Daphne’s Beach- Written By: Jillian Welborn, Grade 7

It was raining; none of this would have happened if it hadn’t been. Seeing her kicking the soccer ball down the beach, Laura Berke, super star soccer star and ex- BFF

Made me sick.
What was she doing here? Daphne’s beach was my beach. She had one a block away, yet she decides to come here. Despicable!
“What are you doing here?” I hollered in her general direction, avoiding eye contact incase I lost my temper.
“Kickin’ a soccer ball,” Laura retorted.
Just as I came up with a good come back, the over cast sky gave a low rumble, and let loose a shower of warm summer rain.
“Great,” I mumbled. “You know, this is your fault!”
“Mine?” she shrieked over the flash of lightning that had illuminated the sky. ”What am I, Mother Nature?”
“You wish. Lets just get over to the shack.” I fumed
We made our way towards the shack, careful not to get within a five-foot radius of each other, when all of a sudden, my eyes were diverted to a guy walking towards the shack.
He was my dream guy, tan skin, sandy blond hair, and a super model smile with dimples!
Right as I was about to say something funny about the weather, and ask if we could use his phone, Laura called over to him.
“Hey!” she glanced at his duffle bag, which had his name on it. “Josh Nelson, could we use your phone before you leave?”
He looked up, startled, as if he didn’t expect anyone to be out in the rain. Great, there goes my shot at him. Without knowing it, every guy swooned over Laura with her island tan skin, wavy blonde hair, shining blue eyes, and perfect figure; the girls around her didn’t stand a chance. This time wasn’t any different.
“Sure,” he grinned, as if he had been awarded the door prize at a millionaire’s party.
By then, we had entered the shack for shelter from the rain. I was so mad that I kicked the wall! My long Brunette hair flew into my chocolate brown eyes as a dank draft whooshed out of the hole-yes, hole- that I had kicked in the wall.
“Rachel!” exclaimed Laura.
Before she could say anything else, a whole section of the wall came crashing down with a loud thud! I gasped in horror at what I saw. Behind the wall was a door. On the door was a plaque that read:
In Memorial of Daphne Robinson,
May her soul rest in peace, and her
Murderer discovered.
1984-1998
We all gasped, shocked by what we read.
“She was only a year older than me,” whispered Josh.
At that moment, I glanced at him and was taken aback. Out of nowhere, I knew it. I was in love.
Laura must have felt the same way because she tried to do something to impress him.
“Lets see what’s behind the door!” She rushed out, as if she would explode if she didn’t say something.
“Well, Okay….”Josh replied.
They headed to the door, but I stayed back.
“What are you, a wimp?” Laura taunted me with a nasty smile.
* * *
We Carefully descended the stairs; somehow I had passed both of them and was now leading our little group.
“Way to go! You scared him away with your bratty attitude!” Laura complained.
“What are you talking about, he’s righ…” I stopped when I looked behind my shoulder. Josh was gone. It was only me, and her.
I shuddered at the thought. Well, I guess ill just keep going and try to ignore her.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we came upon a room. No, not a room. More like a storage cupboard. There was a desk barely visible except from the light coming from the top of the staircase.
“Eww!” Laura squealed, “Look at this old, dusty book!”
I walked over for a closer look. The Diary of Agnus Nelson it read on the moldy brown cover.
“Its not a book! It’s a diary,” I exclaimed, “And it looks as if it could belong to one of Josh’s ancestors.”
Laura yanked the diary from my hands, her perfectly manicured nails scratching me in the process, not entirely on accident.
She opened the book and we began to read.

December 1st, 1997
Tonight I put my plan into action! I have been monitoring her for the past month and found that she will be here at 7 p.m. tonight. Alone. This room has been the perfect hideout. Under my snack shack! Who would have expected it? Tonight, Daphne Robinson will be no more.
10:22 pm- Success!

We stared at each other in surprise. Had the person who killed Daphne been related to Josh? If so, did he know? We had to find ou7t.
Just then, the door slammed shut. Footsteps fell down the stairs. A flashlight flickered.
“Hello?” Laura and I called in unison.
“I didn’t want you girls to find out.”
Josh! He was back, but what was he talking about?
“I wanted to spare you, I thought you were cute, you know.” He continued.
“Spare us?” Laura gulped. I was to shocked to move.
He spoke on, “Agnus Nelson is my grandmother. I have to hide her secrete. You understand, don’t you?”
He grinned a diabolical grin, nothing like the one I remembered from earlier. He inched forward and stroked my face. I recoiled at his touch. He moved towards Laura.
“Get away!” she screamed hysterically.
Then, right before my eyes, a girl appeared from what seemed to be nowhere. A luminescent glow radiated from her skin.
“I am Daphne Robinson,” the girl stated in an even tone. I glanced around to see if josh or Laura had noticed. Josh hadn’t, but Laura had.
“He cannot see or hear me, unless I want him to,” the girl smiled, her blue eyes twinkling.
“When I give you the signal, I want you to grab the diary and run. He has horrible intentions for you, similar to the ones his grandmother had for me.
Laura and I gulped. Josh looked up, for now he was getting a length of rope, probably to tie us up with. We stayed still and he went back to work.
The girl continued, “ after you get the diary, run to the police and show it to them. Then, bring them back here. The police will not be able to see me, but you will.”
I gave a quick nod to show I understood.
“I will distract him, “ Daphne reassured us. Her black hair billowed in a non-existing breeze. “Alas, I cannot touch him, but my presence will be enough to scare him out of mobility. Be ready.”
She drifted towards Josh, and mouthed go.
She must have appeared, because Josh let out a shout.
I dashed to the desk and grabbed the diary. Laura was halfway up the staircase and I was at her heels.
* * *

Around 20 minutes later, we were sprinting down the beach. Not far behind us ran sergeant Daley.
Luckily for us, he had been on patrol around the beach and was easy to find. We had told him about the diary and Josh and how he had tried to kill us. We didn’t tell him about Daphne’s ghost. We were out of breath when we reached the secret room. Sergeant Daley tiptoed up behind Josh, who was curled up in fetal position. He was quivering on the floor, and Daphne was glaring at him. She smiled at us and said:
“Thank you, Rachel, Laura,” she looked at both of us. “ Now I can finally rest in peace.” She gave a nod and disappeared.

* * *
Daphne’s beach is more popular than ever. The snack shack was rebuilt, and there was a light, airy aura to the place, which hadn’t been there before.
Josh had been arrested for attempted murder, which he had admitted to in court a few days later.
And as for Laura, and me we friends again after that day, and we still are, five years later. I’ll have to admit, we never really hated each other, but in middle school, the silliest things can ruin friendships. But lucky for us, one good thing came out of that experience. We were friends again, and that’s all I could ask for.