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Young Writers Society


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Watch Where You Step...

by SarahDoubleA


WATCH WHERE YOU STEP

Fifteen year old Mackenzie was living in Germany after her parents death, but until their passing, she had lived in America. Her parents had been wealthy, and she inherited a large sum ofmoney, as well as an old manor, five hundred years old. This manor was in Germany, and Mackenzie had never seen it before; her parents had only been there once. It was owned by her father's family for centuries, and it was always to be passed down. Now it was Mackenzie's turn to inherit it.

Upon stepping on the threshold before entering the Manor's gate, she felt a strange queasiness inside of her. She held the old key to the gate in her hand, and slowly slipped it into the key hole, not heeding the warnings inside of her. The courtyard was crumbling; where there was once a fountain bubbling with mirth, all that was left was a ruined stone circle. Yet another gate, andagain, a queasiness began to settle inside of her, but all the same, she unlocked this gate too.

Before her stood the manor, four stories high. It looked old and mysterious, as if some secret hovered above it, or something was ready at any given moment to jump out and settle on it's prey. Mackenzie thought these things, but she still paid no heed to the warnings. She boldly walked upto the great doors and cleared away the cobwebs, presently getting to the keyhole. As she was putting the key into the lock, a voice behind her said,

"Watch where you step, my pretty lass."She spun round and saw no one, and figured she was only imagining it. She presently unlocked the door, and the door creaked open, she saw what looked like a face in front of her, rotting and decaying. She was about to run out when it said, "watch where you step, pretty lass. Watch where you step!"

Mackenzie rushed out the door, and got to the fountain ruins, and was going to keep going, but something caught her eye. She looked at the ruins of the fountain, and picked up an old piece of paper that said,

'Watch where you step, pretty lass. Watch where you step!'

She was so frightened she could barely breathe; she was determined to let nothing catch her eye again but when she got to the first gate, it closed, and on a plaque on the gate it said,

Pretty lassy, watch where you step.

Mackenzie tried opening the gate, but it was useless, and however hard shetried, she could not open it.

The last words Mackenzie saw before she left this world to go to the heavens were,

Pretty lassy, watch where you step.


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11 Reviews


Points: 1242
Reviews: 11

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Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:08 pm
Peregrine wrote a review...



As you said this was a creepy story, I was expecting something to make my hair stand on end. It chilled me a little, but I'm sure that with some improvement, I could be running from my laptop screaming. You said the words:
"Watch where you step, my pretty lass." were repeated, and yet, there was:
"Pretty lassy, watch where you step."
This kinda spoils the suspence.
A couple of words with no spaces in between, but easily sorted out.
However, I really liked this piece, and it had really interesting ideas. Maybe you could write a short novel, with this piece expanded?
Please let me know if you put any more writing up, cos I want to read it!
Well done,
Peregrine




SarahDoubleA says...


Thank you! :) I will definitely try to improve this! :) Thanks a lot for your comment :)
Cheers!
~Sarah



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13 Reviews


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Thu Mar 14, 2013 2:40 am
jackolantern says...



Hi! I like where this story is headed--very creepy! I wish it was longer though, I love it when horror stories become really suspenseful. You know when the protagonist is taking forever to do something and you're shouting in your head "don't open that door! don't do it!" and then they do it anyway? I love that, I think it makes a horror story. The phrase, 'pretty lassy, watch where you step' is an excellent phrase to use, its very off beat and makes you do a double take. I think you should do another draft of this and draw things out. Maybe have Mackenzie go inside the house, or spend a few nights there, all the while hearing that same phrase. Maybe you could even introduce another character, someone who tells her about the house, or is her friend and dies in a mysterious way. Getting back to the original story, its definitely displaying its genre. I think you are a very talented writer.




SarahDoubleA says...


Thanks a lot! :D I may just do a second draft and make it a lot better! :) That's a very good idea! :)
~Sarah



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Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:54 am
Searria H. wrote a review...



Hey there, SarahDoubleA! First of all, welcome to YWS! :elephant:

Now, on to the review. :D

Your writing flows nicely, and you have a nice mix of syntax structure. Yay! Also, and I'm not sure why, but you using the word "lass" instead of "little girl" made it that much creepier. :D "Fraulein" is another one that gives me chills. *shudders*

I have just a couple of nit-picky grammar-type stuff. :)
Grammar/Nitpicks:
I'm not really sure why you have those two links in there. It was really distracting for me. If you want to provide that link, I would suggest doing it before your post or after it in a little side note from the author. :)

She held the old key to the gate in her hand, and slowly slipped it into the key hole, not heeding the warnings inside of her.

You don't always need a comma before "and." It looks like you have a compound sentence here, but if you look closer, you really just have a compound verb. A compound sentence must have two independent clauses (meaning each "half" of the sentence has a subject and a verb). These two clauses can be connected by a comma-conjunction or a semicolon. In this instance, the clause following the conjunction "and" does not have a subject. It's verb, "slipped," refers back to "She" at the very beginning of the sentence. Therefore, we don't need a comma. There are a few other instances of this in your piece, but you write well enough to find them. :D

She boldly walked upto the great doors and cleared away the cobwebs

"up to"

As she was putting the key into the lock, a voice behind her said,

"Watch where you step, my pretty lass."She spun round and saw no one, and figured she was only imagining it.

The formatting of this is a little funky. The way the sentences are separated is a little confusing. I would suggest making "as she was putting..." a new paragraph and keeping that sentence with its dialogue companion together. Technically, it is one sentence, and because it's selfish, it wants its own paragraph. ;) Then, because "she spun around" is a completely different idea, stick it onto the next paragraph that continues this thought.

[/quote]She was about to run out when it said, "watch where you step, pretty lass. Watch where you step!"[/quote]
Sentences in quotations are always capitalized.

and picked up an old piece of paper that said,

'Watch where you step, pretty lass. Watch where you step!'

For some reason, I want to make that first comma a colon. *shrugs*

and however hard shetried

"she tried"

Now let's move on to the story itself. Muahaha! :D

I'm glad that you have a full background of the history between your MC and this mansion, but I'm not sure it really added anything to the piece. It left me asking the "so what?" question. I think, because your story is so short, a whole paragraph of background bogs the piece down a little. See if you can pick out what's really important (like her inheriting the mansion) and slip it in somewhere. You know, all sneaky-like. :smt027

Word Choice:
Choice of diction is a huge aspect of writing. As a writer, you need to look at every word and think "is this word achieving my desired affect." Obviously, you don't want to study every "a, an," and "the," but a great place to start is with your verbs. Take for example,
Before her stood the manor, four stories high.

This thing is four stories high! It's huge! The verb "stood" just doesn't quite seem to match that. See if you can find a verb that encompasses both it's mass and it's high level on the "Creepy Scale." :D It's a little tedious, but have fun with it!

Sensory Imagery:
Right now, I'm getting a very superficial image. I sort of have a visual image of this mansion, but I'm not there with your character. And if I feel detached from the story, I don't get the little goose-pimples. You have some great opportunities to describe what she's feeling, smelling, hearing, and even tasting. Take, for example:
she saw what looked like a face in front of her, rotting and decaying.

This could be so incredibly disgusting. Make your reader gag, not just turn the corners of their mouth. Go into more gruesome detail! Is the flesh falling from the bones? Is the muscle visible, pulsing and stretching? Are they eyeballs protruding unnaturally from their sockets? Is poor Mackenzie gagging on the stench of rotting flesh, forced to stuff her nose into her sleeve? Perhaps she steps in a pool of the blood dripping from the face's rotting chin. You see what I mean? This has great potential to be really nasty. >:)

Ending:
The last words Mackenzie saw before she left this world to go to the heavens were,

Pretty lassy, watch where you step.

Again, you have so much room to make this unbearably horrid! It even ends in a euphemism. I was left not shocked with terror, but wondering "Why the heck does everything keep telling her to watch her step?" This is a fantastic opportunity to get really creative? She looks down at her feet and sees what? What is she stepping on? Skeletal Remains? Her own grave? An image of her own skeleton/dead body? The possibilities are endless! :D *plays scary music in the background*

Granted, I can be pretty dark. So if you're not comfortable with gore and all that, just ignore me. :)

I really hope you continue to work on this. And please enjoy it! You have a great idea budding in there, and I can't wait to see it bloom. I would love to read it again if you make any changes. :D

If you have any questions or comments about my review, please feel free to PM me. I'd be happy to help in any way I can. :D

Good luck, and happy writing!
-Sea-




Searria H. says...


Okay, because I'm obsessive compulsive and it won't allow me to edit my review, I'm going to make a correction here.
The fourth quoted passage should look like this:
She was about to run out when it said, "watch where you step, pretty lass. Watch where you step!


*bows head in shame*
-Sea-



SarahDoubleA says...


Wow! Thanks a lot! :) I will definitely put that in my qeue of editing ;) And the links must have been when I copied it from my web page, I'm not sure why the web page does those link things :/ But again, thanks so much for the very insightful review! :)
~Sarah




I am proud of my self, the reason why some of you might disagree with me a little with, but nevertheless I still proud.
— Oxara