The Message
Chapter 1 Date: 29th July 2025 Time: 2:50pm
It’s 11:34pm on 29th July, 2024 … exactly one year since Alice died in a car crash and Macy feels like she should be anywhere but at school. It’s like her whole soul just went away with Alice up to somewhere far away. Every Saturday they went shopping at the Valley Mall and gossiped over their bubble tea. She remembered Alice’s order:
Watermelon crush with popping pearls, and obviously a large….
“Miss Macy please concentrate,” her teacher says.
“Sorry Mrs Melony,” Macy replies
She looks around the classroom full of work, mostly arts and craft, stuck on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. It was usually a bright, happy classroom but not today.
The whole class was very upset, everyone was close to Alice. She seemed to make friends with anyone she met, but Macy, by far, was her closest friend; they’d been besties since childcare when Alice made Macy laugh when she was upset because she felt homesick or got teased.
Ring! Ring!
It was the end of the day. Usually Macy would be elated since it’s now the weekend, but today she is dreading it.
It’s hard enough for her to cope not seeing Alice on the weekends, but today was extra hard because of the anniversary of her death.
Macy makes her way out of school and plods to her parents’ white, oversized Ford. Her blonde hair flowing in the wind as she throws her bag in the boot and then jumps in.
“Hey Macy, how was school?” her dad asks.
Macy doesn’t reply.
“I know it has been a rough week because of the accident, but honey, you’ve got to move on…” her dad encourages.
“Alexa’s mum said you didn’t go to Alexa’s party,” her dad says.
“Alexa once stole Alice’s eraser, I can’t go to a stealer’s party,” Macy says.
Her dad sighs.
When they arrive home Macy walks in the house and her mum asks, “How was school?”
Macy ignores her with a loud sigh and walks straight to her room stomping angrily.
“HOW could mum even ask that! Does she even know what today IS!” Macy whispers to herself, laying on the Queen bed, while burrowing her head into her purple, silk pillow.
A while later Macy’s mum walks into Macy’s room to call her for dinner but Macy’s already asleep.
She crept across the room, tip toeing like a ballerina on a dance floor and pulled Macy’s doona up, closing the door behind her with a sigh.
At 11:30pm Macy wakes up, her tummy rumbling. She hears the floor creak and the door squeak.
She hides under her covers until…she looks at her phone … it was 11:34pm the exact time Alice died in the hospital, when Macy’s phone dings. It’s a notification.
She looks.
It’s from…
Alice
Alice: Macy, look behind you…
Macy shakes her head, that can’t be right, someone must be playing an awful trick. Macy writes back;
Macy: Whoever has Alice’s phone, STOP.
Then Macy realises, the phone was with Macy in the car. It must be smashed to bits. Her heart pounds, her palms sweaty as she reads the next message…