|
Our second place Middle School category winner was written by London Middle School eighth grader Mia Connery of Wheeling, Illinois. |
One of the biggest lies that your parents can tell you as a child is that ghosts aren’t real. That houses are never haunted, beds never hide a monster under them at night, or that spirits never walk darkly around the cemetery during the evenings.
The truth is that these things do happen, and more. Mankind chooses to reject ghosts as something to be considered real, which is a great offense to the ghosts in this world that really do exist.
To get their revenge, the ghosts decide every year on Halloween to haunt a home that belongs to the humans. To invoke fear into their lives and put deceiving families in their place.
It is in a small town in Tennessee where our story begins. Here, all of the men and women who’d died around the village came to one home where they then could reside together as ghosts.
In this home Gorp, the leading ghost, put things in order. Gorp wasn’t a pleasant spirit as most were. In fact, most days he was yelling at the others for being too raucous for his liking.
It was finally Halloween again and the death room (normally called a living room in human culture, but appropriately named the death room due to the fact that the spirits in the house were, in fact, not living) was full of laughter and cheer. The excitement of what all of the ghosts were about to perform filled the room-- not even Gorp was slumping today.
The noise of the howling and cackling was suddenly silenced as Gorp stood up and cleared his throat.
“Ahem,” he said. His voice got suddenly louder to ensure that all of the ghosts were paying attention. “As you all know, today is Halloween, and it is our tradition to haunt a selected home for the night—“
Cheers and whistling now came about from several ghosts, but as Gorp glared at them they quieted down.
“Yes, yes. As I was saying, it is now time to select our home of choice for this year...” Gorp gazed down at the crowd. “All in favor of the house of 478 Greengale Lane, please boo.”
Loads of thunderous “boos” echoed off of the walls. Gorp grinned crookedly and nodded. “That’s enough, now,” he said. “Now, all in favor of 673 Circle Drive...”
For a second time, “boos” of all octaves suddenly were shouted from several of the ghosts.
“Very good, very good,” Gorp muttered to himself. “And all in favor of 333 Thelma—“
“Wait a second, Mr. Gorp,” a rather large and ugly ghost
interrupted. It was Mac Schinder who’d died from a hanging in the 17th century. He hesitated, but then was confident. “Who says we need to haunt a house? Who says we can’t haunt... say...” He looked around the room to add drama. “The whole town?”
Gasps and whispers came from every ghost in the room. Gorp had a flabbergasted look upon his face.
Clearing his throat again, the room was silenced for a second time. “What an idea old Mac here has presented to us,” he announced. “What a lovely proposal. All in favor of—“
Before Gorp could even finish the sentence, earsplitting “boo’s” bellowed from every mouth. All were in favor.
No one had ever considered the idea. A whole town of people frightened! It was a dream come true. Each ghost began telling their neighboring ghosts their plots on how they would scare the families of the village.
Gorp chuckled evilly and got everyone’s attention once more. “Yes, let’s not linger, then. We have work to do! Everyone split up, find a house, and, well.... Then do what you want, but I want all of you back here by 5:00 am sharp! Do you hear me?”
Every ghost nodded and waited for the moment that they could leave.
“Be off, then!” Gorp howled. Every ghost hurried away.
“Call the fire department, my house is in flames!” A woman screamed from afar.
Shreiking and bawling filled the village. Terrified families ran from their homes. Ghosts wandered through the alleys, destroying everything in their paths. Gorp chuckled from the distance, watching it all, entertained.
Flashes of red and blue shined upon the sidewalks as lines of police cars appeared. Officers jumped out of them, guns at hand, and searched for the criminals.
“I s-saw them, th-th-they were p-pearly-white, and yo-you could see through them, th-they weren’t r-real men,” a teenager stuttered, crazed by what he’d seen. “First th-they w-went for my little s-sister, and th-then for my p-p-parents, and now I d-don’t know where they are... they ran f-from my apartment b-b-before I could f-find them...” The teenager sobbed and told the policemen her story.
“Pearly white?” a policewoman asked another. “Perhaps the criminal is an albino...” one suggested. “But... you can see through them...” another one restated. “Perhaps they’re just crazy, huh!” the first policewoman declared. They all laughed at the conclusion, unaware of Gorp, who was
suddenly lurking behind them. “We ghosts are known to make people crazy,” Gorp snickered. The women quickly ended the laughter and turned around in fright. “Did someone say... g-g-ghosts?” Gorp smirked in pleasure of the fright he’d created. “Maribel... grab your gun...” a policeman commanded quietly. Gorp’s smile widened further. “The living can be so silly,” he
whispered into their ears. “You think those weapons of yours will hurt me?” He floated through the body of an officer. She shrieked. “Of course it won’t!” He answered himself. “None of you can! For I
am a ghost! A real, grotesque, ghost! BOO!” A few officers flinched, but one looked Gorp straight in the eye and
started to talk back. “No you aren’t, fool. Everyone knows there are no such things as ghosts.”
Gorp’s smile left his face and he was suddenly filled with anger.
“That’s what you think, don’t you?” He said, his voice getting louder with each word he spoke. “That’s what you humans think! That we aren’t real! Well tell me, then, is this real?!”
Gorp floated up and around, his feet not touching the ground. “Is this real?” The ghost now floated into the ground, slowly, until his body had
disappeared. About 20 yards away, he materialized again, coming out of the
ground slowly until he was in full view again. The police officer was now shivering in fear. “B-but...there’s no...
such... thing... as...” “Ghosts! Ha! No such thing! Says who? Your mommy? Well here
she is, hun, as spiritual as ever!” Gorp laughed and gestured behind him. A ghost by the name of Matilda Granbug floated towards the officers, smiling sweetly.
“M-m-mom? That’s... you? But...” The officer was appalled.
“How do you do, baby?” Matilda answered in a motherly voice. “Oh, darling, your hair needs a trim, if only you’d let me—“
“Are there more of you, then?” A fat officer, wearing a large nametag with “Gary” on it, questioned Gorp.
“More? Of course! Almost 20, if you’d really like to know numbers. Tonight, they’re all over town, spooking the daylights out of your people! What a blast this is... perhaps we shall continue every night...” Gorp grinned at the idea.
“No, no, NO!” Gary yelled at the ghost. “No, please! You are ruining our town! I will not stand it any longer!”
“What are you going to do about it?” Gorp asked childishly. “I’ll make a deal with you, Mr... uh...”
“Gorp.”
“Yes, Gorp, of course,” Gary continued. “If you leave our streets alone, no child living in this town shall ever hear that your kind is fake or unreal in any way. We will all acknowledge your existence, and will all leave you in peace.”
Gorp hesitated, lost in thought. He considered the idea. For centuries the living had always refused to accept the ghosts, and now was the time they would admit to them. Gorp liked that, but what about the haunting? The other ghosts would be so very disappointed...
“I will accept your deal, human,” Gorp pronounced, “if you will allow our kind to haunt a house once a year as we had before.”
The policemen and women huddled together, whispering to each other.
“It’s a deal,” Gary declared.
Gorp nodded. “I will be off, then. I’ll be seeing you next year. Be warned.” He laughed and left with a loud “BOO!”
...So, if you still don’t believe that ghosts exist, go ahead and ask the people of the village. They’ll tell you about the destructive story of the ghosts in the town.
Every Halloween, the ghosts come again, having the time of their lives. They spook and snicker, leaving the families rocking back and forth in horror.
Beware, my friend, for one day, if you shall ever speak of the ghosts being fake, they will come after you. This time, there will be no deals...
BOO!
![[home]](/Icons/Extras/lilhome.gif){kind=icon}
![[up]](/Icons/Extras/lilup.gif){kind=icon}