SHORT STORY

Riya, a 12-year-old girl, wants to be a detective. She likes to watch detective movies and wants to solve mysteries, just like the detectives in the movies. One day at school, she heard her friends talking to a guard. They were discussing weird sounds coming from the attic on the fourth floor. Everyone was scared to go near the attic. But Riya was very excited to have bumped into her first case.

That very evening, after school hours, Riya took a torch and camera and sneaked into the school. Everything around her was creepy, and with every step she took forward, fear built up inside her. When she reached the fourth floor, she heard a weird noise. Something creeping towards her. She could no longer hold her nerve and ran back home.

The next day was a holiday. This time Riya took her friend to the fourth floor. But they found nothing scary. They reached the attic and opened the door with great effort. And what did they find? A cat with kittens! These kittens were the ones making creepy sounds all this time.

The next day school arranged a separate litter box for the cat and its kittens on the ground floor. Riya was elated to have cracked her first case.

by

Dasamsh Pulicharla

Class VIII

Written in February 2024