An act of courage

On the way from home to school, there's an old abandoned warehouse. Mom told me it used to belong to the town's famous toy factory, and she even worked there when she was young.

But then the factory went bankrupt, and everything was left just as it was. The building has been empty for years. Nobody ever wanted to buy it. 

The warehouse is made of red bricks, with big windows. Some of the glass is broken. It must have been the older kids, the ones in middle school, or maybe high school. Who knows how they did it. They probably came at night, when everyone was in their houses, and played at throwing rocks.

On the side wall there's a rusty metal door. It's always kind of half-open, but I think it's stuck. Still, a kid or a very skinny grown-up could squeeze through.

"It would be cool to go inside the warehouse one day," Lawrence says one morning, while we're walking home from school.

"Sounds dangerous to me!" I say.

"A friend of mine in fifth grade went in. He said there are still toys inside. They're all covered in dust, so nobody's taken them. It must be fun. There's even an office with a desk and an old computer."

"So when would you go in?"

"Tomorrow. Instead of going to after-school, we sneak out and go inside. We look around for a bit, and then we go home when after-school would have ended."

I tell him I'm not sure, but I've always wanted to see what's inside that old building, so I'm in.

I'm a little worried Mom will find out. But what could really happen? Lawrence is right. There will probably just be some dusty toys. I can't back out now.

At home, my sister Lara is on the couch, reading. Lately she only reads books with dark covers and scary-looking monsters drawn under the title.

"What are you reading?" I ask.

"A scary book. They're for older kids. When you're my age, I'll let you read them too. If you read them now, you'll have nightmares and wet the bed!" she says, without even looking up.

"That's not true! I'm big. I'm eight years old. At least tell me what it's about."

"Okay. It's about two kids who go into an abandoned house. The ghosts of the people who used to live there are still inside, and the kids get so scared they die."

I swallow and don't say anything else. I just leave.

Maybe going into the warehouse isn't such a good idea. Maybe I should tell Lawrence to go with someone else.

In the morning, Mom says goodbye. She tells me she loves me very much and that I'm the best thing that ever happened to her. She looks me right in the eyes, like I'm going away on a long trip and she'll never see me again.

After school, Lawrence and I put our plan into action. I was distracted all morning in class. I feel a mix of fear and excitement, like on the rides at the fair. But there I know nothing bad can happen to me. That isn't real fear.

Now the real fear grabs my heart and squeezes it. It beats faster and faster, like it wants to fight its way out. But I have to know what's inside the warehouse.

We reach the entrance. I never noticed before that the building is number 1313. Lara told me 13 is bad luck. But I'm already here.

"Come on, let's go in. Are you scared, chicken?" Lawrence says with a grin.

"No, not at all! I can't wait."

We squeeze through the gap between the door and the wall. We're both skinny, so we get through easily.

Inside, there's nothing. Just a dirty floor that hasn't been cleaned in years, with pieces of brick and wood scattered around. Maybe they fell from the ceiling, which is made of long wooden beams that look like they could come crashing down at any moment. There are no toys, no tables, and no computer, nothing like Lawrence said there would be.

The place smells like pee and clothes that never dried properly.

"Okay, let's go outside now. There's nothing interesting here," I tell Lawrence, pulling him by the arm.

"No, I heard there's a little room in the back. Let's go all the way!" Lawrence says, and he walks ahead without waiting for me.

I follow him. Suddenly he screams and jumps.

"What is it?" I ask. My heart feels like it's trying to jump out of my chest and run to the door.

"A dead crow! I almost stepped on it."

The stiff animal lies in front of us, like a warning not to go any farther. Who knows how it got in. Maybe through one of the broken windows.

"Let's go outside, Lawrence. Haven't you had enough?"

"We're already here. It's just a dead animal." Lawrence keeps going. I follow, because I can’t disappoint him. He’s my best friend. 

We walk in silence. By now I don't even care what's in the little room in the back. I don't know why I'm here. Maybe there are ghosts, like in Lara's story. Maybe we'll die too, like the crow we just passed. Maybe that really was the last time I saw Mom.

The sound of a man running interrupts my thoughts. I turn around and see a man dressed in yellow rushing toward me. I'm frozen with fear. He crashes into me and knocks me to the ground.

Man dies in warehouse collapse

A 35-year-old man died yesterday in the abandoned warehouse on Industrial Ave. He was struck by a beam that collapsed from the ceiling while trying to protect an eight-year-old boy who had entered the building with a friend. The boy is in critical but stable condition. His friend is unharmed.

The man was a construction engineer inspecting the building for a redevelopment project. According to investigators, he noticed the children in an unstable area of the roof and, when he saw the beam falling, threw himself over the boy to protect him.

The whole town mourns a new hero.