.  My vision was still seeing spots of grays and blues. I see a triangle... The aroma of grease, cheese, and the slightest burnt but crispbread ahead. As it's severed, I sprint, I feel my leg flexing in a way it never has. I grabbed the pizza and I chomped it down in 4 bites. I never felt this feeling, determination. As I grit my teeth, I hear the squeaky ness but I keep on going. I was hungry for freedom. I wonder if Mia, Matt, and Nick felt this too? The room goes dark it's eerie again I think to myself

“Is this that we must kill”, chills flow up and down through my body. The lights went on again. The man was standing right under the light. 

“What is this game to you?” I scream. But the anger took over me. I wasn't scared. Is that a good or bad thing?

A gun is lying on the floor. I picked it up wondering how to use it. I feel the click pull a little hard and shots rang out lucky the gun was facing the man. He collapses his last gasp for air. The doors opened. I ran out with my friends, lucky there was a town in the middle of this. Eventually, we find the police and tell them the whole story excluding the gun part. He says “you’re the missing kids aren’t you”


The author's comments:

THIs piece is about 4 kids getting kidnaped and forced to be on tv. 


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