NOVEMBER 6, 1983

Amanda's day started off just like everyone else's. It was a drowsy Sunday morning and she wanted nothing more than to hide under her covers until Tuesday. She had a presentation tomorrow about the importance of recycling in her Science class and she absolutely hated presenting.  The majority of the kids at Hawkins Middle were mean and she didn't want that on top of her already nerve-racking assignment. And so she hid.

     She eventually came out of hiding when the scent of chocolate chip pancakes wafted up to her room and made their way into her nostrils. After stirring around for a little bit, she got out of bed and went down the stairs to meet her mom.

     "So I see you've finally made it out of your cave," her mother Linda greeted her, kissing her forehead before serving her pancakes. "Don't worry. I'm gonna go back as soon as I'm done with these." Amanda began to shovel in some of the pancakes past her lips, chocolate starting to cover the edges of her mouth. "Slow down, champ. You're gonna choke if you keep stuffing yourself like that," Linda warned her as she set down a glass of milk.

     "Mom, I don't wanna go to school tomorrow," Mandy started after she swallowed down her milk. "Now why is that?" Linda asked her, intrigued to hear her daughter's response.

     "I have a presentation in Science tomorrow and I don't want to do it. I don't like presenting and all the other kids are gonna make fun of me."

     "Now why would they make fun of you, honey?"

     "Because my voice shakes when I have to speak in front of people and I feel like I can't breathe sometimes."

     "Well, everyone gets nervous when they have to speak in front of a crowd. That's normal, darling," Linda assured her. Amanda picked at the crumbs on her plate. "It doesn't feel normal," she grumbled.

     Linda sighed. "All I can tell you is that the only way out is through and that there's no other way to do it than to do it, alright?"

     Amanda nodded and sat back so her mother could get her plate. "I'm gonna go back to my cave."

     "You do just that, Fred Flintstone." Linda chuckled as she scraped off the plates before placing them into the sink. She let out a long sigh and made a plan to talk to Amanda's Science teacher after school tomorrow about the kids in her class bullying her.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

Amanda spent the rest of her Sunday preparing for the inevitable because the only way out was through, right?

     She was reading from her notecards, trying to keep her voice even and clear. "Now just remember: when you make your speech," her mother had told her, "don't look at the people. Pick a spot on the back wall, don't take your eyes off of it, and speak loudly."

     But the thing is, whenever Amanda took that advice, she would look like she was staring off into space, which would then cause the teasing — kids calling her a "space case" and whatnot. Thinking about it made her eyes water, hands shake, and drop her notecards. "Stop crying," she spoke to herself as she got to her knees to pick up her notecards. It wasn't until she looked out the window that she realized that she deserved a break. 

     Amanda took her bike and went for a ride around the block. Her Sting 26 was her favorite thing in the world. It had these cool ribbon tassels that came out of the handles and a headlight for when she would ride around in the dark, which didn't happen very often because she had an 8 o'clock curfew most days, nine if she did exceptionally well in school.

She lived about thirty minutes from Hawkins Middle, so she couldn't show off her cool bike to anyone who wanted to see it. She took the bus instead because her mother had to go work. It was okay, though. She had something cool and it was cool to keep that to herself. After about going around the block twice, Amanda made her way back to her house and sat down to watch some TV.

     There was a past episode of Cheers on, so she watched that. She had been meaning to go to the video store and rent a tape of The Outsiders to watch over the weekend, but she kept forgetting to ask her mom to take her. She loved the book and saw the movie poster in a store window and was excited to see it because she thought the cast was cute.

     Her mother went grocery shopping for dinner so that left Amanda with a few hours to herself. So she sat in front of the television and let her brain rot (not literally) for a good two hours before getting up and reading a book.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'

Seven o'clock then rolled around and it was time for dinner.

     Linda made them chicken pot pie and it was delicious, as per usual. She gave Amanda two small slices so she'd get fuller quicker and not have to beg for more.

     "When I'm done, can I go catch the fireflies outside?" Amanda asked as she scraped her plate clean. "After you clean your plate. Then you can go outside," Linda instructed her. She was quick to take her plate, fork, and knife to sink to wash them and put them in the drying rack. "Now can I go?" She turned to her mother, hopeful. Linda sighed. "Alright. But don't go too far, okay?"

     Amanda rushed out the door with a flashlight and a mason jar and tried to catch the first firefly she could find. They weren't all that hard to catch. It was tricky, sure, but nothing she couldn't handle. She caught a few and put them into her jar, making sure that the lid wasn't on too tight. Last time she caught them, they died from lack of oxygen. As for the fireflies, it wasn't usual for them to be out this late in the year, but sometimes it would be just warm enough that they could come out this time of night.

     She was having a blast until she heard a crunch of leaves come from the forest. Turning to the noise, she went to go investigate. She turned on her flashlight and went to go after the noise. There were more leaves crunching, and it almost sounded like an animal scampering across the forest floor. From the looks of its shadows, it seemed to be a dog that was probably lost and trying to find its way home. Or at least that's what it looked like.

     "Are you alright there, little guy? Are you lost?" Amanda couldn't resist asking; she loved dogs. It turned away and scampered deep into the forest. Being the little nosy rosy she was, Amanda followed it. It started to pick up its pace, and so did she. She was now running after it and she didn't stop until she felt the ground give way beneath her as she fell into a hole, leaving her jar and flashlight behind.

     Coughing, Amanda got up and dusted herself off and tried to find the dog. She knew she should've tried to find a way out but her curiosity got the better of her. So she walked carefully along the ground, the hole turning into more of a tunnel. It was dark so she couldn't see all that well, but the moon shone above her so she had a little light. She used the tunnel walls as a guide to help her through and it was helping, until she tripped on a root and fell again.

     Except it wasn't a root.

     Amanda tried to get up again, but it seemed that the root had made its way around her ankle. She tried to free herself but it wouldn't budge. Panicking, she did her absolute best to make the root let go of her ankle, but it was much too strong. The "root" then gave a sharp yank on her ankle and she fell to the ground again as it pulled her deeper into the tunnel.

     She tried to scream for help, but there was no possible way that her voice would carry that far. After feeling a few tears stream down her face, she shoved them aside as she grumbled "stop crying" one last time before the root turned into a vine and tied her down to never be seen again.