SMUGGLERS
by Anita Lee

The sun shone brilliantly and the high sunlit clouds drifted across a clear blue sky. The rays of the afternoon sun shone on the whole landscape, pouring light all over. My sister, Jane, and I were taking a stroll. We were on out way home for lunch and we were taking a different route, as we wanted to explore.

Suddenly, we spotted an old, abandoned house. Vines were clinging on the fences and wild bushes had grown around the house. There were cracks in the windows. However, the thing that caught my attention was a sign saying 'keep out' on the door. The door and windows were nailed with boards, preventing anybody from trespassing. I felt and urge to go into the house to explore. "Lets go in through the back door and take a look", I said. Jane clung on to my hand as we walked towards the back door. I pushed the door open slightly and went in. I closed the door slowly and gently. Then, I looked around. My eyes soon got used to the darkness. There were cobwebs hanging from the ceilings and cats scurrying about. I felt frightened. Suddenly, I could hear voices up upstairs and I stood rooted to the ground. A haze of fear surrounded me.

"Wait here", I told Jane. I gathered my courage and went up to investigate. I heard a man telling another person that they would be leaving the country with stolen jewels. They would take them to another country to sell. Out of the blue, I felt an urge to sneeze. "Ah choo!" I sneezed loudly like a cannon had exploded. The door opened and two burly men with tattoos on their arms crept towards me menacingly. I started to run. Suddenly, another man barged in through the door. He held a knife. I ran towards Jane and we huddled together. My legs turned to jelly. I knew I was going to die.

"Don't move!" the man shouted fiercely. He took a step towards us. Just as he was taking a rope to tie us up, policemen in blue uniforms barged in. "Nobody moves!" Shouted an officer. The policemen were armed with pistols. They handcuffed the men and took them to the police station. Outside, many police cars with lights shinning brightly were parked. An officer questioned us on what we had learnt. I also learnt that the men were jewel thieves. They planned to take the jewels to another country to pawn. A passer-by had phoned the police as he thought it was dangerous for two kids to be in an abandoned house and felt that something was wrong. I thanked the officer and, together with Jane, hurried home.