Tom's Nightmare

In a small town, there lived a boy named Tom. He was a cheerful boy. Tom was only 10 years old. He lived a normal life like any child would live. He lived with his parents and his elder sister. His sister was just 4 years older than him. His father’s name was Harry, his mother’s name was Eve and his sister’s name was Alexa. His father and mother both were involved in the business. Both he and his sister used to study at a nearby school. He went to school with his sister. He was good in his academics. He was nice to his friends and always used to respect his teachers. He never used to quarrel with his friends or his family.

       As usual, he returned from school with his sister. He finished all his work and assignments and had a little break. As it was a holiday at school tomorrow he went out to play. In the evening his father told him that they were going on a trip to Disneyland tomorrow. He was extremely happy. He went to his sister and told his sister about this. His sister started jumping and hopping with joy. He had dinner with his family. After he had his dinner he went to bed with a smile on his face.

    The next day he woke up and did all his daily chores and got dressed. He went down to the kitchen and had his breakfast with his family. All of them were ready to go. His father took the car out of the garage and everyone got in and headed towards Disneyland. It was a long journey. On their way, there was a lot of traffic and it took about 4 hours to reach Disneyland. When they reached there, Tom and Alexa were so happy that they started to hop. They had a lot of fun at Disneyland. They rode many rides, had many delicious foods and sweets, and took many pictures. It was starting to get dark so they headed towards their home.

   On their way home, as it was getting dark, his father did not want to get caught up in the same kind of traffic as before, so he took another way home. When Tom looked out of the window the road was covered by forest on both sides. The road was empty and silent. Suddenly a huge truck came out of nowhere and went ahead of the car and blocked the road. Tom’s father applied the brakes quickly. Tom was scared and went near Alexa. Alexa, seeing Tom scared, held him tightly around her arms. Out of the truck, some suspicious-looking guys (burglars) with their faces covered approached the car. They came near the cars and started banging and hitting them. Tom’s father asked them what they wanted. They grabbed him by his shirt’s collar and demanded money. Tom’s father and mother gave him everything they had and requested them to leave his family alone. But the burglars started demanding more money and pointed a gun at Tom's father. His father said they had nothing left with them and without hesitating the burglars fired the gun at Tom's father and mother. Alexa and Tom started crying and screaming. The burglars grabbed Alexa and tied her and then took her to the truck with them. While trying to stop them one of the burglars hit Tom in the head. He then took off his mask and with a disgusting grin he said that Tom was young, so he was lucky to be left alive. The burglars left Tom in the car. Tom seeing everyone he held dear taken away from him started crying and screaming till his eyes and throat got sore.

   But suddenly he hears a voice and a gentle shake wakes him up. His mother was shouting at him to get ready or they would be late to go to Disneyland. He realized that all that had happened was just a nightmare. He jumped out of his bed and hugged his mother and started crying. His mother was amazed to see his behavior and asked him what happened. He then tells her everything about the horrifying experience that he had. He then told his mother that he was scared and did not want to go. Tom’s mother patted his head gently and said that everything is okay and that she would discuss it with his father. Later they all agreed not to go and enjoyed the holiday by playing games and watching TV at home.

By Unish Pandey

The End