The Eyes

By Natasha Carr-Harris

Eyes is a haunting story about Claudia, a 12 year old girl who comes across a bully who is more than she bargained for. From mythology to travels across Canada, Claudia goes on adventures that will send shivers down readers' spines. At the end, she will unravel a chilling secret that requires her to either act selfishly or make the ultimate sacrifice. A great story geared towards youngsters with an interest in the paranormal, supernatural, and horror genres.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456872090

Natasha Carr-Harris

Natasha Carr-Harris has been a passionate and devoted reader since she was little. Her reading interests encompass both classic and contemporary literature. She was nine years old when her first poem was published by the Poetry Institute of Canada in 2007. Since then, six more poems and three short stories have come out. At age eleven, she was the youngest writer in a 3-Day Novel Contest held in Vancouver in 2009. The contest included participants from twenty countries. It was then she wrote “The Story of St. Patrick’s Day.” She was subsequently interviewed by the Vancouver Sun Newspaper and reported as an “excited young writer”. Natasha believes that her writing talent springs from her spare-time interests in table tennis, ballet, piano and public speaking, all of which have helped her become more creative. Since 2008, she has won five medals from the Canadian National Table Tennis Championships. She was also a delegate of the 2010 Miss Canada Teen Global pageant, where she won the award for “Top Promotions”.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Natasha Carr-Harris.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011902673

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4568-7208-3

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4568-7207-6

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4568-7209-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

http://www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

92589

Contents

Chapter One Facing The Bully

Chapter Two Road Pancake

Chapter Three Recovering

Chapter Four Aunt Edith’s Funeral

Chapter Five My Decision

Chapter Six Going To The Yukon

Chapter Seven My Escape

Chapter Eight Arrival At New Brunswick

Chapter Nine The Brats

Chapter Ten Back To Nanaimo

Chapter Eleven Good-Bye, Lillian

Chapter Twelve Joining The Eyes

92589-CARR-layout-low.pdf

CHAPTER ONE

FACING THE BULLY

Red leaves, green grass, and blue skies mean a lot of different things to the people of Nanaimo. They could have meant simply that autumn was coming. That was a fact. They could also have meant that school was going to start and that kids would be able to see their friends again. That was also a fact. I usually like facts, for example, the fact that I had gotten straight As in all my subjects at school. But when it came to facing the fact that I, Claudia Smith, might have to confront Nanaimo Elementary School’s meanest and toughest bully, George Flo, I felt that maybe I didn’t really like facts so much anymore. Every year it was the same: George, his beady black eyes, dark, merciless, and cold like the rest of him, would pick out a scrawny, weak, and vulnerable kid (a nerd or geek), and then he’d spend the rest of the school year putting all his energy into making the victim’s life as miserable as possible. He didn’t worry about his grades or having any friends. He was that mean.

That morning, on the day before school started, I was looking out the window at the incredible and amazing sights of nature and wondering who would be the next victim of George Flo. The thought didn’t exactly set my appetite. I felt like abandoning the warm, fluffy pancakes before me. A clattering of plates told me that my mother had also set down the eggs, potatoes, and bacon. I sighed. She didn’t expect me to finish all of that?

Mom, can I eat just my pancakes? I asked.

She pondered this for a moment, which I found rather irritating because it was such a simple question, but she finally nodded yes, and I quickly wolfed down my pancakes and bolted to my room to have some peaceful time with my computer. Bloop! My friend had sent me an e-mail. I opened it and read, Hey, Claudia! Excited for school? I replied, No, not unless you revert to my school! Then the truth hit me. Lillian had been my best friend since preschool, but over the summer she had gone to Victoria, British Columbia, for a trip, and her parents had liked it there so much they had decided to stay for the year. I, of course, had been shocked and depressed when I had received the news in June, but that was long ago. I had already recovered.

Yeah, I know, just do me one favor, okay? Don’t get beaten up by George! This message, I’m sure, was meant as a joke, but it sent shivers down my spine all the same. I quickly typed back a response and logged off the computer. Was there no refuge from the terrifying image of being chosen as the next victim of George Flo?

*     *     *

I had to wake up very earlier for the first day of school because my mom wouldn’t hear of giving a bad first impression. As I was going out the door, good-bye, was on the tip of my tongue, but I immediately changed it to au revoir, which was French for good-bye.

I attended a French immersion school. I’m pretty sure it was the only one in Nanaimo and, if you ask me, I’d rather move to China than stay in it for the rest of my life. My mom said that, after grade seven, I could go to a normal school, but I wanted to change immediately.

Crunch, crunch, crunch went the leaves under my Converse sneakers. I moved to a different part of the sidewalk so I wouldn’t make so much noise. Eventually, I reached the large gray building that was my elementary school. Nothing had changed. And then something like a curl of nausea hit my stomach. I could feel my heart sinking and my body shriveling to the size of an ant. I had just walked right into the hard chest of George Flo! To my great amazement, he simply smirked and walked right past me. I stood there sweating and shaking all over. Only when the bell rang sharply did I snap out of my condition and hurry along with the others to the assembly auditorium.

The school principal started things off with a long speech in rapid French, and then each of the teachers made