By Chong Yew Jin
Honourable Mention
Side Note: The entry was edited for clarity.
We heard stories about it. Rumours about a bogeyman in our school. It started not long ago, with students disappearing without a trace and not a lead for the police to find. They say there was no struggle or blood. It’s as though they simply vanished from the planet. But the same thing was found in every missing person’s last known location, a board game. Opened and in the middle of playing with the pieces scattered across the board of square tiles lined in symmetrical patterns and the cover with the name written in bold, Hello Stranger.
I didn’t believe it when my roommate brought it into our room that night. He came in soaking wet from the rain. He took off his jacket and pulled out a strange box from his backpack. “You actually did it?” I asked.
“Don’t act like you wouldn’t.” Jax replied and continued. “There’s something about this game that’s connected to the kidnappings, I know it!”
That’s what they called it at least. Kidnappings. It would make more sense than being sucked into another world like Jumanji. “How did nobody see you steal that?” I asked.
“It wasn’t hard. Everyone went home because of this whole pandemic situation.” he replied.
“They left it in the confiscation office instead of a police station.” he continued.
He sat down and removed the cover from the box. “Now let’s do this!”
I sat down opposite of him, just across the board. I was just as intrigued to find out what the game was about and if it was really cursed. After all, if we do get teleported to another dimension, someone would probably find us eventually right?
The board was set with a start and a finish square. In the middle of the board were 2 stacks of cards along with a 6-sided dice. Jax unfolded a piece of paper which seemed like the instructions. It was printed without any brand name or logo. “Looks like it’s an ice-breaking game, we draw a card from our own stack and ask the question and the other person replies with yes or no. Then, we move forward the number of the dice we tossed.”
So, we played. It started out pretty normal. We got questions like “Have you ever made your own meal?”, “Do you like video games?” and “Would you slap your friend for 5 bucks?” But then things got weird after about an hour in. The questions asked were “Do you like the dark?”, “Can you see me?” and “Do you believe in ghosts?”
That’s when we heard them. Footsteps from outside. Loud tapping growing closer and closer. “A guard?” I asked. “No way” Jax snapped at me. “It’s 3am. Who would come up here at this hour?” We froze at the thought that everyone on this floor had returned home and we were alone.
My eyes darted to the game. And then to the card Jax drew. He hadn’t read it but I could make it out and it sent a shiver down my spine.
“Jax, your card” I pointed. He turned it over and fell to shock.
“Can you please open the door?”
Drafts 