‘Betty bought butter but the butter was bitter so Betty bought better butter to make the better butter better’. Said Laura breathlessly and sighed noisily. Who can do this, I am sure no one can. “’its’ damn easy,” remarked Max. ‘Oh really’, challenged Laura. ‘Betty bought butter bitter Betty bought butter … Ah! Damn it. Laura laughed hysterically. After that everyone tired but no one was able to do that. It was a hazy night. The mild breeze touched everyone’s face and made the trees dance. The moon was full and smiled brightly. In between the haze, the bonfire was set. I packed my bag with some warm clothes and all the other essential. My phone rang. I ran toward it and as expected it was Laura. “We are all ready! How much time will you take? We are super exited for this trip,” she said sweetly as usual. “I am on my way, should I grab something to munch on the way?” I asked. “Is that a question? Of course!’ I grabbed the keys and started the car to go to Laura’s house and also bought the snacks on the go. As I reached everyone was gathered near Fred car. Fred had to drive till the city end. Then, I switched and drove till the forest which was situated on the out skirts of the city. The forest was dense so we parked the car few kilometers away. We trekked on the rough steep hill to reach the top altitude of the forest. There we settled down our stuff and before it got dark, we set the tents to spend our night. Emma and Fred suggested that we should explore the nearby places. “Darn! I forget my torch said Max.” It’s ok! we all can share the torches that we are having,’’ said Jessica charmingly. They lit their torches and started off. Some meters away they caught a glimpse of an ancient temple ‘’Whoa! That’s cool!’’ exclaimed Emma. ‘’But something doesn’t feel right’’ Laura murmured. Emma, Fred, Max, and Jessica got an idea simultaneously. They all quickly exchanged glances and smirked. Meanwhile, Laura stared at the creepy temple and its surrounding and I could easily sense that something was eerie which made Laura bewildered. After that we went back to the camp site and sat around the bonfire. We boys played cards and meanwhile girls prepared dinner. The sweet burnt scent of roasting peppers hung in the air. I knew the dinner was almost ready so we arranged the plates and helped the girls lay down the dinner. The night grew dark and foggy. The pitch-black curtain dropped over the sky and wrapped the stars. ‘’Well it’s my turn, so I’ll spin the bottle now’’ cried Max. The bottle’s end stopped directly at Laura. ‘’Truth or…’’ Dare!’’ Laura interrupted Max frantically. ‘’Superb!’’ mumbled Max and his eyes met Jessica, Emma and Fred. The dare wasn’t that difficult. All what Laura had to do was to spend fifteen minutes in that horrifying temple. I could see Laura’s face turning white but no matter what, she was determined to complete her dare despite of that disturbing state!’’ I’ll go with you!’ I demanded. She saw me gloomily and we started to walk down, holding her cold yet soft like wool hands tightly. As we got near, the big shiny ball of light was shining above the temple. Chills chased up Laura’s spine and I could feel a ball of terror forming in my stomach. The temple was filled with cracks. Therefore, each time we took a step, the floor made a cracking sound, aggravating the situation. Our vision was dusky due to absence of light as our torches ran out of battery. We could not make much out of the place but scalp prickled and her breath stalled. “Woohoo!”, an earthly voice echoed all around the temple. All at once, the silence was broken by Laura’s shriek. This made me jump off my skin. Not only the scream affected me but forced my friends to come out of their hiding places. There they were with their flashlights which brightly lit up our surrounding. Max, Jessica, Emma and Fred started to giggle and adored the prank they pulled out successfully. Laura took a deep breath and hit Max frankly. For a minute, I got paralyzed but then thanked God that everyone was fine. I’ll never forget that day.
Sheeza, Mahnoor, Tooba, Maheen IX O
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