Halloween Ghost Story Contest -- 2003
High School Winners

Third Place

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Our third place High School winner is Mikal Minarich who attends the tenth grade in River Forest High School in Hobart, IN.

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Stone Eyes

by
Mikal Minarich

On a cold Halloween night, when all seemed quiet, Jody sat down in her cabin in front of her fire. "What a peaceful night," she thought to herself. "No little brats knocking at my door begging for candy they don't even need. Well, all I need is this cabin, couch, and fire to enjoy a beautiful fall night like this. Right Sandy?" She looked down to pet her golden retreiver who she considered her best friend. " You know what we need? We need some popcorn to liven us up Sandy!" She got up, walked into the kitchen, and started to pop some popcorn. When she turned around to grab the butter, she noticed a shadow in the curtain of the window. She quickly grabbed a broom and slowly pulled back the curtain. Two eyes were staring at her and she shrieked. "Calm down Jody, it's only a scarecrow. But why is it leaning against my window? Why is it even here?" She decided to call her clostest neighbor who happened to own a farm. Maybe it was hers.

"Hello?"

"Hi Betreace. Did you happen to leave one of your scarecrows over here?"

"Oh yes. I left a note on it to give to your mom. I was wondering if she could fix his arm that fell apart. I hope it didn't give you a scare."

"Oh, no. It's fine. I'll give that note to my mom as soon as possible."

"Thanks dear."

"No problem"

"Give me a scare? Ha! It' a stupid straw doll," she thought to herself as she hung up. Suddenly a loud popping noise started up. Jody jumped up and hid behind her couch. "I can't believe you," she said to herself. " The popcorn! You really are spooked!" She looked down at Sandy who raised an eyebrow at her, then lifted her head like something was expected of her. "You goofy, old dog. Scared of popcorn! Ha!" She walked back into the kitchen to retreive the freshly popped popcorn. " You know, I never did like farms. They had too much..." She trailed off as she realized the scarecrow's eyes were some kind of shiney stones that the moon reflected off of, giving them a flashy glow. "Ugh! It's only your imagination! Pull yourself together, silly," she said to herslef in a shaking voice. She sat down and began to enjoy her snack, eating one, tossing the next to Sandy, and so on when there was a tapping on her door. "Oh those trick-or-treaters! Go home! I have no candy!" And again there was tapping. Now, knowing what usually happens in a movie when this happens, the person answers the door to find a person or creature waiting to kill them, she just sat there, gripping the bowl with one hand and stroking Sandy's head with the other. About 20 mins. went by, and someone was at the door again. Only this time it was a pounding knock. Sandy ran to the door barking like a maniac. " No Sandy! Come back!" But she didn't listen because another sound came yet again. "Jody, it can't be what you think. Answer the door!" She pulled her strength together and cracked open the door. There was nothing to be found. She felt a little more courage and opened the door completely. "Alright! Very funny! I thought Ding-Dong-Ditch was out of style," she yelled out loud. She heard some kind of whimpering and looked down at Sandy. Her ears were perked up and her body was perfectly still. "San..." She couldn't finish her sentence before the retreiver was out the door and heading straight for the woods until she was completely out of sight. Jody stood there, staring blankly, shocked by what had just happened. She snapped back to reality and decided to get her coat, a leesh, and a flashlight.

The moon was full and she started down the path. "Sandy," she called out. "Come on! I have a treat for you!" She heard a quick whimper and began to sprint. The whimper quickly turned into barking then to growling. "Sandy," she screamed. She got very close and saw a big fluffly tail. " Sandy," she said with a feeling of relief. "Don't ever do that again. You worried...what do you have there? Are you bleeding? What happened? Let me see!" Sandy released her grip and dropped it on the ground. Jody wasn't sure at first, but couldn't fight the fear. She picked it up and flashed the light on it. "Hay? With blood? How did you get...nevermind, come on girl, let's go home." She began to leave when something landed in her hair. She stopped and so did her heart. Her hand reached up and pulled down a peice of hay with a drop of blood on it. She slowly looked up and a huge figure of darkness dropped on her. Her head hit a rock and she slowly drifted away. But right before she did, she caught a glimpse of a bright flashing glow...

( 3 days later)

"Hello Betreace. Have you heard from Jody lately?"

"Why yes. Just the other day. She said she was going to give you the note I left you to fix my scarecrow."

"I wonder if something 's wrong. I haven't heard from her in three days. She usually calls me everyday. Would you do me a favor? Go down with me and make sure everything's okay?"

"Of corse. I'm sure everything's fine."

The two women walked up to the front door of the cabin and knocked. No answer. "Jody? Honey are you there? Oh dear, let's check the window. She usually leaves it open." When they reached the window, Betreace became excited. "There it is! My scarecrow! It's so adorable, you're just going to love it! Oh look! There's Sandy. Why is she lying there? Well, here, look at my scarecrow!" She turned it around and the two women screamed in horror. It was Jody nailed to the wood, hay stickin gout of the places where her hands and feet should be. Her face was pail and blue vains were sticking out. Blood stained hay was sticking out of her mouth, ears, and nose. Parts of her hair were pulled out and dangling lifelessly from her face. And in place of her eyes, two stones were lodged into her sockets, causing blood to tear down her colorless face. The sun reflected off of them with a flashing glow.

As for Sandy, she lay by Jody's side, faithful as always.

Continue to the 2^nd place story

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