This is a story I wrote. Click Continue Reading to read the story.

One day, I was walking home from school when my friend, Ryan, ran around the corner. I was going to his house to play today. “Why did you run so fast?” I asked him.

“I found a diamond on the road and picked it up,” Ryan said, “I got scared and I ran away. I didn’t look back.”

“We should probably return it to its owner,” I said, “But let’s take it to your house first and see if we can work out where it came from.”

We went home and Ryan picked up the diamond, staring at it. ZAP! Suddenly, he was gone. The diamond rose into the air. “I am the haunted diamond of Howlador!” It cried.

I took a step back. “What are you doing?” I asked, “what have you done to my friend?”

“He was staring at me too closely,” the diamond said, “I had no choice but to trap him inside me.”

Sure enough, I could see him staring at me from inside the diamond, trying to break free and extremely small. “But he’s my friend!” I exclaimed, “can you let him go please?”

“I don’t normally let my victims go, but I’m in a good mood today,” it said, “if you can beat me in a game of card dominoes I will let your friend go. If you lose, I will destroy him.” A pack of cards appeared out of nowhere.

I took a deep breath. Ryan looked at me from within the glass. I guess there was nothing to lose anyway, if I said no he’d be trapped there forever and eventually die of thirst or starvation anyway. “Yes,” I said, “I accept the deal.”

Cards moved around without being touched as the diamond shuffled the deck and dealed the cards out. We started playing. However, I soon realised I was going to lose as I played the jack of diamonds. It played the queen, its last card, and I was left holding the king.

“Well, you lost,” said the diamond, “you know what the deal was.” It paused. “What’s your name?” It asked.

“Jack,” I replied.

“I have an idea,” it said, as if it hadn’t heard me. “I could release Ryan, but I’d do something bad to you to compensate. What do you think, Jack?”

I thought about it. I was very scared, and I wanted to say no, but I knew that if I did, I’d feel like I had murdered my friend for the rest of my life. It wasn’t really a choice. There was only one thing I could say. “Yes,” I said.

There was a zap and Ryan, back to full size, lay on the ground next to me. Then there was another zap and the jack of diamonds lifted off the table. Then it collided with me and I was covered in light. When I could see again, I was in a room with no doors and one window. Staring out, I saw a giant Ryan staring at me! I was in the card! The diamond forced me into the pack and held it out to Ryan.

“Here,” it said, “This is for you.”

Today, Ryan is a champion at card games but everyone thinks his jack of diamonds is really weird, especially when it keeps staring at them. Only Ryan will ever know the truth. The diamond is a symbol of the object that made me like this. Ryan occasionally takes me out and chats with me, but other than that, life is really boring. I’ve noticed that I don’t need to eat food, drink water or go to the toilet anymore, and I don’t age either. I’ve tried breaking the window but it won’t work. It seems like I’m trapped in here forever, just a playing card in a pack.

The End