Halloween Ghost Story Contest -- 2018
Elementary School Winners

First Place

The Midnight Cat

by
Catherine Liu

The sound of scurrying steps echoed in a damp, narrow tunnel as the silver moon shone above the ground. A mouse named Rocky was hurrying towards a room underground. A room full of forbidden books. These books held knowledge only the old bookkeeper knew. Sometimes mice were lucky enough to have the bookkeeper tell them a story, but Rocky had never heard the old mouse speak before.

Rocky rushed toward the end of the tunnel, his light gray fur was tangled from the night’s trip. A drop of water fell behind him.

He crawled through the tiny rusty opening and entered the room. It was a room shaped like a long rectangular prism. A velvet red carpet covered the floor along with an empty marble table that lay on top of it.The walls were high, light beige, and faded from all the times the elderly mouse had paced back and forth, his fur rubbing on the walls. Beautiful paintings and pictures lined the narrow walls along with designed patterns and bookshelves that stretched to the roof.

Then, Rocky spotted the bookkeeper lying on the dull wooden floor. It was still night, so the bookkeeper was still asleep. Rocky stepped forward, trying to keep the aged floors from creaking. The only light in the whole room was a dim lantern. Rocky slowly reached forward and grasped the handle.

The metal on the handle was rusted and the glass was foggy. The lantern was smelly and half the size of Rocky, but he lifted it anyway. He scanned the shelves with yearning. A story with excitement was just the thing he needed right now. In his rush, Rocky’s tail hit the carpet with a thud.

“NRAWWWMN,” yawned the bookkeeper. Rocky stayed silent and stiff until the bookkeeper went to sleep.

As Rocky continued searching for a story, a book caught his eye. A velvety black one with the title, “THE MIDNIGHT CAT” in red paint. Rocky opened it and started reading :

The Midnight Cat is a cat rumored to have occasionally attacked mice wandering at night. Although there is no evidence to support this, many have reported sightings of a dark shadow when gathering food. It is said that the Midnight Cat lives at Cornwheat Barn. Many mice tell this story to prevent little ones from wandering out at night. Although…

Rocky fell asleep on the soft velvet rug.

A gray furry face stared at him, full of disappointment. It was his dad’s fluffy gray face. Rocky peered around the room, pretending not to notice him. He noticed he was in his bedroom.

The tiny room made of wood was so familiar to him. His room had light wooden walls, a light wooden bed, and a light wooden bookshelf. The only items not made out of wood were the iron lantern (It wasn’t as big as the bookkeeper’s), his brown straw blanket, a spiraling rug made of reeds, and the only books in his bookshelf (Mouse Mysteries: A guide to sneaking, History of the Tunnels, and Small Stories: A collection of stories for blossoming readers).

“Rocky,” said his dad sternly. “You were found in the room of forbidden books, along  with… with this,” his dad held up a familiar velvety black book with the title painted in red. “The Mouse Council will announce your punishment in an hour. You had better be at the main hall by then.”

Mouse Council? I’ve never heard of a mouse council before! Rocky started going through a thought wave. Is it an adult’s secret? Why have I never heard of it before? How many mice know?

His dad slammed the wooden door and scurried off into the exiting tunnel, taking the forbidden book with him.

Rocky jumped off his rough bed and landed on his straw rug. I guess I need to get ready for the Mouse Council meeting. He tucked in his blanket and turned off the iron lantern as he left the room.

As he ambled through the dry tunnel, Rocky felt clumps of dirt stick to his fur. I must wash that out later.

Rocky took his time to observe his surroundings. A rock on the clump of dirt over there, a dried up leaf over there, until he observed the clock on the wall.

He only had two minutes until he was supposed to be at the Mouse Council place. Shrieking in alarm, he sprinted down the tunnel and bolted through Mouse City.

He was there when he had ten seconds left.

As he looked around, a mouse said, “Your punishment is that you have to search for food in Cornwheat Barn. The searching parties will leave soon.”

Cornwheat Barn? I’ve heard of that before! But where?

Busy pondering about his thoughts, Rocky didn’t notice the mice leaving the room. He still hadn’t taken a good look at the council room as he walked out. It was already night, and there was no moon in the sky that night.

Rocky was about to head towards his tunnel when another mouse yelled, “SEARCHING TIME!”

Mice started scurrying everywhere. Flashes of brown, tan, and gray fur started to whirr around him.

“Come with me,” whispered a voice in his ear. Rocky felt another mouse grab his arm and pull him towards a shadow covered bush. Between the leaves, he could see the dark outline of a mouse and saw twinkling stars that were slightly dimmed by a green mist spiraling into the moonless sky.

The other mouse pushed him towards an old wooden barn which had the faint smells of rotten corn.

“You will search here tonight,” he hissed. “It’s your punishment for nosing around in the forbidden books!”

The bush rustled and the mouse was gone. It felt a bit awkward for Rocky. He was in a bush next to a barn with green mist swirling around him. I guess I better start collecting.

Rocky advanced, the green mist slightly parting as he cautiously moved forward. He stood in front of the barn. It was so old you could only see a few faded splotches of red on the walls. Rocky entered through a tight hole in the bottom of the wall. In the barn the green mist was so thick he could only see things if they were a foot in front of him. Every step he took made the floorboards creak.

Rocky sniffed the dense air. The stench of rotten corn was strong in this area. He took another step and the wood almost split underneath him.

Once he had finally found a kernel of corn, he quickly reached for it. Right when he touched the tip of it, a shrieking yowl split the soundless night and echoed in his ears.

Still grabbing the corn, he tried to find the tunnel he had entered from. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find the exit. The mist curled around him, now so thick that he could barely see a thing.

Suddenly, out of the mist, a huge shadow emerged. Squeaking in terror, Rocky scurried to the nearest corner.

A gleam of red shone through the mist, which was getting lighter. Eventually, the mist cleared and the dark shadow materialized into a black cat.

“Hello!” mewed a friendly voice.

“Um… are you the… the...”

“The Midnight Cat? Yeah, I get asked that loads of times.” the cat rolled her eyes.

“So… are you?” Rocky squeaked while nervously squeezing his tail.

“Well, I guess I am. Shall we introduce ourselves?” the cat smiled and did a play-bow. “My name is Pawlia Shadowpaws, but you probably know me as The Midnight Cat. I am a vegetarian and my favorite food is corn. Your turn now.”

The Midnight Cat is a girl? And she’s a vegetarian? I must be dreaming!

“Um… well… my name is Rocky and…” What should I say?

“Oh, that’s a nice name!” she interrupted. “Well, I don’t get many visitors.”

“Uh… could you show me the way out?”

“Sure!” she pushed at a door and it swung open. “Um… if you don’t mind…” she mumbled, “Could you come visit me sometime?”

“Okay?” he squeaked. Pawlia smiled and she lowered her belly to the floor.

“Want a ride?”

“Sure!”

The black cat and gray mouse rode through bushes and across grass, as quiet as a calm wind.

Rocky yawned and fell asleep, the fur he lay on made him feel like he was sleeping on a cloud.

❅❅❅

Rocky slowly opened his eyes. What a weird dream! A sudden soft feeling tickled his fingers. He looked down in surprise. A tuft of black fur lay cradled in his hand. Or maybe… it wasn’t a dream.

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