Francis Brandywine ~ Alannah M

Francis Brandywine

By Alannah M

It was a dark and misty night and Francis Brandywine was camping with her family at Quetico Park. Francis was a rather reckless teenager, she preferred to be alone with her journal in a quiet place writing about her daring adventures.

One night, the trees were still, the wind barely existed, which drew Francis to the glistening lake awaiting her. She glanced around the vast, land surrounding her, carefully, without making a sound, Francis crept to the nearby, old, rusty rowing boat. She picked up the oars and began to paddle to the deepest part of the lake.

As she reached her destination, Francis let go of the oars, laid back her head, and gazed up to the glistening star-filled sky. As she relaxed, a sudden ‘knock’ took her by surprise, she sat up, thinking the boat had drifted to shore, she peered into the deep, blurry water, but she hadn’t moved an inch. When Francis was satisfied that it was only an object of some sort, she lay back down to admire the silent night.

Ten minutes later, to Francis’ shock, another frightful and louder ‘knock’ echoed in the silence. She turned around slowly, shaking with fear, but nothing was to be seen.

She attempted to row back to shore, but she wasn’t moving. Using all her strength, Francis tried again and again, but she didn’t achieve a thing. She carefully laid back down, her mind swimming with thoughts.

Francis dipped her oar into the water, almost instantly it was dragged into the murky depths. She jumped back with impact, rocking the boat, now she was scared. Another ‘Knock, Knock, Knock’ shook the boat so ferociously it knocked Francis off her feet.

All she could do was wait for the morning to come, wait for whatever was going to happen next. She passed the time drawing in her journal, it was only because of her journal that we knew what happened that night. Francis was never to be seen again, what was only found the following morning was her journal, filled with her frantic drawings, but the last page, it contained only three words: 'I DID KNOCK FIRST.'