The Shed

Elle Honeybun grabbed a slice of buttered toast from the plate in the middle of the table and crunched a small piece of it. After a few bites, she jumped from the table. And as she was pulling on her coat and boots said to her mother: “Mom, I ought to go to the park for a little bit while it’s still cool. Is that okay?” “Sure, Elle. Just be home soon,” her mother replied. “I will!” And with that, Elle hurried outside into the biting cold.

She hopped onto her bike and pedaled down the street toward the park. By the time she got there, her nose was runny and her cheeks were red. The big gate leading into the park was rusty from years there. Elle pushed the creaky gate open and walked in.

When she entered, she stood on a stone path. It wound around and around the big space. One side of the park was wooded and a trail ran through it.

As Elle swept her eyes across it, something caught her attention. A shed. It was in the wooded area behind some trees. “How did this get here?” she asked, though she knew no one was listening. She walked up to the door and knocked. When no one answered, she tried the doorknob. Surprisingly, the door creaked open. She hadn’t meant for it to. It just did.

Elle gulped and walked in.

It was dark inside. But why wouldn’t it be? It had ought to be dark if it was a shed. There were racks of shovels, hoses, dirt, gloves, gardening tools, you name it! “Amazing!” gasped Elle. For a second her mind floated into what an awesome place this would be if it didn’t have the racks and racks of tools. If it had curtains and lamps and beanbag chairs. How cozy and nice it would be. She didn’t know why she loved this shed. She just did.

Elle picked up a pair of gardening gloves and slipped them onto her hands. She waved them around as if she was a model showing them off. Then she grabbed the hose and wound it around her neck. Elle picked up a long shovel and leaned on it like a cane. “Oh yeah, oh yeah!” She started singing and twirling around.

But it wasn’t long before Elle’s hip banged into something huge. “Huh?” she gasped. Her heart was beating faster than ever now. Elle fumbled for the light switch and clicked it as fast as she could. The lights blinked on, and Elle realized it was only a fog machine. Her breathing slowed. But why would the park need a fog machine? So weird.

Suddenly, reality hit. “I’m trespassing!” realized Elle. She took off the gardening gloves and hose and dropped them onto a shelf. She leaned the shovel against the wall and backed to the door. It swung open against her weight and the next thing she knew, she was outside.

Big fat raindrops fell through the sky. Elle walked over to a park bench and sat down. Having nothing better to do, she grabbed a newspaper that somebody had dropped and fumbled with it. But then she looked at the headline… and the world came crashing down.

“Halter Developments buys the park? Hosting a big event tomorrow at 3:00?” Elle mumbled, “How did this happen?”

How could they let Halter Developments buy the park? She thought perhaps she had to fix this! But soon it dawned on her that she couldn’t.

At least not right now. She had to wait until the big event tomorrow to speak up. Elle folded the newspaper and put it into her pocket. She jumped off the bench and hurried to her bike. It was waiting in the rain outside of the park entrance.

She kicked up the kickstand and hopped back onto it. A flash of lightning lit up the world. Thunder followed as Elle sped away from the curb.

The rain grew harder as she skidded to a stop across from a cafe on the corner of the street. As Elle turned the corner, the bike slid forward and almost rammed into the cafe.

The storm was getting worse now, so Elle decided to wait it out inside. She parked her bike on the bicycle rack and walked into the cafe. The warm smell of bacon and eggs greeted her at the door.

Elle fingered the sticky coins in her jacket pocket, and ordered a muffin.

She sidled over to a booth near the window and slid into it. As Elle stared at the sheets of rain blowing through the neighborhood, she heard the jingle of the door opening. 2 people walked in. They were both men in long heavy raincoats and hats covering their faces.

“But Halter!” Elle heard the first one say, “Nobody walked into that shed!” “Well, the door was open! Why else?” Halter said. Did Elle accidentally forget to close the shed door? “The wind must have blown it! Nobody would go that far to look into a random shed!” the second guy said. “Well whatever!” Halter said. Was that the Halter from Halter Developments? Must be.

Then lowering his voice to a whisper he said “No one knows about the chaos that’s going to happen tomorrow. It’s such a shame people go to the event. Because when my fog machine is turned on, there is no turning it back off.”

Halter and the guy sat down in the booth right next to Elle’s.

“Your muffin is served!” said a cheery voice behind Elle. The waiter was holding a tray with the muffin on it. “Thanks.” Elle mumbled taking the tray from the waiter. If only she knew what Elle had just heard.

Suddenly, something clicked. Halter was going to use the fog machine in the shed tomorrow to cause chaos at the big event! She had to stop him! But the question was how?

Elle took a bite of the spongy blueberry muffin and crumbs fell onto the tray.

After she finished the muffin, it occurred to Elle that her mom might be wondering as to where she was. That got her to stand up quickly and run through the front door. The rain had stopped which was good. Elle got onto her bicycle and zoomed toward her house, pedaling as fast as she could.

When she got there, Elle fished her keys out of her jacket pocket and unlocked the front door. She opened it to see her mom standing right in front of it.

“Where were you?” she demanded. “I was at the park. I stayed a little late, but now I’m here!” Elle argued. “Oh, so you were a ‘little late.’” Her mom said tartly. “Sorry!” Elle practically yelled. Her mom sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve been so stressed out lately!” “It’s okay Mom. It’s okay.” Elle reassured her. “Well, we best get off to bed!” her mom said, “We have a long day tomorrow.”

True dat. Elle thought. And suddenly she knew what she was going to do to save the event. Steal the fog machine. Tonight. 12:00.

Elle was dreaming. Suddenly, she woke up. She didn’t know why. There was a loud chirping in her ear. The alarm! She thought, realizing that it was 12:00. She switched it off and jumped out of bed to get changed.

When she was done, she tiptoed down the stairs to the front door and slipped on her shoes. Elle grabbed her keys from the key rack and silently walked out the door.

She walked over the frosty grass to her bike and sped on her way to the park. The wind was chilly and the moon shone high overhead.

When Elle got to the park she swung open the gates and ran over to the shed. She rattled the doorknob and the door opened.

Inside, it was cold and drafty. The moonlight shining through the window made it look eerie. “I guess this it,” Elle said to herself. She lifted the fog machine.

It was cold and made of white metal. Most of all – it was heavy. Elle didn’t know how she was going to open the shed door. She tried using her foot but the doorknob wouldn’t turn. And she couldn’t bring herself to move one of her hands from the fog machine. She also didn’t want to set the fog machine down because it was actually a lot of work to get the fog machine into her hands in the first place.

As Elle’s eyes scanned the shed for a way to figure out the door puzzle, they found it. The magic tool. The pliers. Elle grasped the pliers in one hand and struggled to open them up before she clasped the pliers onto the doorknob and turned. The door slowly opened and Elle ran out of the shed holding the fog machine.

A blast of cold air met her as she ran outside glaring at the shed behind her. The shed that held secrets. Elle saw her bike outside of the gates and ran toward it. Lugging the fog machine was a pain so she put it on top of the bicycle seat and sat on top of it. Then Elle hurried home, glad that nothing bad happened.

Once she got there, she parked her bike on a bike rack and carried the fog machine into her house. Once she got inside, she opened the garage door as quietly as she could and set the fog machine in a corner. Then she closed the garage door and ran up to her room. Elle changed into her pajamas and bounced into bed under her covers.

The next day at 3:00 Elle hurried out the door to the event. She wanted to see what became of it. When she got to the park it was packed with people. Elle wove through everyone to get to the first row of people. Halter and his partner were at the mic. “We are honored to have this park,” Halter was saying when his partner rushed away.

Elle saw the light in the shed turn on. Then he came rushing back and took the mic from Halter. “Um, we’ve had some… technical difficulties. If you would please excuse us for a second,” he said.

The crowd murmured. Elle smirked. That was all she needed to see.