Pueblo City-County Library District 28th Annual Scary Story Contest

Winning Stories 2020 Page 2 Pueblo City-County Library District 2020 Scary Story Contest Pueblo City-County Library District, in cooperation with the Friends of the Library, is pleased to announce the winners of the 28th Annual Scary Story Contest. Budding writers, from second grade to adult, were invited to enter the creative writing contest. Mysterious, suspenseful or humorous scary tales of a non- violent nature were judged by the Friends of the Library. Entries were judged for characterization, plot, description, dialog, setting, theme and originality. Winners received a certificate of achievement, a booklet with all of the winning stories, and a $10 gift certificate to Books Again, the Friends of the Library’s used book store. All participants received a certificate of recognition. The judges were Friends of the Library board members Eileen Arnot, Monica Ayala, Melanie Phelps and Erik Segall. The library wishes to thank the many teachers who supported the creative writing experience by having their students enter the contest. We look forward to receiving your work again next year!

Page 3 winners

2nd Grade Emmerson Armijo Goodnight School – Ms. Musso Ollie Eggert Bessemer Academy– Ms. Rivera Jacqueline Loberg Goodnight School – Mrs. Torres

3rd Grade Randy Levene Goodnight School – Ms. Weaver Olivia Perez Heritage Elementary School – Ms. Song Gianna Weigel Heritage Elementary School – Mrs. Pool

4th Grade German Nunez-Perez Beulah Heights Elementary School – Mrs. Champ Peyton Richie Vineland Elementary School – Ms. Todd Iliana Santos-Sandoval North Mesa Elementary School – Ms. Quintana

5th Grade Chardonney King Goodnight School – Ms. Felzien Declan Lujan St. John Neumann Catholic School – Mr. Zschokke Kaden Shrestha McClelland School – Ms. Travierso 6th Grade Trinity Felthager Connect Charter School – Mrs. Saxton Gavin Rosenbloom Pueblo Academy of Arts – Ms. Wyatt Harleigh Ryan Pueblo Academy of Arts – Ms. Wyatt

Page 4 winners

7th Grade Jasmin Arellano Vineland Middle School – Mrs. Chavez Vivica Johnson Goodnight School – Mr. Krasovec Breckin Weatherford Connect Charter School – Mrs. Saxton

8th Grade Sofia Bedoya-Corren Connect Charter School – Ms. Medina Alexa Darnell Connect Charter School - Ms. Medina Kathryn Hollar McClelland School - Ms. Travierso

High School McKenna Dasher Centennial High School – Ms. Blackmore Landry Eckland Pueblo County High School – Mr. Grossen Andrew Papesh Paragon High School – Ms. Kitchen

Adult Kimbra Blackmore

Page 5 Page 6 A Big Monster Emmerson Armijo

Someone came to my house at 3 a.m. Can it be a monster...? We better hide. What should we do? We are scared! Should I call the police? It was trick or treaters!

The Poisoned Candy Apple Ollie Eggert

Long ago there was a ghost flying in the night. In the dark I saw a shadow at the spooky haunted house. Immediately lightening struck. The lightening lit up the shadow. The evil devil appeared. The ghost has to fight the evil creature. Punches! Kicks! Soon the devil was defeated by me, the ghost. As a reward for defeating the devil a bright, red, scrumptious, poisoned candy apple appeared. I was a little afraid of the poison but I gobbled it up anyway!

Page 7 The Haunted Doll Jacqueline Loberg

Once upon a time there were four teenagers in the woods on a nice night. Their names were Emily, Anna, Lucas and Benjamin. “Look at that doll,” said Emily. They all looked at the doll. “Follow me,” said the doll. They followed the doll to the abandoned house. The doll led them to the attic. Something pulled Anna into the attic. Emily, Lucas and Benjamin ran out of the house screaming. One day later, they went back to the abandoned house. They heard banging and went inside. There was Anna. They grabbed her and ran home. The end.

The Zombie Apocalypse Randy Levene

One cold, dark, scary night some friends were handing out. They started a conversation. The friend named Dave said, “Let’s watch the news guys, lets see what’s going on.” The other friends were Alex and Randy. Alex is a modest person; she is afraid of almost everything. Dave is brave; he is mostly a show off though. Randy is smart; he has lot of ideas for every problem. They both said, “Sure Dave,” as they watched the news. The news said there was a zombie apocalyse! Alex screamed, “Ahhhh!” We told her everything was going to be alright. Dave said, “Let’s go to my hou-.” Bang! A zombie broke the door down! We all panicked, we didn’t know what to do. I had an idea. I kicked the zombie in its face. We ran out of the house and ran to Alex’s house. When we got there we hid in the basement. Alex said, “Let’s board up the door.” Dave and Randy both said, “That’s a great idea Alex.” We found some spare wood pieces, then we boarded up the door but 23 zombies were kicking the door down so we ran out of the second basement door. We ran outside and ran to school. When we got to school we ran to the science room and grabbed the ingredients to make the cure. When the cure was done we made a jello brain then we ran outside and all the zombies fell into our trap. They all fell into a hole we made then one by one we gave them the cure. When we gave them the cure we lead them into a cage we made. We waited one hour then we let them out and then they helped us but something happened when we gave the cure to the zombie teacher. It started to get bigger and bigger until it started chasing us. We ran to the second science room and made a super cure and grabbed a trampoline and Randy said, “I’ll grab the cure and the super cure and bounce it off the trampoline and make them drink it.” And Randy did it. We saved the wold, we were on the news, we were on billboards and lots more.

Page 8 My Last Time Babysitting Olivia Perez One cold night I was running late to babysit Danisse, the Perez’s baby. But I’ve been babysitting for them for months now. They won’t mind. I got in and Mr. Perez came to the door. He was sweaty and had a few cuts but before I could ask or say anything he invited me in and at the dining table was Mrs. Perez. She was writing something, “I have to say bye to Danisse,” she said. Then I asked what movie they were seeing. “Oh I don’t know, we’ll decide when we get there.” Then she came back from upstairs and hugged me, her face almost in apology. She started to say more but Mr. Perez dragged her to the car. I thought about going outside and talking some more or maybe even just leaving, but in the end, I stayed. Then I went upstairs not turning on the lights to not wake Danisse, but when I got to her crib ... Danisse wasn’t there. There was just a note that read, “I’m so sorry he broke in while we were getting ready and he said he would hurt us and do horrible things to Danisse. When he asked if we were expecting anyone we told him about you. It’s an exchange. I’m so sorry I hope God will forgive me one day.” As I was reading, I saw their car pulling out with Danisse in the back as Mrs. Perez waved at me. Then it happened. It appeared behind me and attacked me, but it was too late. And just like that, gone. My whole life gone. And if you’re wondering how I’m writing this, no one in Pueblo who dies ever really dies...

The Nightmare Before Halloween Gianna Weigel

It was another day. Time for school but something felt strange. I looked in my brother’s room and he was sleeping on the wall! I ignored him and ran downstairs to eat my breakfast. In my cereal was a finger. I think it was human! I told my mom that I ate all my cereal but I put it in the trash. Then my mom said, ‘Get your blood pack.” I thought she was joking. We pulled up to school and my mom said, “Have a bloody day.” I did not say anything because I thought I heard her wrong. Then I noticed the school was completely covered with fog. I could not see anything. When I got to my seat Mrs. Pool looked really, really green and was moaning and saying “brains.” I got scared! That was not the only thing weird. All of the students had pointy teeth and were very pale. I asked Mrs. Pool if I could go to the bathroom. She moaned some more. I think she said yes. I left but did not go to the bathroom. I went to look for normal people. I finally saw someone normal. It was our principal Mrs. Cura. I asked what was going on, she paused and she said she was looking for survivors. I said, “Survivors?’ She told me everything and I was surprised. Just then the pale students came flying out and Mrs. Cura said, “We need to get out of here.” I yelled and we ran as fast as we could to Mrs. Cura’s car and drove away. I asked her where we were driving to and she said, “To my house, I have food to last us a week.” She suddenly stopped the car and said, “I am hungry now though.” I looked down and noticed she had a bite on her leg and as she was about to bite me, I woke up and it was all a dream and it was Halloween. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Page 9 The Alien Takeover German Nunez-Perez

It was a rainy day. I had a basketball game. When I showed up for pre-game warmup, my coach said I had been rewarded with the starting spot in the game. During the third quarter with six minutes remaining, the power went off. I no longer heard the basketball bounce and I also couldn’t hear any parents cheering. Suddenly the power came back on and there was only one small problem. I was the only person on the court! I ran to the school’s office, but I didn’t see anyone at all. My first instinct was to call 911, but I realized this wasn’t an emergency. Or so I thought. I could just call someone to pick me up; so that’s what I did. I called my cousin and he came to pick me up. When I came out I saw a bright light flashing lime and blue. It was hovering over the school. I backed up to see it better and then I saw it. It was a UFO! The weird looking spaceship flashed a light on me; then I ran. I ran so fast I felt like a fighter jet. When I arrived at the parking lot, I noticed a lime green BMX bike. I got on it and started to head to the police station. Fifteen minutes later I entered the station and I told the officer what happened. He told me to wait there. After a few minutes I decided to enter the room the officer went into. Nobody was there so I went outside where I saw an officer. He came up to me and said “What are you doing here buddy?” I responded by saying, “If I tell you I guarantee you won’t believe it.” He then just turned around and kept walking until he disappeared into thin air. I was confused and felt weird. Then I just fell and started to go in and out of consciousness. I woke up in a weird looking room when an alien walked in. I noticed this looked like outer space. I tried to get up, but just couldn’t. I finally got up when a crew of aliens walked in speaking in a weird language. They had high pitched voices. When they injected something into me, I fell into a deep sleep. I woke up in a hospital room. I heard voices outside the room. Then a really tall doctor walked in along with a really short one. I asked where I was. The tall one said, “Hi my name is Kalen,” and the short one said, “And my name is Juan.” Kalen then said, “So it looks like we have a lot to catch up on.” “Yeah,” I said. Juan responded in a Mexican accent by saying, “We found you in the middle of a street and above you was a UFO. The whole world is getting invaded by aliens.” I really wasn’t surprised by what he said. About 30 minutes later a crew of doctors walked in carrying a portable TV. The doctors had brought it just for me. I assume so I could catch up on current events. I decided to turn it on and I saw the news was on. Parkview Hospital had been invaded by the aliens! Seconds later a loud alarm started going off. Doctors were rushing into every room telling the patients to stay in their rooms. Three walked into mine and locked the door saying the whole top floor was getting locked down. Then a police officer walked in and gave us a salt gun filled with salt because he said aliens burn when they touch salt. Then we heard a loud noise, sort of like a lightsaber sound, and the doctors let me get out of the bed. The officer locked the door and handed me the salt gun. He said, “Here, take this. If anything happens shoot it at the alien.” About 50 minutes in, I heard people scream and unfortunately some dragged away by aliens. A big giant tall alien broke the door down and I panicked and just shot him with the salt gun. He then fell to the ground and started to spit out some green slimy thing. An alarm started going off and I saw a SWAT team rush into the building from below. Then a different crew walked onto the floor I was on. We followed behind them, and about 30 minutes later we arrived at the mall. I asked why we were here. One of the soldiers said “This is the safest place we can be right now.” We then entered the mall as we saw a giant UFO bigger than the Empire State Building hover above us. Then it landed and destroyed everything in its path. Hundreds, if not thousands, of aliens rushed into the mall. I quickly shot three of them with the salt gun. The soldiers shot every single one of them with tasers and salt guns. Suddenly the giant UFO disappeared as more SWAT teams and tanks rolled into the parking lot. A helicopter landed too. I quickly ran to it and got in. We took off and I asked where we were going. “We’re heading to North Dakota and thereafter we will get on a plane and land in Toronto, Canada. That’s the only safe place in the world right now,” the pilot said. About 5 hours later we landed in North Dakota where we immediately got on a plane. We landed in Toronto, Canada 7 hours later where we were met by Canadian officials. One of them said, “We were expecting you guys.” Then another one of them said, “We need to head to the bunker right now. Scotia Bank Arena was just destroyed by aliens.” Right after he said that a giant SUV arrived. We got in and drove away...to our unknown future.

Page 10 Into the Woods Peyton Richie

One day in October, six friends decided to go for a hike in a forest that no one goes into. It started out as a sunny and warm day. The friends were laughing and joking around as they started their hike. As they went deeper into the woods, it started to get dark, gloomy, and chilly. All joking and laughing stopped as they realized they were lost in the woods. It was eerily silent in the woods. Then, all six friends screamed and jumped when they heard a twig snap, and something growled. They all slowly turned to where the sound came from. They were stunned, and then finally relaxed when they saw it was a big dog.As soon as they relaxed, another sound came from behind them, but this sound was scary and sent chills down their backs. The friends turned to the new sound and froze in place. There standing in front of them was what they could only call a monster. It was seven feet tall, razor sharp teeth, and hands like swords. It started to walk towards the kids, but with each step it took, it started to change. When it got a few steps from the kids, it looked human except for its eyes, which were glowing red. The monster lunged for the kids, but before it could even touch them, the dog jumped on top of the monster. The big dog then turned to the kids and barked at them. He turned and dashed through the trees with the kids following him. There was a loud scary inhuman sound that roared behind them, and they all knew it was the monster. All of a sudden one of the kids fell down. She tried to get up, but her leg hurt so much she couldn’t walk or run like they needed her to do. The big dog came up to her, licked her hand, and then to everyone’s surprise began to turn into a monster like the one chasing them. All the kids were surprised, but not scared of him. He smiled and began to shift again, this time into a horse. The kids then helped their friend on top of the horse. They heard a roar and crashing sounds coming from behind them again. The scary monster burst through the trees, and the kids screamed and started running again following the horse with their friend. The scary monster followed them yelling, “You may not leave my woods!” All the kids asked why he didn’t want them to leave, and to their surprise the horse spoke. He said “ My brother is mean and doesn’t want anyone in the woods, so he can protect the other wildlife and supernatural creatures. Anyone that wanders in here never leaves.” Then the kids asked, “Why are you helping us then?” The horse said, “Because you are just kids wanting to have fun and shouldn’t be trapped here forever because of that.” All the kids then said, “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you friendly monster.” Finally, they all reached the opening in the woods where they came in from. The kids helped their friend off the horse and he shifted back into his monster form. He turned around right when his brother, the scary monster, crashed through the trees. The scary monster yelled, “They can’t leave! All the kids then told him they wouldn’t say a word to anyone and swore they would never enter the woods again and would help keep everyone away from it too.

My Bedroom Window Iliana Santos-Sandoval

It was a dark dreary night with a full moon. I was in my room sitting on my bed when all of a sudden lightening struck and the thunder boomed. I was frightened and I ran to my window. I noticed it was raining very hard. I also noticed something was moving in the graveyard down the street. I couldn’t tell what it was so I ran downstairs and grabbed my dad’s binoculars. I went back to my room and tried to see what was out there. It was a giant monster with claws and sharp fangs waving at me. I was shivering in fear. I did not know if it was a werewolf, mummy or a different type of monster. I grabbed my dog and blanket and jumped in my bed. I peeked through my blanket and the monster was coming towards my house. I screamed, “Daddy!” and ran downstairs. I told my dad what happened. My dad grabbed the binoculars and looked towards the graveyard. Dad started laughing and said it is just a big old oak tree blowing in the storm. We laughed and made hot chocolate then I went to bed.

Page 11 The Red Bow Chardonnay King

One year ago there was a lovely, brown haired girl that moved into a house. This house was in a small town called, Knight Falls. As they, her mother, pup, and herself, approached the house, the little girl thought she saw a figure in one of the windows on the second floor. When she got out of the car, she felt as if someone was watching them. As she gathered her bags, and as she was looking for her room, she heard a noise coming from upstairs on the same floor as the figure from the window. As she was climbing the stairs and getting closer, the sound was getting stronger. And as soon as she slowly turned the door handle, the sound stopped! She stood standing in the doorway and before her eyes, there laid a beautiful red bow. The bow was so perfect, as if it was brand new. She then yelled to her mom, “I found my room!” That night they unpacked. The mom yelled up the stairs to her, “Don’t forget to take a shower and pick out an outfit for the first day of school.” She was so excited that she dropped her brush on the floor and it went under the bed. She reached as far as she could, trying to feel for the brush. She screamed. Her mom came running up the stairs to see if she was okay. Her mom asked if everything was okay and she said, “Yeah, I just got a paper cut.” “Oh my goodness you scared me. Well go take a shower and make sure you wash that paper cut,” her mother said. She took a shower, got dressed and was trying to find the perfect outfit for tomorrow. She then remembered the paper that gave her a paper cut. She opened it very carefully so she wouldn’t get cut again. It read, “For if you find this bow, bad luck will go upon the one who wears this, for the red bow, there will be no tomorrow.” She shrugged her shoulders and threw it in the trash bin. The very next morning she got ready for the first day of school. Everything felt the same like any other say, as she thought about the note she read. She ate her breakfast and then got her jacket on. She yelled up the stairs and said, “Hey mom I’m going to the school bus!” “Okay, love you. Have a good first day,” mom said. As she waited for the bus she heard a crow up in the tree. It was a big black crow swooped right beside her. “Awww!” she screamed. She turned around and there was the bus, doors opened and she got in. The whole bus was filled with kids. As she went down the bus she saw a spot that was next to a little girl with black hair. She asked if she could sit next to her and she said of course. They talked until they got to school and exchanged phone numbers. They ended up being in the same class as each other. Later on in the afternoon she asked her teacher if she may use the restroom which was two hallways away. She noticed it was quiet. It seemed as if no teachers were teaching, she then went to the restroom, and as she was pushing the door to go back to class the lights went out. She screamed. She ran to her classroom, opened the door and slammed the door behind her. All her classmates and her teacher were all staring at her in shock. In fear she said, “What happened to the lights?” The teacher said,” Nothing, why?” “Oh, nothing sorry…” Her friend asked, “Are you okay?” “She said, “It was probably nothing, I’m just tired from moving.” The school day ended and as she got home she headed to the kitchen to get a snack and then all of a sudden something hit the kitchen window. She then went to see what it was. There laid a big black crow, she then leaned toward the crow terrified. She heard someone say, “Are you okay?” She turned around and looked where the crow was and it was gone. “Did you see that?” she asked. “Oh, never mind,” she said as she was going inside of the house and locking the door behind her. She went up to her room to do her homework, she was about finished and heard the doorbell. She then assumed her mom must have forgotten the key. She ran down the stairs and opened the door saying, “Mom did you forget?” No one was there. Fifteen minutes later she finished her homework and she thought someone was standing right be her side. She jumped out of her bed, then there was a crrreeeeek! She screamed. There stood her mom. “I’m sorry I scared you. I just wanted to let you know I’m home and I picked up some pizza for dinner.” They went downstairs, ate dinner and after they were stuffed they got ready for bed. As the mother was saying goodnight she noticed the red bow in her daughter’s hair. Mother asked, “Are you going to take it out?” “Of course mom,” said the little girl. She tried taking off the bow and it wouldn’t budge. It seemed as if it was glued on. “Mom it won’t come off!” The mom tried for several minutes trying to get it out but it just was stuck. Her mom then went downstairs and grabbed a pair of scissors from the drawer. She heard a loud scream, it was her daughter. She ran up the stairs and she was gone. Still till this day she’s still missing and no one really knows why. Was it someone or something? Or was it the red bow?

Page 12 Zach’s Encounter with the Secret Halloween Society Declan Lujan

Zach and his friends left his last school because of the pandemic. The boys got on a train and headed north to go to Wikkensburg for a visit. They heard the town was filled with magic. Around five hours later, the train got into a terrible train crash. Zach, Alex, Joe, Bill, and Bob survived, but no one else which was weird to the boys. Zach looked in the distance and saw nothing, but then,a red balloon appeared and then disappeared again. Zach got very confused. Zach, Alex, Joe, and Bill all went the same way. Bob went a different way which was not unusual. Days and days passed by when, finally, they came across a small, small town.The town had just a couple hundred people living in it. They kept walking when these 15 people around 25-30-years-old tripped them, and tried to beat the boys up. The 25-30 year old people led them to an alley. The strongest man tried to punch Zach but a weird shadowed 40-year-o1d man showed up and beat the heck out of the bullies, he took off his hood and stated to the boys, “Hello there, I am JackieWikkenston.” The boys stated, Thank you Mr. Jackie Wikkenston, sir.’’ Jackie Wikkenston stated, “Please just call me J.W. or Jackie.” Zach stated, “Mr. Jackie or- I mean Jackie.” Jackie stated, “You boys look familiar, did you all go to that school that started with an H and ended with an S?” Zach stated. “Oh, Ho-?” Jackie covered Zach’s mouth and stated. “We do not speak of that name.” Zach stated, “Ok, well, uh, yes, I-uh did go there-or should I say we.” Jackie stated, “Boys, since that school closed doesn’t mean that you can’t learn magic anymore, come on let me lead you to the five star hotel in Fitu Bababisimema! And with a free lesson of magic from me!” Zach Stated, “So, this sketchy towns name is Fitu Bababisimema? That’s a superweird name.” Jackie stated back, “Well, uh, I didn’t name this town, Mr. Bababisimema did.” Zach asked, “Who’s Mr. Bababisimema?” Jackie answered, “He’s the founder and mayor of this here town.” Zach asked, “Can we meet him?” Jackie immediately responded, “Oh, no you can’t, I mean, yes y-you can. Um, just go to the cemetery. His grave is the giant grave stone in the very middle.” Zach stated, “Uh oh okay... that shall be done another time...” Jackie led them to the five star hotel. The hotel’s name is Hotel Halloween. Zach signed into the hotel and his room. The people and workers were sketchy. Once the boys got in their room, hours later at around 10:52 p.m., the boys heard knocks and random sounds coming from the walls. The boys didn’t think anything of it so they went to bed for the night. They woke up at 12:02 p.m. and realized their magic appointment with Jackie Wikkenston was in 30 minutes. The boys rushed to get ready. In about 20 minutes, they were all ready to go and hastily exited the hotel. They headed to the town square that was bustling with people. They spotted Jackie Wikkenston sitting on a bench sipping a Sprite. Jackie Wikkenston proceeded to show them tricks of magic. To their surprise, none of the townspeople noticed the magic going on around them. About an hour later, the boys arrived back at the hotel. They heard the same banging noise as the night before. Their hearts raced. Bill shouted, “I’ve had enough of it.” He raced to the closet and found a sledge hammer. He pounded on the wall. Finally, he broke through and stood there astonished. He stood backed and revealed Jackie Wikkenston standing in a magic lab. Jackie exclaimed, “You have caught us you little fools.” He looked angry. His assistant stated, “Oh, pity sir.” Jackie asked Jimmy, “What do you want Jimmy?” Jimmy responded, “Well, uh, the cat pressed the button to ... uh..” He stopped. Jimmy eyes opened wide as he spotted all the monsters in the lab. Jackie chased the cat as he yelled, “You little...” Suddenly, the cat’s eyes went all white then glowed an eerie shade of red. The cat looked into Jackie’s eyes and quickly ran away. Jackie turned towards the boys with the same glowing red eyes. Jackie turned towards Jimmy. He grabbed his arm and bit him. Jimmy then went mad biting all the other monsters. Zach and his friends raced away before they were bitten and became infected. Zach noticed an emergency zombie disinfectant gun hanging on the wall. He did a ninja roll under Jimmy’s legs. He stood up directly in front of a monster who resembled Frankenstein. The monster punched Zach then roared like a gorilla. Zach flew across the room. Zach entered Thor-mode. His eyes turned blue and blue fire outlined his body.He punched the monster with all his strength. His uppercut landed squarely on the monster’s jaw. The monster flew up ten floors, and hit the ground with a thud. He passed out cold on impact. Zach ran to the gun. He pointed the gun at all the monsters instantly curing them. The monsters returned to their tubes as normal as monsters can be. To the boys surprise, the cat shape-shifted into Bob! Bob screeched, “Zachy, you messed up my plan! I will get even!” Zach was mad. His eyes turned fire red as he punched Bob through the wall. Zach passed out from exhaustion. When he woke, Zach was safely in his bed. He looked around. The wall was fixed. Was this all a dream?

Page 13 The Phantom of the Night Kaden Shrestha

On the night of Halloween I woke up and I heard scratching on the door. I quietly went to the window and looked out, but there was no one there. I was starting to get scared so I went back to my room and turned on the light. I thought to myself that I was just hearing things so I climbed into bed and turned off the light. But I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept thinking someone was in the house because I kept hearing noises. The first noise came from the kitchen. I thought someone knocked a pan down. Then I heard someone whining and scratching. The last noise was someone walking down the hallway towards my room. The floorboard started squeaking. Then someone pushed my door and with a squeak the door opened. I was terrified and wanted to go to my parents room and tell them. Then the person started growling and barking. I looked down very carefully and saw my little puppy with a chew toy on the floor. Now I know who it had been. My puppy probably wanted to go outside so that’s why he was scratching the door. Then he was walking around the kitchen and accidentally knocked the pan down. He must have been hungry because he was in the kitchen and when he didn’t get any food he whined. Then he came to my room to play with me because he was bored. After I got over my shock I went to the kitchen and fed him, then I let him outside and we played ball. After an hour I got tired and came inside. I started to walk to my room, but turned around and picked up my puppy and carried him to my room. I got into bed with him and fell asleep. An hour later I didn’t wake up but then I heard it- someone or something was tapping the door again.

The Blue Crayon Trinity Felthager

A family in Michigan wanted to buy a new, bigger house for their soon to be born baby. They already had a 5-year-old daughter named Autumn. They were thinking of a big enough house to where Autumn had her own bedroom from the baby, since she was young and needed a good nights rest for school. Soon the family had found the perfect house, near a well known school in Michigan were Autumn could attend. But little did they know that things would not go down the way the family wanted it to. Once the family moved in, things were going great! Autumn‘s mom had the baby they named her Laylia. Autumn loved her new sister; she would play with Laylia and eat with her, and sometimes she’d just hang out with her baby sister. One day while Autumn’s mom put her to bed she noticed a blue crayon on the floor. Autumn said it wasn’t hers so her mom threw it away. That night when the girl’s parents were watching a movie when their dad noticed a blue crayon on the floor. He asked his wife if it was Autumn’s and all she said was, “I just threw that same crayon away when I found it in Autumn’s bedroom.” The dad looks at his wife in amazement or like she was crazy. He got up and threw the crayon once again. As he started heading back to the couch and looked down the hall he saw what he thought was a ghost child walking with a blue crayon in hand into Laylia’s room. He shrieked in terror, waking Autumn and startling his wife. He ran to Laylia’s room to find no sign of the ghost child he saw down the hall. The family lived there for three more months with the child ghost and blue crayon. Autumn said she started hearing things in the wall.

Page 14 The Mirrored Gavin Rosenbloom

Emily was doing her normal routine, she showered, brushed her teeth, etc. Emily went to the mirror to do her hair when she saw something; a tall, pale, slender figure. The creature appeared to have a black, thick liquid coming out of its eyes. Emily turned around frightened, but nothing was there. For the next week, she was scared. She was judged because no one she told believed her. Exactly one week later, she disappeared. For the next two years, people continued to see that figure in reflections and disappeared one week later. People in the community figured out that if a person saw the reflection they disappeared. All reflective surfaces were covered and destroyed. No homes had mirrors, windows were boarded, and metal was spray painted over. Everyone thought they were safe with these precautions until the protests started. A bunch of Karens would march the streets with hand-held mirrors and force people to look at them because they believed the whole thing was a hoax. Eventually, all the protesters died out due to their disbelief of the catastrophe. John and Jaiden were friends of Emily before she disappeared. They looked everywhere but there was no trace of her, no footprints, no witnesses, not even a corpse. “I’m sorry, but she’s gone,” said John. “We just can’t give up on her!” Jaiden screamed out of anger. Of course they had plenty of time to look as their middle school was under lockdown due to the disappearances. Emily wasn’t the type of person to run away from home which made the whole thing a lot more confusing. One morning John woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He answered it to hear a voice whispering, “pu evig ,enog s’ehs.” then the voice hung up. John, now scared for his life, called Jaiden. They talked for a bit about what happened and what that call meant. The very next day Jaiden got a call saying, “sselpoh s’ti.” Jaiden called John and they talked about the call and what it meant. One day the unspeakable happened, Jaiden saw the figure. She was hesitant to tell John as she didn’t want to worry him. Eventually Jaiden called John to tell him. “You know that monster that’s making people disappear?” “Yeah why?” “I..I....I saw it!” “You what!?” Jaiden slowly became weirder, like her mind was mirrored. “!llaf llahs nem ,esir llahs imikuB,” she started screaming. John, Jaiden’s family, basically everyone she knew was worried sick. Jaiden’s parents watched her 24/7 with cameras and locked her in a room and put a straight jacket on Jaiden. Jaiden was scared at first because she lnew that her death would happen soon and it was inevitable. Once the week was over, Jaiden disappeared, her mom was watching it on cameras when it happened. Jaiden’s mom said, “It looked like her atoms no longer wanted to stay together and they all separated.” Before Jaiden died she screamed, “SIHT EES NAC ENO ON !TUO EM TEL” and she tried to escape. Suddenly Jaiden’s mom got a call and heard a voice saying, “deracs m’I ?I ma erehw ?no gniog stahw ,moM.” Jaiden’s mom was startled and worried because she recognized Jaiden’s voice, she was also relieved knowing that Jaiden, somehow, somewhere, was still alive. Eventually scientists figured out why people behave the way they do when seeing the monster, “Their minds basically flip,” they said in an interview. By now it was only a matter of time before they killed the monster and stop this genocide. When they reversed audio of these insane people speaking they found out that they were speaking backwards. One time they heard, “Bukimi shall rise, men shall fall.” which is what people were saying the most when they saw the monster. The scientists figured out that Bukimi was the name of the monster. Later one scientist got a call and when he answered it he heard, “smitciv txen ym era maet ruoy dna uoy dna ,imikuB ,em sti seY .tuo em dnuof uoy ,snoitalutargnoC” eventually one scientist died, then another, then another. Eventually only one remained. Everyone thought that all hope was lost when suddenly, he fixed everything. He found out that if Bukimi flips their minds, all he needs to do is flip them back. Using a supercomputer he found out how to completely reverse all changes made by Bukimi. The first test was going when the test subject started screaming about this “other world.” The scientist turned off the machine to see the test subject’s eyes were bleeding and turned red and orange. He knew he needed to fix this. While trying to fix it, he made a discovery that would change humanity forever, HE FOUND ANOTHER DIMENSION. He found out how to view this world and saw thousands of people and Bukimi. This is where people go when they get killed by Bukimi. He knew he couldn’t release this discovery because the public wouldn’t take him seriously. He later found out how to talk to the people in this other world. They would talk to him and give him necessary information about the world. It took a year but he finished a portal to this other world. He managed to bring back people that died.After a month, everyone was back on earth, but Bukimi didn’t like that at all. Bukimi tried to enter earth, but was stopped by the US military and Bukimi was killed. After another year everything was back to normal. Jaiden was reunited with John and her family, same with Emily. The scientist saw all his team. The scientist, now a billionaire, heard strange noises coming from his radio when he heard a voice saying, “.dog ma I tub ,em llik dluoc uoy thguoht uoy.” The End. Or is it?

Page 15 The Black Cat Harleigh Ryan

There was a small black cat who always roamed around a house on 15th Lane. An old man lived there. He lived there throughout his life until he died in the house. He died a month before Halloween night the body was found when a couple took their daughter trick or treating. When they knocked on the door it opened slowly since the house was very old. They thought it was haunted and wanted to explore so they went in. They walked for a little bit until they saw the black cat on the staircase. The little girl decided to pet the cat and asked her parents if she could keep it. The mom said no because it was probably the owner’s cat. They kept looking around for anything and then they decided to go upstairs all the way and came to a room that had a body in a bed. They thought it was a prank and maybe a motion sensor so they went and moved around it then the mom said, “It looks so real.” The family started shaking him telling the man to wake up because by now they knew it was a real body the dad called 911 and told them the address. When the firefighters, the cops and the ambulance got there, they told them to wait outside for further discussion. The cops went to talk to them about everything they saw and did. The ambulance people came out of the house with a stretcher and a sheet over the body. The police talked to the parents about how he died. He died because of a heart attack. While they were talking the girl saw the black cat and ran to it she picked it up and ran back to her parents asking them over and over again.The dad said we saw this cat in the house while we were in there and our daughter wants to keep it, if it doesn’t have anywhere to stay. The lady called over the policeman and asked if that was alright. The policeman said, “you can if we see that there are no other family members to call.” The policeman ran back to his computer and put in the man’s name and the information came up but he only had two other siblings in other far states. He ran back to the family and told them, “that the man had no close relatives so you can keep the cat; however, you must get it checked with a vet to see if it had rabies and to see if it is healthy.” The family did what the policeman said to do and came home around midnight. When they got home, the little girl carried the cat up to her bedroom and said goodnight so she could go to bed. The parents had a little snack then went to bed. When they were soundly asleep, they suddenly heard a thump. It woke the dad up and then he woke up the mom. They were so tired their eyes were barely open they heard another thump. The dad said he thought it was coming from the kitchen. When they walked in the kitchen, they saw the cat on the counter. He broke one glass bowl then he got the little girls bowl. The mom said he was probably thirsty so she got the bowl and put water in it then he started chugging it down. When they got back into their room, they saw the time it was actually morning. They went up to the little girls room to wake her up for breakfast. Since she was still in her costume, she had to change then eat her breakfast. When she got downstairs, she saw the cat and said, “Good morning Charles.” The parents both looked at each other and the mom said, “So you named him Charles? What else do you think he needs?” The little girl said, “He needs food and he needs some toys.” The mom said, “He also needs a litter box and a scooper.” The little girl said, “Let’s go shopping then.” After they got shoes on and finished breakfast, they locked up the house and turned on their house cameras.While they were at the store the mom and dad’s phone went off because their cameras detected something moving around in the house so they rushed through the store, checked out, got in their car, and drove home. When they got through the door, they saw in the kitchen an old man looking exactly like the one who died the other night at the strange house. He was looking for something to eat when the man saw the family he was so shocked that he suddenly turned back into a cat. The parents were so stunned they stood there in shock saying, “Did you see what I saw?” and then the girl said, “Kitty,” and ran towards the cat.

Page 16 The Friendly Ghost Jasmin Arellano

Today is my first day attending a middle school. I think this will be the best day of my life. I’ll get to meet new people and make new friends. The school that I will be attending is Vineland Middle School. By the way I have just moved here so I’m very nervous. I just hope my past doesn’t get in the way. As I’m walking into my new school I tend to feel a cold breeze. I thought maybe it was just cold inside, so I started making my way into my new class. I get greeted by my access hour teacher. I sat by myself because I didn’t know anyone. I was so shy to even talk to the teacher. I just sat there looking at the clock waiting for my next class. “’Ding”’ the first hour bell rang. “Yes!” I was so happy because I just want this day to go by fast. I rush to my next class. I started to feel the cold breeze once I walked into Mr. Potter’s class. I thought it was kind of weird because when I walked into the school he was there and I felt that breeze. I’m starting to have some suspicions about Mr. Potter, but, I ignored it again. I was just focused on leaving my second hour class. Time goes by and it’s almost time to leave. Only 70 minutes till class ends and Mr. Potter wants everyone to tell the class about an interesting past they’ve had. Everyone starts talking about their pasts and I hope that they would take a long time to tell their stories so I won’t have to tell mine. Then, Mr. Potter called me up to the front of the classroom and asked me to tell my story. Last year I lived in a small town called Hollow. Everyone there had their own interesting stories to tell. But in that town there were suspicions that goblins, witches, vampires, monsters, and ghosts lived there too. But they say that they only come out at night, I decided to stay up all night and find out if the suspicions were true or not. I get snacks and drinks for the long night I will have. Time goes by and nothing has happened. I’m on a roof looking down at the town and suddenly I start to hear a “’BANG”’ coming from the corner. I was too scared to look but I put my big girl pants on and went to go look. As I was looking a ghost popped out. It scared me so bad I just zoomed out of there. I went home and told my mom I wanted to leave. I never went back again. As I was finishing the story Mr. Potter and I kept making, he reminded me of the ghost I saw back in Hollow. As the class was ending Mr. Potter pulled me aside and told me that he was the ghost that scared me and he was sorry for doing that. He said he created those cold breezes to get my attention and it worked. Turned to find out that he was a friendly ghost. Now I know at least one person at that school. Today was actually an interesting day for me. I can’t wait to go back!

Page 17 The Game Vivica Johnson

It was Halloween night, Kai and her little sister Chloe were waiting patiently for it to get dark so they could go trick or treating. “ Is it time to go yet?” whined Chloe. “Yes, let me just finish putting on my costume,” said Kai. Kai was anxious to get going as well, because she wanted to get back home and enjoy the family’s yearly tradition of watching scary movies. Kai was almost thirteen years old now, so she was only going trick or treating for her sister this year. “Off we go!” said mom and dad. Chloe screamed excitedly, “Yay! Can we go to the neighborhood that gives us full size candy bars pleeeease?” Mom and dad agreed. The girls were having a great night and their bags were almost full. “It’s almost time to go home.” mom said. Both girls begged, “please mom just one more house.” Dad said “Okay come on girls I’ll go to this last house with you.” When they approached the house they all got a really eerie feeling. The wind started blowing, they started hearing howls coming from the backyard and the house itself was huge and creepy, but the light was on so they decided to ring the bell. “Ding Dong!” Some teenagers answered the door in really scary costumes. “Trick or treat!” The teenagers quickly threw something into Kai’s bag and slammed the door. At that point it was time to go home. On the way home the girls couldn’t stop talking about what scary movie they would watch when they got home. It seemed as though they had forgotten all about that weird house they went to. “Okay we’re home,” said mom. When Kai and Chloe got inside they got out of their costumes and put on pajamas. “I’ll meet you in the living room in five minutes so we can trade and share our candy,” said Chloe to Kai. The girls excitedly dumped all of their candy on the floor and rummaged through it. “What’s this?” asked Chloe. “It looks like a game,” said Kai. “Well where did it come from?” asked Chloe. The girls decided that instead of watching scary movies they were gonna try out this new video game. Not knowing how they got it or where it came from, made them even more excited to play it. It was definitely a game they had never seen or heard of. Thirty minutes had gone by and Kai was loving the game. It was fun, filled with animatronics, and loaded with jumpscares. “It’s my turn!” cried Chloe. “Ok Ok”, but I don’t know if you can handle all the jumpscares, exclaimed Kai. As soon as Kai handed the controller to Chloe a loud terrifying sound came out of the TV. It was so loud it sounded like a train going through the house. At that moment, the animatronics started coming out of the game. The tv crashed to the floor. “Aaaaaaahhhhh!” Both girls screamed for mom and dad. As mom and dad ran to see what was wrong, they met the animatronics eye to eye and screamed and both disappeared in an instant. It seemed as if they were now stuck inside the game. “Oh my gosh!!” screamed Kai “mom, dad” cried Chloe. The girls went running for a place to hide. They realized if they look right at the animatronics and get scared, the animatronics would take them and they would be stuck inside the game too. The girls were now hiding in a closet trying not to breathe, they didn’t want to make any noise. “Just don’t scream or look at them,” cried Kai. Thump! Thump! Thump! They could hear the animatronics huge bodies walking down the hallway. ‘’I’m scared.” weeped Chloe. “Me too,” said Kai, “But as long as we make it till morning maybe they will just go away.” The girls could hear them getting closer and closer. “SLAM!!” the closet door slams open, two of the scariest animatronics barged in. They smelled so bad like rust and swamp, their eyes were dangling out of their heads and their teeth were sharp as knives. “Aaaahhhh!” Both girls screamed louder than they have ever screamed. Then silence, complete and eerie silence. It seemed as if not a soul was left in the house. The animatronics were then sucked back into the game the whole family included. The next morning the news announced that a family, that had gone missing last Halloween, had been found now, walking around the neighborhood ,with no memory of what had happened last year. Now, on the present day, which is a year later on Halloween, a new family is moving into Kai and Chloes old house. No one has lived there since the incident. This family had a young son, he came running with excitement, “Mom, dad look what I found in the mailbox.” It was THE GAME. His mom said that’s awesome son.We will play it tonight after trick or treating..

Page 18 Margaret’s Elevator Breckin Weatherford

I have haunted the elevator in the Rosemount Museum for 96 years watching people get in and out as if I don’t exist. They speak of me as if I can’t hear them. But what most don’t realize is that I never really left. I travel up and down listening to what they believe happened in my home. I raised four children in this home, one who left me at the very young age of three. My lonely heart still aches at his loss. This brings me to the reason why this elevator was placed in my home. I developed a heart condition soon after my son Albert died. I told everyone that I felt inside my bones he was still here. Everyone thought I was crazy and was being greatly affected by my heart condition.This is when the elevator arrived. During the day I was assisted by the maids, but at night I would sneak out of my room and ride the elevator with Albert. I told my husband about me seeing Albert, and he wanted to put me in an insane asylum. I begged him not to and decided to keep our adventures secret. My whole family still thought I was crazy but I believed deep down I truly wasn’t. I saw him and I knew it. Sometimes I would go in the library and play checkers with him to pass the time. Then one night my daughter Lillian woke up and came down to see me talking in the parlor. Not thinking, I told her to say hello to her brother but all she said was, “Mother, do go to bed,” then she strolled off to the sitting room. I decided to retire myself to bed. Two lonely days later I died from my heart condition and I never saw Albert again. Now I ride the elevator day and night waiting for my dear son to return to me and ride once again but until then, if you ride the elevator on a foggy and cold night, you can hear my poor sick heart yearning to see Albert again.

Page 19 The Man in the White Van Sofia Bedoya-Corren

In the small town of White Sands, Arizona, where big yards full of playing kids basking in the unbearable heat could be seen everywhere, four bored teenagers lounged around with nothing to worry about. “So, Viola, what are you going to be for Halloween?” asked Sam, the known class clown. “I don’t know,” sighed Viola, who her friends liked to call “Little Miss Perfect.” “Something perfectly perfect, I bet.” Nikki rebelled, as she silently drew in the corner. “What about you, Kyle?” Viola kindly questioned. His reply was either lost in the wind or never answered at all, probably the latter. The group quickly disbanded a few minutes later for dinner. Halloween night had arrived! The day before, the kids decided to go trick-or- treating together. As for the costumes, Viola went as a fairy, Sam as a clown, Nikki as one of the cats from her drawings, and Kyle as a ghost. “One last house, and then we go to Bethany’s party,” demands Viola. “Must you be so bossy?” Sam complained. The four made their way through the crowded streets. Goblins, princesses, and monsters swarmed, all moving towards the last house on the block, Bethany’s. After all, her rich parents always handed out king-size bars of candy that filled little kids with joy. Suddenly, a chill in the warm autumn wind disrupted their thoughts. Everyone paused and stopped whatever they were doing . A white van cruised down the street. A hooded figure drove the car and slowly turned its head towards the kids. Unfortunately, no one could view his face because the night sky veiled it all. “Call the police,” Nikki whispered. The kids stood there petrified. A few moments later, Sam’s hand shakily dialed 9-1-1. The dispatcher answered and asked what their emergency was. Sam quickly informed them what had happened. “We’ll be there in five minutes,” the dispatcher finally announced. Sam echoed the same words to his friends. Still in shock, the group waited for the police. When the police arrived, they investigated and interrogated everyone on the block. No vans were found in the neighborhood. “Kids, err... why don’t you go home?” the police chief advised. “No, please! There is a man in a white van driving around! Please listen...Dad,” Viola cried. “Honey, why don’t you go to Bethany’s party? There have been some threats in the south side that I need to attend to,” Viola’s dad, the head policeman, declared. Viola kissed her dad’s rough cheek and wished him luck. The newly-appointed outcasts trudged towards a light, loud house. “Hi Bethany!” Viola shrieked, her voice using a whole other pitch level. “What’s up?” Bethany replied. Then, she glanced at the three other costumed teenagers and sighed. “Everyone’s downstairs playing Spin the Bottle. There’s drinks in the fridge and food on the purple table,” she mindlessly uttered and returned to her phone. They shuffled downstairs and were immediately entered into the circle. After a while, Bethany pulled Viola aside. “V, you know I love you, but, umm, well, the people you hang with are bringing your credit down. M’kay? It’s us or them,” Bethany demanded. “I need some fresh air,” Viola whimpered. She then quickly texted the three others. “Meet me upstairs. We’re out of here.” They all assembled at the top of the stairs and proceeded to walk out the huge oak front door. As soon as they stepped out, another chill in the pleasant night made goosebumps appear on their skin. “It’s back,” Nikki whispered. And there it was. The white van parked, and a cloaked, buff man stepped out and limped towards the house. “We need to get the van to stay. Someone will believe us then. Kyle and I will pop it’s tires. Does anyone have a pocket knife? Thanks Viola. Call your dad, and hopefully he’ll listen,” Sam commanded. The man opened the golden fence and moved towards the door. “Dad, please come! We need help! There’s a man breaking in Bethany’s house!” Viola screamed. The police arrived at the scene and wrapped the kids in blankets for the chill in the night had spread. “There’s no one in the house except for an angry Bethany and her friends,” the chief sadly announced. “But Dad, look at the van,” Bethany pointed at empty air. “There is no van, Viola. why don’t you all go home and lay off the horror movies?” They did not put up a fight and tiredly ambled home. No chatter came from the friends while they made their way through the buzzing, happy crowds. Suddenly, Viola looked up from the ground and yelled. Whether it was in fear or joy, it was unknown. “We have to jump in the back of the van. It’s the only way to prove ourselves,” Viola exclaimed. The white van paused behind a couple of little children. They all opened the trunk and climbed in. All the light from outside was shut out by a dark, draping curtain on the windows. The cold made the group shiver. “What are we sitting on?” Sam questioned. “Bones,” Kyle quietly replied. His voice somehow sounded calm and deep. “And I’m solving this mystery.” When he reached through the trunk’s window and grabbed the figure’s thick black hoodie, the face scared the children to their core. Where the kidnapper’s face should have been, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Page 20 The Guy in the Mask Alexa Darnell

Even though Emily had many friends and family, she lived by herself in a smaller apartment on the second floor of the big, old building. One night, around eleven thirty, she read in her bedroom with only her lamp on. The rest of the house was completely dark. As she read, the silence broke with some clinking noise from outside her window. It sounded like someone, or something, was on the fire escape. Emily just ignored the noises thinking it was just a cat or some type of animal like that. After a few minutes of reading her book, Emily decided that it was time to go to sleep. She turned off her lamp and was ready to sleep. Suddenly, she heard a little tap on her window. It was quiet but loud enough so she could hear it. She slowly turned around to see a shadow outside her very clean, clear window. Emily knew someone was out there. Again she ignored it thinking they had the wrong window and he or she would go away at some point. Eventually, the mysterious shadow disappeared from the window. As soon as she started to drift off into a sound sleep, a loud bang filled her ears. It came from her front door. She slowly got up, went to the front door, and looked through the peephole. Again the shadow was standing there. She could tell it was a big, bulky man. Emily became very nervous and started to sweat a little. She began to silently cry when another loud bang from the door rattled her soul. She grabbed a shoe, the closest thing to her that she could find, to defend herself the best she could. Emily had not even thought about calling 911 because she was so terrified. She did not know what to do about the scary situation. Because Emily was so scared, she ran quickly back to her bedroom. Then all of a sudden, she heard glass shatter inside the house and jumped with fright. She knew this man was now in her home. As he started entering her bedroom, Emily hid in her small closet. From what she saw through the crack, this man wore a black mask, like one from a Halloween store. He had a big bag with him too. That made her more terrified. Emily thought this was the end for her and said her prayers quickly, thinking they were her last. The man in the mask quickly opened the closet door, and Emily screamed and threw her shoe at him. After that, he whined in pain and took the mask off. Her friend Jim’s face appeared under the mask. Emily sighed in relief that she was not going to die that night. He had scared her to get back when she pranked him a few days before. The bag held everything he needed, and he used a house key she gave him to get inside. The glass was a cup he brought and dropped on purpose to make it seem more realistic. Clearly, Emily learned not to prank Jim anymore, unless she wanted to be scared again.

Page 21 The Monster Within Kathryn Hollar

Martha was walking down the street on a cold November day. She had just been discharged from a psychiatric hospital in her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. As she was walking, she was trying to figure out why her parents sent her there. “I think I should just run away, no one understands me,” she said to herself. “But where would I go?” She tried to fight her thoughts but in the end they won. She began to walk mindlessly until she could find something that called to her. After walking for hours it started to get dark and very cold. Martha was so exhausted that her legs started to hurt. She was next to a corn field and decided her best option was to sleep there so no one could see her. She walked deeper into the cornfield for what felt like hours (though it was only a few minutes) and fell to the ground once she found a suitable spot to sleep. Through the night she kept feeling someone play with her hair. She would open her eyes and no one would be there. “It’s just the wind,” she said to herself. Throughout the night, she would wake up to hearing and feeling things. When she woke up, she just thought it was nightmares from the medication they gave her at the hospital. She got up to start walking again, but when she stood up something violently pushed her forward. In a panic she yelled, “Who’s there?” No one answered her. She got up and ran in a random direction through the corn husks. She was surprised to find that from what she could tell, no one was chasing her. “Okay I’m gonna head towards the road,” she thought. She panicked once she realized that she couldn’t hear cars anymore. “The cornfield can’t be that big,” she said. Her only option was to head in a random direction until she found a road or town. While she was walking she couldn’t help but think about her mom. “I wonder how she feels,” Martha thought. She started to feel regret but neglected her thoughts. She walked patiently for hours just thinking about everything. As it started getting dark Martha began to panic. “I can’t do this anymore, I should go home,” she thought. But something in her head was holding her back. She was hopeless. After walking for another hour or so, Martha heard something. “Hey you!” a woman said in the distance. For some reason, Martha thought it was her mom. “Is that mom?” she thought. She started to run towards her but she heard a voice in her head telling her not to. Martha was extremely confused because she thought the voice in her head was another person in the distance, a man this time. She started to gain hope that her parents knew where she was. “How did they know where to find me?” she asked herself. “And why would dad tell me not to run towards them?” she said. But she didn’t care and bolted towards them. Martha ran as fast as she could.

Page 22 Time McKenna Dasher

What is time? How does it affect the human psyche? The definition of time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole. But does time exist? I have spent my whole life studying the human mind, but have yet to have a definite answer to my questions. So as my final attempt of understanding the truth I have locked myself away from the outside world. The only things in my bunker are enough food and water to last me in my final years. Enough paper and pencils to write at least 8 large books, a cot with a pillow and blanket, and a checkerboard to ward off insanity. I plan to document the final years of my life in detail. There are no clocks or windows to allow me to tell the time of the outside world all I have is my mind and the paper. August 12, 1928 - Today is the first day in the bunker I have spent most of the day playing checkers and examining things. The walls are white and the cans of food sit in the corner. It is enough for at least 10 years. I have already made it to the 48th year of my life and will be lucky to make it to 56 but I still made sure to have a surplus to avoid starvation. I have a water collector that gathers rain from the surface as well as a supply of water in case of drought. I have moved my cot to two different corners in an attempt to sleep comfortably. I do not know if night has fallen yet so I must let my body decide when it sleeps. August 15-16? 1928 - Time is slowly escaping me but I will assume that it is the 15th. It has been a while since I have last written or at least I think it has been. The noise of water dripping in from the water collector tells me that it is raining. I hated the rain because of the constant dreariness that it brought. But in these moments, I can almost feel myself longing for it. The rain brings memories of my childhood home. It was a small house with only two rooms but I remember it so vividly. I remember my mother cooking soup on the cold rainy days and the warmth that it brought. 1929? - I am slowly losing a sense of days whereas in the beginning, I had tried to hold on to dates and months but for now, I feel only the year is important. We, my mind, and I have decided that the time we have spent in the bunker is about a year now, maybe two. Time as a whole is slowly losing its relevance and it almost no longer has importance. Also, another note is that while working on the art on my walls in the bunker I felt an underlying feeling of eeriness that I haven’t been able to shake. 12345 - I think I am getting closer to the truth. I know I’m getting closer. We have started to place cans from our food along the walls of our bunker to act as a warning of intruders. I can tell that they are trying to get me. I can hear them knocking, all along the walls of my bunker, and hear their disturbing voices. We will not let them enter. I must protect my knowledge, my mind, and my work. They must be after it, after our research, but we won’t let them take it. 0000 - I have made new friends. I can only see them out of the corner of my eyes. I can tell they’re there. I know they’re like me always thinking wanting to know the truth. They talk to me, telling me secrets. They tell me how the birds fly and why the sun shines. But most importantly, they warn me of the outside how it is corrupt and evil. The people on the outside are a plague to this earth. My friends say the earth isn’t for men it is for us, only us. We are the only ones who can save this world from destruction, we are the gods of this earth. We must cleanse the world, fix it, help it. It is our duty. I must hide my work so they can never get to my knowledge. = I now know the truth. All my research is finally complete. The voices of the bunker have stopped, leaving me to complete the cleansing of this world. I left my bunker and have found what looks like a newspaper. I have come to discover that I am 119 years old and 1999. Strangely my body hasn’t aged a day. Breaking News - October 5, 1999 - We have just received disturbing news that there is a confirmed serial killer on the loose. We advice that you stay indoors unless necessary. This killer remains unknown and extremely dangerous. All victims we know of thus far have been seemingly random. All victims have wounds that indicate a very violent and unempathetic individual. Beware and be safe.

Page 23 Sabotage on Neptune 84 Landry Eckland

Maggie groggily stretched her arms up towards the ceiling and rubbed her eyes. Sunlight was filtering into her room from a small circular window. She smiled softly, knowing that today could change the course of human history. The Neptune 84 crew had landed on the planet TOI 700d a mere fifteen hours ago. The flight was twenty years in length and completely exhausting. Maggie was content to not be in the pilot’s seat early in the morning and completely exhilarated to explore this Earth like planet. She rolled out of bed and proceeded to get ready. Roaming down the hallway she ended up in the cafeteria where she saw her eight other crewmates eating.“Morning!” Aryan said excitedly. He was the youngest crewmate aboard, being 18 years old and birthed on the ship. “Morning crew!” Maggie waved, grabbing a packet of freeze dried strawberries that tasted like dust. “Where’s Vanya at Alexi?” “Feeling sick, she’ll join us later,” Alexi said. His eyes reminded Maggie of a dark and lifeless corpse. Vanya was his wife and was expected to birth his child in a few months. Maggie peered at him curiously, wondering what thoughts were clouding his mind today.” “Well then, she can stay on board and rest for today. We’ll have Zahara look at her in a little bit. I think we should suit up and get out of this bloody, gloomy ship. As captain I’ll test the oxygen first like we’ve planned. Now let’s get going crew!” The crew rushed out of the cafeteria and to their rooms eagerly. Maggie knew this day could be the day she died. The environment outside of the ship seemed habitable and the air seemed to contain high enough levels of oxygen, but the crew could not be completely sure until Maggie tried breathing it. The crew met back up at the hatch door, nerves and anxiety filling the small room. They were ready, and had been ready since their training twenty years ago. “Alexi, I need you collecting samples to study later, this will be vastly important to our research,” Maggie said peering at Alexi. He was seven feet tall with messy black hair, a scraggly beard, and a thin scar stretching all the way down his cheek. The captain wondered if that scar had always been there, then dismissed that thought. “I am so proud of how far this crew has come. We have worked hard and learned to love each other. Times may have been tough often, but our hard work has finally paid off.” Zahara, open the hatch, “We’re about to make history,” she smiled at her crewmates who had become her family. “Right away captain,” he said in a heavy Nigerian accent. Seconds away from inputting the code, an earsplitting siren emitted throughout the whole ship. A soft, glowing red light slowly flooded everyone’s vision.

2 “Blimey, the generator gave out! Someone come with me to fix it before the backup oxygen depletes!” Maggie yelled over the siren. Alexi stepped forward and clunkily ran as fast as he could in his suit with Maggie to the generator. She shut down the siren and began working on fastening a few bolts that had come loose. She noticed five wires that were also disconnected, a clear sabotage created by one of her crewmates. Why was one of the people she considered family trying to kill everyone aboard? Was it a simple mistake? Was she being paranoid? “I have a confession to make.” Alexi sighed quietly behind her. “Vanya does not bear my child. I confronted her last night and she confessed it was Zahara’s. I was so angry that I threw and broke things and screamed at her. She ran away crying, and !figured to see you and report my violent outburst. Yet, you never came to reprimand me for almost hurting my pregnant wife. We landed successfully and she was still nowhere to be found. So, I went to sleep. I tossed and turned until I heard someone shuffle into my room. I called out for Vanya and she crawled into bed. She smelled of noxious fumes. “Vanya? Where have you been?” I asked her. A rumbling gurgle emerged from her throat and black tar poured from her mouth. “My baby wants to kill you Alexi, just like you want to kill me. The spirits outside of the ship told me to release you.” she said in a voice I did not recognize. As I sat up to wipe the black ooze leaking from her mouth, she grabbed a knife, and cut her stomach open. I tried to stop her Maggie! I grabbed her arms and screamed and apologized and told her how much I loved her. She swung the knife at me and cut my cheek open. She collapsed in my arms, bleeding and bleeding. No pulse.” “Alexi.. .I don’t have time for these ridiculous stories! It’s disgusting and horrendous! Besides, why wouldn’t you alert me? I’m a trained medic, I could’ve saved her!” Maggie gasped, in shock at this story. “Well, that’s just the thing Maggie my love. As I stared at my once beloved wife losing life in her eyes, I began laughing. I was free from this lying cheater. I stared at her stomach, reached inside, and grabbed the lifeless fetus I thought for so long was mine. Oh, I laughed and laughed and laughed and threw it across the room. I liked seeing her cut open like that Maggie. Death is what this whole back stabbing crew should be. Let the oxygen deplete, it’s what the spirits outside the ship want. I wonder Maggie my dear what you would look like if I cut you open?” Alexi said, black tar trickling from his mouth like a stream. Page 24 Still Air Andrew Papesh

The air was still. I carefully walked through the moss covered woods, as to not give off my position to anyone, or anything nearby. The autumn leaves crunched silently under my mud covered boots. I inhaled deeply, tasting the crisp, cool forest air as I drew the string of my bow back towards my cheek to take aim, but at what? My mind is blank, why am I here? Where is here? The sound of a twig snapping behind me causes me to release my arrow, striking a tree about 20 feet away. I hastily turned around, but to my surprise, nothing was there. I search around through the endless dense trees, trying to find what made that noise, when suddenly, the clear blue sky above fills with thick grey clouds. The harmonious life of these woods, the singing birds, the rushing water of the river nearby, was drowned out by a deep, deafening silence. I started to breathe more quickly now, stumbling around, trying to remember the way out of these woods, but something was wrong. It felt as if my mind had no recollection of this place at all. It got darker and darker until the darkness began to swallow the land and trees whole. I was surrounded. The darkness got closer and slowly creeped up my legs like a hoard of bugs looking for lunch. I closed my eyes and kept them tightly shut as I whispered to myself, “This isn’t real.” All I could hear now is the beating of my heart, deep in my chest. I opened my eyes, and I was back at home, in my bed. “ It was a dream,” I said to myself, “ Just a dream.” I stood up, disoriented, I tripped over my own feet but caught myself on my dresser before I could fall to the ground. I shook off that wretched feeling and began to slowly walk over to the door. Walking into the kitchen, the sunlight caught my eye and drew my attention towards the window. It filled my heart with warmth and comfort to see the heavenly morning sun once more. That was just what I needed to forget that dreadful dream. As soon as I finished filling my mug with coffee, a thud at the front door echoed through the house. “Must be the morning paper,” I think to myself. Sipping my warm drink, I approached the door, but with each step taken, left the room increasingly darker as if a storm arrived from out of nowhere. The hinges of my front door screeched and pierced my ears with its horrid squeal as it crept open right before my eyes and what I saw caused my heart to drop deep down into my belly. It was the forest. The exact same forest from my dream. The cup slipped from my hand and shattered against the floor. I made the worst decision of my life and I took one step outside to try to find some reason into the madness that was going on. I turned around as fast as I could to return to the house, but it was gone. The whole house vanished. “How could this be possible? How am I once again lost in these miserable woods!? I think I’m losing my mind,” I whispered to myself. It was so quiet out there, I began to walk forward looking for any signs of human life but I couldn’t find any life at all, no squirrels, no birds or bunnies or deer. Just crippling silence. It was the type of silence that could make you feel as if you were being watched. Looking at the trees only built more fear inside me. I could see them bend and wave to me, but I felt no wind. The air was still. I couldn’t help but start running to try to escape the fear that was seeping into my chest but it was impossible. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make it out of this. I collapsed to the ground, gasping for air from the exhaustion of running as fast as I could. The grey skies slowly deepened into a devilishly dark color. All I was able to do was lie there on the dead leaves and ice cold grass, breathing slowly. Everything was being devoured by the darkness and there was nothing I could do to stop it. This is the end. Closing my eyes, I felt the cold nothingness wash over me with its deathly silence. The sound of my heartbeat faded as I exhaled my last breath. A bright white light absorbs my entire being. I sprung to life sitting up on my bed with the morning sun shining in my eyes. I said to myself, “ It was a dream?” I stood up and walked toward my bedroom window to open it. When I did, I stuck my head out of the window to take a deep breath, but I noticed something terribly wrong, there was no wind. The air was still.

Page 25 The Shopper Kimbra Blackmore

Gerald stared at his phone. It was Saturday morning, and he was anxiously awaiting a notification. Not just any notification, but the one notification he looked forward to every week: “Samantha B. has placed an order!” Gerald quickly clicked “accept” and grabbed his car keys. A few minutes later, Samantha received a notification: “Gerald just started shopping! We’ll notify you if there are any changes. Your perishables will be temperature controlled until delivery.”Samantha had been ordering grocery delivery every Saturday since the pandemic hit in the spring. It was late October now, and she still didn’t feel comfortable going to the grocery store herself - especially in the midst of the latest wave of COVID-19. She ordered the same things every week: cat food, milk, cereal, apples, Diet Dr. Pepper, and a variety of low-calorie frozen meals. Gerald knew from her shopping list that Samantha lived alone. She had at least one cat, but definitely no dogs. And she was single. Gerald possessed great insight into most of the customers he shopped for. A person’s grocery list tells you everything you need to know. Even if he only filled one order, he knew if they were single or married. He knew if they had children. He knew if they had any pets. He knew if they had a drinking problem. He knew if they were financially secure or if they were getting by on government assistance. He knew things about his customers that they probably didn’t even know themselves. Gerald himself lived alone. He lost his job as a line cook when businesses closed in March, so he had to find something else to do for money. Delivering groceries helped him pay the bills and it kept his mind occupied. The pandemic forced his only friend to move back home to another state, so Gerald was lonely and bored. At 33 years old, he had never had a girlfriend - even though his grandma always told him how handsome he was. He didn’t think she would say that if she could see him now: he didn’t pay attention to his hygiene anymore. He didn’t see the point. His sandy brown hair was greasy and in desperate need of a cut. As Gerald filled Samantha’s grocery order, he noticed several new things on her list this week: a bottle of red wine, rigatoni, pasta sauce, French bread, strawberry cheesecake, and a single candle. He felt a sharp stab of jealousy deep in his gut. Has she started seeing someone? Gerald tried to push the thoughts away as he threw a box of rigatoni into the basket. He moved down the aisle. She’s clearly planning a romantic dinner with someone. Gerald stared blankly at the rows of pasta sauce on the shelf in front of him.“Excuse me!” A voice penetrated Gerald’s thoughts and snapped him back to reality. An elderly woman was trying to get past him. Gerald moved his cart out of the way, apologized, and grabbed a jar of pasta sauce. Something isn’t right. Gerald headed to the frozen food section. He always picked up the frozen items last to make sure they stayed as cold as possible. Standing in front of the frozen desserts, his mind returned to Samantha. Even though they had never spoken, Gerald had an image of her firmly planted in his mind. Samantha always requested “no-contact delivery,” which meant Gerald could never really see her face-to-face. Gerald could never speak to her or hear her voice. But he waited in his car until she stepped from her doorway to collect her groceries. It was his most favorite part. It was the moment he anticipated every week. After carefully placing the bags on her doorstep, Gerald would knock three times and quickly retreat to his car. From there, he would watch for Samantha’s lithe frame to appear in the doorway. She was tall with shoulder-length black hair. (He couldn’t see her eyes from that distance, but he imagined them to be emerald green.) After stepping outside, Samantha would make eye-contact with Gerald; then she would smile and wave to him. She has the warmest, most genuine smile As Gerald pulled a strawberry cheesecake from the freezer, he imagined what it would be like to have dinner with her. She probably likes to read, so we can talk about books. Gerald was certain she would like him if she got to know him. Pushing the cart to the check-out line, Gerald decided he would make sure she got to know him - today. Samantha’s phone chimed with another notification: “Gerald has finished shopping! Your order is on the way! Delivery estimate - 10:15 am.” Samantha knew she had a few minutes before her groceries arrived. She ran a brush through her hair and checked her teeth in the mirror. Today was her birthday. Even though she was spending it alone, she wanted to treat herself. She planned to eat dinner by candlelight and celebrate with a piece of strawberry cheesecake and a few glasses of wine. She might finish the latest novel she was reading or she might watch a scary movie. No matter what, she decided, her birthday wasn’t going to be just another ordinary day. Knock-knock-knock! When Samantha opened the door, she was surprised to see Gerald standing there, holding her groceries. “I asked for no-conta-” is all Samantha managed to get out as Gerald pushed his way inside her home.

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