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The little black book falls from her tight grasp as the demons fill her eyes. She is here, she is her, she must run.

But she can't.

___

Imogene Thompson is a fairly average girl, if you must ask. She has curly brown hair with brown eyes to match and five freckles dotting her nose, only five! Maybe one day she’ll get more but who’s to say. She lives with her mom and dad and her stinky brother William.

Over the past few weeks the air has turned cold and the sun doesn’t show its face every day like it should here in Florida. This can only mean one thing. It’s almost Christmas break! Which can only mean one other thing, no school and presents, presents, presents! Christmas is Imogene’s favorite holiday, not for the presents as you might assume, but for all the decorative lights (and ok, also the presents). Every year on Christmas Eve Imogene and her mom drive around their neighborhood to look at all those twinkling dots! Stinky William can’t come because he has an early bedtime, so it’s just Imogene and her mom, simply perfect.

This year the air wasn’t as cold as normal, something all the adults are calling ‘climate change’, so Imogene and her mom decided to walk to see the lights. They were magnificent! As they rounded the corner back towards home a new house glowed bright,

“Mom, look at this house! I haven’t seen this one before! Can we go see it?!” Imogene pleads.

“Alright, a quick look” says her mom.

They walk up to the small house truly amazed. Every inch of house is glowing with lights. Red, green, white, there’s a light up Santa with all twelve reindeer!

Imogene is a curious girl so she starts up the front walk,

“Come on Imogene, we must be getting home!” snaps her mother.

Imogene takes another step and to her surprise kicks something on the ground. It’s dark so she can’t really see what it is, she bends down to see it’s a little black note book. Imogene picks it up and scurries back down the walkway towards her mother. As they make their way home Imogene flips through the notebook. It’s empty.

“What’s that, Imogene?” her mother asks.

“A notebook I found on the ground at the new house, but look,” replied Imogene, “it's empty.” Imogene flips through the notebook reveling the blank pages to her mother, “Can I keep it?”

Christmas passes with many presents and the second half of school resumes. Imogene forgets about the random notebook she found, as it collects dusk on her bookcase next to “Toads; How do they do that!”

Seasons start to change again and the sun returns, bringing light and warmth to Florida. Valentine’s Day is approaching, which Imogene hates. But this year she might hate it a little less. This boy Lionel from her 4th period biology class has been her lab partner and they have so much fun. They talk and laugh and dissect frogs! Maybe Lionel will be my valentine, Imogene day dreams.

Valentine’s Day passes without much attention from Lionel. Whatever, thinks Imogene, Valentine’s day is stupid anyway. The next day Lionel and her have biology as always and they laugh and talk and learn about mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell. Yet, on her way out of school Imogene sees Lionel talking to some other girl, laughing and joking around. Imogene feels fire in her belly, what is this feeling! I hate it!

She runs home to cry to her mom but her mom is changing stinky William and dad is on the phone, no one is there to listen. Imogene runs to her room and slams the pink polka dot door so hard a little black notebook falls from her bookshelf.

Imogene picks up the tattered notebook, flips through the blank pages and decided this will have to do. She sits down at her desk and grabs her favorite sky blue colored gel pen to dictate her very first entry.

February 23rd 2020,

Dear Diary,

Lionel is being such a lame-o today. Why would he even talk to that other girl? Doesn’t he know we have biology homework to do? All I was doing was walking down the hall and BOOM, there he is, in plain sight. Talking. To. Her. I mean what does she even have that I don’t? This really blows, eight grade sucks.

Imogene closes the diary and feels a shutter of cold wash over her. The window is open so she gets up to tighten it shut. She grabs a jacket too. This is odd, she thinks, I don’t often get cold. Maybe it’s that whole ‘climate change’ thing the adults keep talking about. Now, where did I put that notebook? Imogene wonders.

The next day is cold. A bit of a surprise for sunny Florida, but Imogene bundles up in her favorite sweater and makes the two-minute bike ride to school. Uneventful today. And uneventful for the next few days. Life seems a little bleak. Now, where did I put that notebook? Imogene wonders again. She feels it calling to her but can’t ever seem to remember where she’s left it!

March 3rd 2020,

The outside is changing, the air is getting warmer. I hate the warm. I feel sad today, no one is around me, no one is helping me, no one cares about me. I see a darkness in my room. There is this deep humming sound seeping from the darkness. I want to join it, I want to get away.

Imogene sits on her bed, holding the notebook in her hand. She can’t bear to put it down. She needs to keep it close because it makes her feel safe. Her notebook is the only one who understands.

April 30th 2020,

They are coming. Someone is outside, where do I hide? Do they know I’m in here?

June 1st 2020,

They are still coming…. They might be coming to take me away. Mom says no one is coming but I know they are. I can feel it. Dad says I need to get outside, take in a breath of fresh air but my feet feel like cinder blocks and my stomach hurts. I don’t want to move. I don’t want to breathe.

June 21st 2020,

I woke up cold today. I woke up empty. I can hear stinky William shouting downstairs about going to the amusement park… I don’t want to go today. I don’t want to go any day. I’m bringing you with me today, mom says I shouldn’t bring my ‘thoughts’ outside the house but I need you today. I need to feel secure.

Their car pulls up to the amusement park and a rather small man dressed as a clown welcomes them into the park. Stinky William got to pick the first ride, he chose ‘The Little Snowman Ride.’ How unfair that he got to pick the first ride! scoffs Imogene in her head. After that bore of a ride, Imogene needed a plot to get away. She told her mom she needed to go to the bathroom and briskly walked away.

Across the way Imogene notices twinkling dots, they remind her of the Christmas lights she loves so much. She stands, wearily clutching her notebook, and begins to walk over. As she gets closer she reads the sign “Haunted House of Horrors, Can You Survive?” with small text across the bottom reading "Cash prize $20,000." I don’t know too much about cash but that seems like a lot, Imogene thinks. She looks back over her shoulder, mom and stinky William are nowhere in sight. She turns back to the haunted house, takes a deep breath and walks inside.

It was over in a flash, Imogene sits plopped on her bottom at the exit of the haunted house, no recollection of what was inside, no memory of being scared. She reaches to clutch her notebook tightly and realizes it’s heavier than normal. She opens the book to find the cash prize inside. As she stares at what seems to be a butt load of cash her heart starts pumping, she can feel her cheeks getting warmer, her blood begins to boil. The little black notebook falls from her tightly clenched fist, as her body continues to warm. She is here, thinks Imogene. Who is Imogene, says a voice in her head.

She is here, she is her, she must run. But she can’t.

___

Doctor Linda closes the little black notebook, delicately balanced on her crossed legs. She looks up at me over her red cat-eye spectacles in that annoying way she always does. She takes a deep inhale, interlacing her fingers and laying her forearms on top of my precious notebook. She leans a little closer towards me. I hate it when she does that.

“Thank you for sharing this with me Imogene. This time you went to an amusement park, do you know why you chose that place?”

“Why?” I said confused, Doctor Linda always asks me questions that don’t make sense. Who wouldn’t choose an amusement park for a fun summer day?

“Because the amusement park is fun and mom said I got to pick wherever I wanted to go” I said, annoyed.

“Mhmmm” says Doctor Linda. She always just hums at me. I don’t know why I have to go see her. Mom says it’s helping, but I don’t buy it. I glance out the window to notice a leafless tree creaking in the wind. The air has been getting colder, and that can only mean one thing, it’s almost Christmas break!