Scary Story for Young Readers

Amanda’s Text Day
by Alex DeMasters

Amanda’s eyes flicker open, the sound of her alarm
buzzes loudly in her ears. A knot forms in her stomach,
taking these big tests is scary for her. She's a third grader,
and this is her very first “state test”. Her teacher, Mrs.
Cockrell has been drilling test preparation for this good-
for-nothing test in her mind.

“Wake up on time”
“Have a good breakfast, no sugar”
“Bring extra No. 2 pencils” “Don’t stay up too late”
“Test starts strictly at 8 AM.”
Saying all these things made Amanda not be able to
sleep. Staying up with the nerves flowing through her
entire brain. Asking herself countless “What if”
questions.
“What if I wake up late” was a scary thought running
through her mind. If she woke up late, then she would
miss the beginning of the test, and if she was more than 5
minutes late, she would not be allowed inside the
classroom. If she wasn’t allowed inside the classroom

51

then she would have to wait until tomorrow to take the
test. If she had to wait to tomorrow to take the test then
she would miss the relax after the test day.

Next thing she knows her Dad comes storming into
her room,

“Amanda? Are you awake?” He asks in a loud stern
voice, not angry, but just to make sure she wakes up for
the test.

“Yes!” Amanda yells back. She can feel her eyes
wanting to shut, but the nerves clench in her stomach and
she jolts up to start getting ready. She prepared her outfit
last night, some comfy clothes so she does not get
uncomfortable sitting in a chair all day.

Her classmate David asked her teacher if she could
wear pajamas, but she said no. They get to wear them the
next day though. So she is excited for that.

“Amanda, you almost ready?” Her Dad yells from
downstairs. She can smell the bacon being cooked. Her
Dad never cooks breakfast, but since Mrs. Cockrell told
them all to have a balanced breakfast, Amanda asked for
eggs and bacon all week.

They get into the car and the nervous feeling in
Amanda’s stomach gets even stronger. She does not want

52

to take this test. She tightens her grip onto the Harry
Potter book she brought to read after she is done, as they
headed to school.

She walks into the school and everything feels a little
off, but she carries on to her classroom. She finds the 3rd
grader hallway and walks into her classroom, but does not
recognize the classmates, or teacher.

“Where’s Mrs. Cockrell’s class” Amanda asks openly
to the room. The teacher responds,

“Oh… did she not tell you? On testing days, the third
graders move to the kindergarten classrooms.” Amanda
was very confused, but she went right along down to the
kindergarten hallway to look for her class. She went to
her old kindergarten classroom, in hopes she would find
her teacher there, and she did, but the classroom seemed
to be flipped around completely, how strange.

“Oh Amanda, you made it!” Mrs. Cockrell said
relaxed, “Now that you are here, we can relax, we still
have an hour before the test.” That confused Amanda, “I
thought the test strictly started at eight?”

“What made you think that? Today is laid back, we
will start the test soon but you could have been late.”
Now Amanda was even more confused, she was told

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exactly how to day was going to go, and so far,
everything has seemed to be the complete opposite.
Amanda spotted David from across the room and ran over
to him.
“David! What is going on? Wait? Why are you wearing
pajamas? Mrs. Cockrell told you no” She said frantically.

“Uhm… no… She said yes. Look around Manda,
everyone is in pajamas.” Amanda looked around the
room and saw all of her class mates wearing pajamas. To
a pink fluff of a onesie, to the superhero covered pants on
her classmates. She thought she had specifically
remembered her teacher telling David no…

“Are you ready for the test? I have many dance
ready.”

“DANCE?” Amanda asked David, “What dance?
What are you talking about? This is a written Math and
English test?!”

“Amanda? Where have you been? This test is a
physical and written test of out musical skills”

Her mind was boggling. How could this be? She had
been preparing for the same stuff alongside of her class
the past few weeks. Why has everything changed?

“What dance where we supposed to learn” She asks,

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needing something to use for this test, because she had
nothing.

“It’s just the chicken dance Amanda, with your own
twist” At this point she was about to scream, she was
convinced that the whole class was playing a practical
joke on her. She followed her friend step by step in
learning the chicken dance, she just wanted to get through
this day, she thought she was prepared, but now realizes
she has to be ready for whatever obstacles are thrown at
her.

“Alright class, let’s all eat the donuts I brought for
you all!” This came as no surprise to Amanda, because
she distinctly remembers her teacher saying no sugar.

After eating the donuts, it was time to begin the test.
“Alright class get out your pens, let us begin” Another
contradiction because we were supposed to use NO. 2
pencils according to her memory.

“I hope you all stayed up all night, that is the best
way to write good music!” Amanda has now gone crazy.
This was not how today was supposed to go.

“No! No! All of this is wrong. We were supposed to
get a good night’s rest, have a hearty breakfast, bring No.
2 pencils, and be on time at 8! You lied to me!” Amanda

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yells out into the class. She looked around at her
classmates practicing the chicken dance in their pajamas
and nearly fainted. This is wrong.

“We have no idea what you are talking about Amand-
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.”
Amanda jerks awake. “What just happened…

Amanda mutters to herself. “Come on Manda! Eat
your breakfast before you are late for your test!” Her Dad
yells.

“I hadn’t actually taken it yet?” She asks to herself.
She rushed downstairs and practically swallows the eggs
and bacon. Then she runs out to the car and goes to
school.

Amanda walks up to her 3rd grade classroom and sees
her teacher and classmates in normal clothes, getting
ready to take the test.

“Amanda your seat will be right here” Mrs. Cockrell
says, and point to a seat.

“No chicken dances?” Amanda asks hopefully.
“What? Just get out your NO. 2 pencils and sit down
Amanda...”

Amanda was at peace.

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57


The Box
by Casey Webb

There was a Box.

Richard knew from the moment he saw it that it was no
ordinary Box. He knew this for three reasons:

The first, it had a simple lock on it. It was a simple and
small one, but it was a lock nonetheless. And if a box was
locked, it was practically begging to be opened.

The second, the Box belonged to his science teacher, and
Mr. Debarros had always struck Richard as weird. (not to
mention bitter and strict)

And lastly, lights flickered wherever the Box was.
Richard remembered seeing street lamps flicker out when
Mr. Debarros walked by with the Box from his car to the
school building. There was definitely something fishy
about that.

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Of course, being a ten-year-old boy, Richard was
desperate to know what was inside of the Box. So was his
best friend Alex. They liked to make outrageous guesses
at what could be inside. Richard’s favorite guesses were a
poisonous chocolate cake, a venomous snake, or a picture
of Mr. Debarros’ zombie sweetheart. But because Mr.
Debarros always kept the Box in the closet by his desk,
the boys had never gotten the chance to open the Box and
see what was inside. That is, until the explosion.

It was a week before the annual science fair, and Richard
and Alex were working together as partners. Their project
was a volcano experiment that was supposed to gently
bubble when the switch was pressed. To make it more
interesting, Alex made the goop inside glow-in-the-dark,
and Richard added a bit more baking powder than the
recipe called for. Okay, a lot more.

“Dude, this is going to be awesome,” whispered Alex as
he painted the finishing touches on the volcano. Alex had
always been the artistic one. “Dude, I know,” replied
Richard with glee. “It’s too bad we couldn’t use actual
lava though.”

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“That would have been epic,” agreed Alex.

“Indeed,” came a dry voice from behind them, and the
two boys spun around. Mr. Debarros stood before them
with his arms crossed, the usual scowl upon his face.
“That is,” he continued, “It would have been ‘epic’ until
you melted your desk into a puddle and set fire to the
building.”

“Awesome!” yelled Richard, pumping his fist into the air.

“No,” said Mr. Debarros sharply, “Not awesome. It
would be dangerous. I’m not sure your project is safe as it
is.” He said the last part while eyeing the copious
amounts of baking soda they had poured into the volcano.

“Why don’t you two give me a trial run of your
experiment? That way I can put in an early grade and
ensure you won’t make a mess of yourselves at the
science fair.”

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Mr. Debarros smiled smugly as the two boys gulped and
looked at each other. In the process of making the
volcano, they had entirely forgotten they would be
getting a grade for it.

“Any day now,” said Mr. Debarros impatiently, his foot
tapping. Richard looked at Alex, who shrugged and
flipped the switch. Richard couldn’t help but take a few
steps back as the volcano started to rumble, and he noted
that Alex did the same.

The rumbling become so loud that the entire class turned
to look. The sound grew louder and louder, and just as
Mr. Debarros was starting to look worried-

SPLAT!

Green goo exploded from the volcano and splattered
across the whole room, including on Mr. Debarros
glasses.

For a moment, the whole class just froze. Then everyone
burst out in exclamation at once. Some kids whooped,

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others yelled angrily as they beheld their ruined science
projects. Richard caught Alex’s eye, who mouthed wow.

“Settle down, settle down!” Mr. Debarros called out
angrily. He tried to (unsuccessfully) wipe his glasses,
which only smeared the green goo on them more. This
seemed to put him in an even worse mood.

“Sorry, sir,” Alex said sheepishly. “We must have-”

Mr. Debarros cut him off. “Detention,” he growled. Alex
wilted as the teacher towered over him. Richard
remembered that Alex had never gotten a detention
before. He had always been the good student of the two,
balancing out Richard’s crazy antics. But Mr. Debarros
wasn’t done yet. “You two will both be responsible for
cleaning up this mess, and you can expect a failing grade
for the assignment.”

“But Mr. Debarros,” Richard started to protest, “It was
just an accident! Couldn’t we-” A single look from the
glowering teacher was enough to silence his complaint.
Sorry Alex, he thought miserably. If only he hadn’t added

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so much baking powder, then none of this would have
happened.

Mr. Debarros turned to the class. “Everyone, stay here
while I fetch the janitor. If you are upset that your science
projects are now ruined, you can blame these two young
men over here.” Alex and Richard looked down guiltily
as some of the class grumbled.

With a last glare at Richard and Alex, Mr. Debarros left
the room.

“It was still cool,” whispered Richard out of the corner of
his mouth to Alex. Alex just shrugged. Richard guessed
he wasn’t looking forward to telling his parents about
this.

Eager to cheer his friend up, Richard looked around the
room. He then spotted the closet where the Box was
being kept. “Hey,” he said suddenly. “Why don’t we look
in the Box while Mr. Debarros is gone?”

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Alex seemed hesitant. “But if he saw us, wouldn’t we get
in even more trouble?”

“Nah, it’ll take him a few minutes before he’ll return,”
Richard said, a mischievous grin dancing across his face.
“C’mon! We’ve been dyin’ all year to see what’s inside!”

“Okay, okay,” Alex relented, the old eager expression
entering his eyes. “But let’s make it quick.”

With the room Debarros-free, the boys eagerly
approached the walk-in closet where the Box was held.
Some of the class watched with interest as they opened
the door. But as Richard stared into the dark closet, and
the dark Box that lay upon the floor a foot away, he
suddenly felt a chill run up his spine.

“Did you hear that?” whispered Alex suddenly, and
Richard jumped.

“Hear what?” he asked nervously.

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“The-” Alex’s voices faltered, and then he let out a
strained laugh. “Nothing. Must have been my
imagination.”

“I dare you to open the Box,” Richard challenged. Alex
looked like he wanted to argue, then shrugged and
stepped forward, into the closet. After all, Alex never
backed down from a dare.

Richard kept feeling the sense of wrongness grow as
Alex walked towards the Box, and he stepped back into
the light of the classroom, holding the door open with his
foot so he could stay as far from the Box as he could.

Alex took a shaky breath as he knelt before the Box, and
time seemed to slow as he opened the lock. “Well?”
Asked Richard, hating that his voice squeaked. He only
held the door open by a foot, and couldn’t quite see in.
“Alright, I’m opening it. Open the door a little more, will
ya? I can hardly see anything. Here goes...” came Alex’s
muffled reply.

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“What’s inside?” Richard asked. There was a shuffling
sound as Alex leaned over, and….

Four things happened, and in the hours later when
Richard would ponder all that had occurred, he couldn’t
recall which had happened first. All he knew was the
lights shut off, his foot slipped, the door slammed closed,
and he heard a scream from inside the closet.

The next few moments were chaos. Richard shouted for
Alex to tell him what happened as he groped blindly for
the door handle. He finally found it, but it seemed to be
jammed. Richard grit his teeth in frustration and pulled
with all his might, but it wouldn’t budge. He heard
nothing from inside.

Suddenly, the lights flickered back on, and there stood
Mr. Debarros. He took in the scene with growing horror,
then strode over to Richard and shook his shoulders.
“What. Have. You. Done?” He asked with grotesque
rage. Richard could have sworn he saw a hint of fear in
the teacher’s eyes as he looked at the closet.

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“I- I don’t-” stammered Richard

Mr. Debarros took a deep breath, then turned to face the
wide-eyed students staring back at him. “Class
dismissed,” he growled. Richard hesitated, and Mr.
Debarros turned to him with thinly-masked fury. “Not
you.”

The class trickled out until it was only Richard and Mr.
Debarros left in the room… and Alex in the closet. What
on earth had just happened?

“It’s my fault, sir,” Richard said quickly, “I was the one
who dared him to-”

“What you have done?” Mr. Debarros said it so quietly,
Richard could hardly hear him. The teacher looked up,
and Richard could now see the fear in his eyes clearly.

“WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE?” He roared, and Richard
jumped back as Mr. Debarros brought his fist down on
his desk. Richard was shocked, and a little scared too. He

67

hadn’t known Mr. Debarros took his privacy this
seriously.

“We were just going to peek in, not steal anything-”

“No, no, no!” Mr. Debarros ran his fingers through his
thinning hair, frantically looking around. “This wasn’t
supposed to happen! I only had one day left, one day! Oh,
curse the society! They should have known better…”

“Um…” Richard stared at his teacher, wide-eyed. Was
Mr. Debarros going mad? “Sir, are you okay?”

With a crazed look in his eyes, Mr. Debarros started
sorting through his desk drawers wildly. “Light! I need
light. Where did I keep that thing?”

Richard started to slowly back away. Maybe he and Alex
could slip out while Mr. Debarros was preoccupied.

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He had just reached for the door handle to the closet—
still no sound from within—when Mr. Debarros gave a
choked yell.

“DON’T OPEN THE DOOR!”

Richard spun around, heart beating wildly. Mr. Debarros
practically sprinted over to him, blocking him from the
closet. Richard had never seen him look so disoriented,
with his goo-splattered glasses askew and his chest
heaving wildly.

“But Alex is in there!” Richard protested.

Mr. Debarros looked in him in the eyes solemnly, and
said “Your friend is in mortal danger.”

“Oh-kay…” said Richard, backing away slowly. “You’re
looking a little green, Mr. Debarros. Maybe I should go
get the nurse...”

“Richard, I’m serious.”

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He really did look like he meant it. But Richard wasn’t
about to believe the teacher who had psyched out when a
couple of students went into his closet.

“Alex!” He called out. “Tell Mr. Debarros that you’re
fine! And that he can let you out of the closet.”

Nobody replied. “Alex?” Richard called again. Mr.
Debarros just looked at him.

“Wha- what happened back there?” Richard faltered.
“With the lights, and the scream... Is Alex really… what
happened?”

“He opened the Box, didn’t he?” Mr. Debarros sighed.

“Yeah? So what?” Richard wasn’t following.

“Would you believe me if-” here Mr. Debarros hesitated,
then he tried again. “I am going to be completely honest
with you, because I need your help. Or more specifically,
Alex needs your help.”

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Richard was starting to freak out too. “What?”

Mr. Debarros sighed, wiped his glasses, then sighed
again.

“Inside the Box is a monster.”

There was a moment of silence. Then-

Richard started to laugh. “Okay Mr. Debarros, you
almost had me for a moment. Nice try. But I won’t be
fooled that easily!”

His chuckles faded away as Mr. Debarros looked the
closet door with a grim expression. “Don’t I wish it was a
trick…” he muttered.

“You can’t be serious,” Richard said incredulously.

“Have I ever been anything but serious, Richard?” Mr.
Debarros said. “The Box does indeed hold a monster
within, though what the monster looks like I have no
idea. I am simply a third-tier member of the MAP-”

71

“The what?” Richard interrupted.

“The Monster Association of Preservation,” Mr. Debarros
continued impatiently. “And like I said, I am not an
important member. Which is why I was surprised when
they asked me to hold on to one of the more dangerous
creatures for a couple of weeks, as they finished building
its new habitat.”

“Wow,” Richard said, his eyes wide, “You’ve really
thought this joke out.”

Mr. Debarros wasn’t finished yet. “Your friend had the
misfortune to free the monster from his prison, and I need
you to go in there and free him.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard me. I can tell you don’t believe what I’m
telling you, so it shouldn’t matter to you anyways.” Mr.
Debarros grabbed a metal box from on top of his desk,
the same size as the other Box. “I need you to walk into

72

the closet with this open. Once the beast is sucked into
the container, close it so it can’t escape.”

“You’re crazy,” Richard finally said out loud.

“Perhaps,” Mr. Debarros said, and Richard found it eerie
that he couldn’t see Mr. Debarros’ eyes behind the goo-
smeared glasses.

“Fine,” Richard muttered. “If this is what it takes for you
to open the closet door, then I’ll do it. But not because I
believe in any monster!”

“Speaking of which,” he added, “Why should I go in
instead of you, eh? I don’t suppose you have a story for
that?”

“Scared?” Mr. Debarros said with a grim smile. “You
should be. As a matter of fact, members of the MAP
society are marked, making them even more of a target
for monsters.”

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“I’m not scared!” Richard said hotly. “And I’ll do your
stupid task just to prove it!”

He grabbed the metal box out of Mr. Debarros’ hands and
stood before the wooden door. Mr. Debarros stepped
back, giving him room.

Richard found himself bracing for something, and
immediately chastised himself. What on earth was there
to be afraid of? Mr. Debarros was just trying to get
Richard to make a fool of himself. Even if that was out of
character…

He forced himself to throw the closet door open, which
for some reason was no longer locked. It was-

Dark. Pitch black, actually. And with the same feeling of
wrongness that he had felt before.

Convincing himself it was just weird lighting, Richard
inched his way forward into the closet.

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His heart started to hammer. He could only barely make
something out by the light pouring in from behind him.
Wait, did it just move? It was…

And the closet door slammed shut.

Richard bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming,
and the taste of blood filled his mouth. Ohnononononono
keep calm, Richard, keep calm, he kept telling himself.
His heart started beating rapidly, and he had trouble
breathing. There’s nothing there there’s nothing there
there’s-

A low growl sounded.

Richard shrieked and fell backward, dropping the metal
box.

The box! Mr. Debarros had said he needed to open it.

Scrambling on his hands and knees, Richard reached
around blindly, searching. The growling grew larger,

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accompanied by a strange slithering sound. Sweat poured
from Richard.

Thump.

His hands brushed against something metal. There it was!

Thump.

The ground was shaking, or maybe it was just Richard’s
fingers. He fumbled with the clasp.

Thump.

Richard suddenly felt, with absolute certainty, that there
was something only a few inches from his face. He held
his breath, willing himself to not move a muscle. That is,
except for the finger that slowly lifted up the box’s lid.

And then something jumped at him, and someone
screamed—maybe it was Richard—and everything went
blacked.

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———————

When Richard woke up, he was lying on the floor of Mr.
Debarros’ classroom. Mr. Debarros and Alex stood over
him, talking in low voices. They stopped when they saw
him waking up.

“Congratulations, Richard,” Mr. Debarros said, giving
him a hand to help him up. There was a sly look in his
eyes that Richard had never seen before. “You
successfully captured… air.”

“It was a prank!” Richard said, flushing simultaneously
as he thought about how he’d overreacted.

“Indeed,” Mr. Debarros said. “To return the favor for
your volcanic surprise earlier.”

Richard turned to Alex. “And you were in on it too?”
Alex just shrugged and smiled. Richard would have to
pester him for details later.

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“I never actually believed there was a monster in there,”
Richard felt the need to clarify. Mr. Debarros chuckled—
a strange, foreign sound—and led the boys to the door.

“In exchange for that delight, I shall pardon both of your
detentions. But only,” he added with an admonishing
finger, “If you refrain from risky behavior in the future.”

Richard and Alex readily nodded their assent, (though
Richard doubted that either they or Mr. Debarros actually
believed it would last) and the boys walked outside.

But when Richard realized he forgot his backpack and
came back a few minutes later, he caught a glance of Mr.
Debarros walking down the hall, glancing around
furtively.

...with the metal Box, locked, in his hands.

78



Fluff’s Scary Encounter
by Mustafa Adamji

Fluff was walking down a corridor of her mansion.
But it's not really hers, the mansion was inherited from
parents. To Fluff it had always looked simple and grey.
The only thrilling characteristic was the corridors. The
corridors would look confusing at times, as if they were
leading somewhere, but the person being led would
always end up in circles. Fluff enjoyed walking through
them. She never seemed to lose her way until she found a
separate hallway. She couldn’t remember if she had seen
it before. Getting curious she decided to explore.

The hallway started to change with every step she
took. It distorted and changed color. Suddenly, the
hallway disappeared. In front of Fluff was a large and
run-down school. She had no idea how she ended up in
this scary place. A voice whispered “If you wish to return
to your world you must complete the maze.” Shaking,
Fluff reminded herself that she would have to do this, no
matter what. Otherwise she would be stuck for eternity.

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Now that Fluff has gathered her bearings and courage
she enters the school. The inside was dark with the
occasional blinking lights. There was a sign with
scratched words. “Enter at your own risk if you dare.” It
was enticing for her, but she failed to notice how fresh
the scratchings were. Fluff continues on and on and on.
There came a time when something started to move and
every time Fluff turned around it would stop moving.
Fluff never saw it because it was always out of sight. As
continued on dead ends became increasingly common.
They seemed to be directing her in different directions.

Fluff never knew that every time she turns away from
a dead end a wall closes her previous path. Although,
whatever is following still manages to get through. Fluff
notices that her breathing has become rather quick paced.
It seems that she has become restless, the most likely
cause is an impending doom of some sort. It’s like that
feeling people get, as if someone was watching them.
Suddenly Fluff sees something shining ahead! It gets
brighter and brighter as she gets closer and closer. This
mysterious glowing and bobbing thing really confused
her. Then there was a sound behind her--

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She saw her reflection in the dusty mirror. A huge
transparent slime monster raised its arm. Fluff was
blocked off from any possible escape route. The monster
was even closer now. With her back against a wall, Fluff
had nowhere to go. Then, just before the monster struck
she let out a shriek as a hole appeared under her feet.
Fluff plunged into the darkness. She opened her eyes.
Fluff was in the exact place from the beginning, shaking
in the middle of her bedroom. Fluff takes a deep breath
and tries to comfort herself by thinking that it was all a
dream. Then, a slow, eerie laughter echoed. “The
nightmare is not over yet.”

81


The Museum and the Tight Knots
by Elizabeth Fullwood

It’s a normal Monday at Fairman Elementary school in
room 309. From the window, you can hear the birds
chirping, see the bright blue sky, and catch glimpses of
second graders running around the playground playing
zombie tag.

Me and the rest of my 5th grade class are in science
connecting lemons to light bulbs with electric wires when
Mrs. Witcher calls us all to our seats. I go sit in the back-
right corner where no one can see me.

“You all have done a great job on your lemon circuits,”
Mrs. Witcher starts, “but that's not all we will be doing
today.” A few kids groan in front of me.

“We are,” her eyes twinkle, “going to,” smiling wide she
looks at us and lets the suspense sink in.

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I slide a little bit under my desk, I hope we are not doing
another project. I never get picked for partners. Aiden,
the loudest kid in the whole school, yells out “WHAT?
WHAT ARE WE DOING?”

Mrs. Witcher grins at Aiden. “We are going on an
adventure,” she announces to the class. Whoops and
hollers erupt throughout the classroom, but I slide even
further under my desk. Last time she said adventure we
went to a super boring art museum and my bus buddy
drooled on me the whole ride there.

I begin thinking of all the things that could go wrong, all
the places we could end up. What if the bus breaks down?
What if we wreck? What if we run out of gas? I slide
down even farther in my chair. Where are we going?
What if it's not safe? What if it’s super scary? What if I
get the same bus buddy? What if my bus buddy throws up
on me?

My classmates begin lining up at the door and walking
out to the bus. I can't stand up so I sit holding my
quivering hands together. My stomach knots together and

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spools up. A cold sweat breaks out across my forehead
and travels down my spine.

Thoughts race through my mind as I picture what could
happen. We could end up at a museum or dirty stinky gas
station or a cave or a graveyard or a hospital or
someplace even worse! What if no one wants to talk to
me? What if I don't even get a field trip buddy? Why did I
decide to go to school today?

My body begins to shake, sending tremors from my
hands all the way to my toes. My heart races so fast that it
feels like it’s about to burst out of my chest. My lungs
somehow have forgotten how to breathe and I struggle to
catch a breath. I watch helpless as the last of my
classmates leave the room for the bus.

“Olivia. Olivia!” Mrs. Witcher’s beside me with a look of
concern on her face. “Olivia, are you alright? Can you
stand?” I try to bring my trembling legs out from under
the table but they won't move. I feel like I'm gonna puke
and the thoughts keep racing around my head.

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The worry builds and builds as the knots tighten in my
stomach. “Oliva,” Mrs. Witcher says, “please take a deep
breath in, then name five things you see in the
classroom.” I take a deep breath in. Then, slowly, I let it
out.

“I see,” I say, “I see a pencil, a chair, and, and...” I take
another chest rattling breath “and I see the board, the
desk, and you, Mrs. Witcher.” Smiling she gently
squeezes my shoulder. “Now take another deep breath
and name four things you can touch.”

We go through each sense one by one until my heart rate
returns to normal and I become more focused. The
thoughts of worry aren't as loud as before. The knots have
also unraveled.

Smiling up at Mrs. Witcher I thank her. She smiles at me
then takes my hand. “Let's get to the bus. Is it okay if I
am your partner today?” I nod my head.

I ride next to Mrs. Witcher the whole way there, and I
don't get drooled or barfed on! The bus also doesn't break

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down or run out of gas, and we safely reach our
destination. It's a science museum!

They have all kinds of cool things to touch like fox pelts
and live snakes! Aiden’s favorite is the sound exhibit
where we play instruments and make mashups. Mrs.
Witcher likes the exhibit where we get to create our own
dinosaurs on giant touch screens. My personal favorite is
the one where we build a robot then drive it around a race
track.

Soon Mrs. Witcher tells us that it's time to head back to
the bus. Aiden runs to the front of our group with a big
fat grin on his face. “I bet you can't beat me,” he taunts as
he races through the hallway. A handful of my classmates
go chasing after him and Mrs. Witcher watches them with
a disapproving frown.

We soon, enter the main foyer. It has big glass doors and
a high marble ceiling. Then it hits me. A strong pressure
pushes from the inside on my bladder. With fast feet, I
find Mrs. Witcher and asked her to point me to the

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bathroom. Without a glance up, her boney finger points
me to a dark corner. Without hesitation, my feet take me
I have so much fun! The other kids try out all the cool
interactive displays with me. Once we get on the bus one
kid yells out, “Did you know a human sneeze can travel
up to 100 MPH?” Another yells back, “No way!”
Everyone else joins in and we swap interesting facts we
learned the whole ride back. Mrs. Witcher smiles widely
at me as I leave the bus, and I can't hold back my grin.
I run up to her and give her a big hug. I'm so happy she
helped me calm down and showed me the different steps
because this was the absolute best field trip ever! I
wouldn't have wanted to miss it for the world!

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The Basement
by Jacob Trent

"Hey George!" Someone yelled from an upstairs
bedroom

"What?" There was no answer. "What, Tommy!?"
George screamed again. There was a slight pause and
then a few seconds later, Tommy yelled back.

"Run down to the basement and get the game!"
"Which one?" cried George.
"I dunno." Tommy Said "Uh-get the one with the
spaceships. It’s called Space Destroyers or somethin’!"

8-year-old George didn't respond to his older brother.
He did however, follow through with his request. He got
up from his coloring book and noticed something
different about his bedroom. Yes, the floors were as
brown and dingy as they had always been. And the
pungent smell of cigarette smoke from his father and the
peeling wallpaper had always been there. But there was
something different. A smell possibly? Or maybe it was
something about the walls. Or maybe, the occasional
dripping from one corner of the ceiling. Or, was it the
blood? Either way, George didn't recognize any

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differences. He hardly paid much attention to any minor
details anyways.

George strolled out of his room and into the dimly lit
hallway. A few landscape images and a single-family
photo hang on the walls of the hallway, heading towards
the basement staircase. The photo showed two small boys
standing in the front. One with dark brown hair, George.
And the other, slightly taller with fair hair, Tommy. Both
the boys were standing in front of their parents. Their
mother, a shorter woman with long beautiful dark hair,
beamed with light even though the picture was so dusty
that George could barely make out that the image was of
their broken family. His father, in the image, stood with
bulking attributes and a pinched face. Showing only one
emotion; anger.

That's pretty much the only thing George remembers
about his father. Anger. Even after his mother died, there
was no sadness, no tears, no such thing as being
depressed to that man. The only thing that ever really
seemed to dull the anger within the large man, was the
daily pack of cigarettes.

"George, hurry up! What's taking you so long?"
Tommy yelled again.

"I'm about to head down Tommy, I was just putting
up my coloring book!" he yelled back.

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Tommy might have said something after that but
George didn't hear him. He was too busy trying to figure
out what his mother's voice sounded like.

Occasionally, when George would stroll past this
picture, he would hear a female voice whispering to him.
The voice was soft and frail, just like the woman in the
picture. She would usually only sing lullabies or just
whisper a single word into his ear. But sometimes, only 3
times his whole life, she would speak actual sentences!
He remembers the 3 sentences off of his head.

"Don’t look back."
"Everything is temporary."
"Fear is never real."
George had no idea what these words actually meant,
but he could only assume that they were from his mother.
He heard Tommy yell again for him to hurry up, and
this time sounding angrier so he trotted on. He came to
the top of the staircase and opened the creaking door. The
doorknob was somewhat sticky after years of never using
it, but with all of his force, George managed to open it.
The old wooden door squeaked open, with a sound
that can only be described as a mouse being crushed
under a large foot. When George looked down into the
old staircase, the first thing he noticed was the complete
and utter darkness. He could pick out the first step, then
barely identify the second, but the third step was
completely enveloped by the black void.

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George looked to his right and saw an old flashlight
sitting on the nightstand next to him. He snatched it and
tried to flick the switch to turn it on. The first attempt was
unsuccessful. The flashlight looked like it hadn’t been
turned on in several years.

“Maybe if I give it another go.” George said.
He flicked it once again, and like a burst of sunlight,
the black void was illuminated, revealing several steps
leading down into the basement.
George never went down to the basement. Well, not
since the first time at least. The first time he went down,
he heard the voice from his mother even stronger than
when he was upstairs. But the voice wasn’t calm or
relaxing, in fact, the voice yelled at him. It was an unholy
scream of terror and pain. Like someone was just
stabbed.
That was the only time George had ever been scared
of the voice. Normally, his mother’s voice was
comforting and calm, but when he went down into the
basement, everything changed.
George decided, that today was the day, that he
needed to face his fear. After all, it was his mother. If he
knew one thing, it was that his mother loved him very
much, and she would never want anything bad to happen
to him.
George remembered the words that his mother spoke
to him before. “Fear is never real.” Those words lingered

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in the back of his mind and gave him the courage to take
his first step.

He shone the light into the darkness and carefully
placed his feet onto each step leading into the basement.
George had no idea where the board games were in his
basement, but he was sure that with his flashlight, he
could find them easily. He creeped down the stairs to the
halfway point and was able to see the actual basement
with all of its boxes and shelves.

The room was actually smaller than he remembered.
Last time, the walls seemed taller and the boxes seemed
bigger. But now, he was a little taller, the walls were
short and he guessed that he could probably reach the top
shelf.

He scurried down the steps to get to the bottom so
that he could find the game quickly and get out. He shone
the flashlight around the room and searched desperately
for the game. He looked for anything that resembled a
spaceship or aliens or something that would game pieces.

After one minute of being in the basement, George
started to hear a slight ring in his ears. Still searching, the
ring was getting progressively louder and louder until the
point where he couldn’t hear his own footsteps or the
rummaging of boxes.

He finally found the game, even with the terrible
ringing in his ears. The game was a blue and white box,
with spaceships and lasers all over it. This was Tommy’s

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favorite game and it was usually upstairs but for some
reason today it was in the basement. His father must’ve
put it in the basement George assumed.

The ringing got so bad in his ears, he felt stinging in
his eardrums. Then like a strike of lightning, the ringing
erupted into the dreaded scream of a banshee in his ears.
George, with the game in hand, ran back up the stairs in
the heat of panic. All he could remember was the
sentence, “don’t look back.” He ran to the very top,
grabbed the door, and slammed it shut so the whole house
shook.

George sat down against the door and stared into the
hallway in front of him for what felt like an hour. Then,
he came out of his trance when he heard a familiar voice
again.

“George get up here! You’re taking forever.”
George didn’t respond but he did slowly get up and
decided to take his first few steps. He strolled down the
hallway and trekked up the stairs. When he got to the top
he saw Tommy sitting on the ground drawing on some
paper.
“There you are! Holy crap, what took you so long?”
“D-did you not hear the screaming from downstairs”
George said.
“Screaming? Uhh, no. Did you get scared or
something?”
Then Tommy started to laugh.

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“Is little George scared of the dark?” Tommy said
while pointing and mocking George

“No, I just - everything is temporary Tommy. Even
innocence.”

“George, stop talking nonsense, let’s just play the
game!”

From that day forward George vowed to never go
down into the basement. And this time, he planned to
keep that promise.

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Halloween Mystery
by Bakhtawar Yasir

It was a gloomy and scary October 31. As soon as it
is the first day of October this is the day that kids are
waiting for. Dressing up into whoever you want to be and
getting buckets of candy is the ideal night.

It was finally Halloween, which is Jackson and
Gabriel’s favorite day.
As soon as school gets out, they ran to school from the
bus stop to get ready.
“MOM! MOM! MOM” As he enters the house
“IT’S HALLOWEEN!” Jackson completes his sentence
as he follows behind him

The boys run upstairs to change into their costumes
before their mom can respond. Gabriel runs down in a
superman costume jumping off every other step. Jackson
walks down to make himself feel invisible wearing a
white bed sheet covering his entire body with two holes
revealing his eyes.

The brothers search for their baskets to get ready to
go trick or treating. Their mother comes over from her
room to take her sons trick or treating. “Alright boys…
are y’all ready?” “Yeess mom” the boys yelled.

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The brother race ahead of their mom, “Jackson, I am
so excited to go trick or treating!!!” Gabriel replied, “Me
too! “I am so excited to get a lot of candy!” “Me too! I
would do anything for candy” Jackson responded

The boys trick or treated for so long they got to see
the sun set and the twilight. As their baskets became
heavier and feet felt weaker, they came across the
jackpot. The big houses! Jackson yells, “Oh my gosh!
Look!” Gabriel gazed in awe of what is in front of him,
“Whhooaaahh” Unable to catch his breath Jackson asks
“You know what this means, right?” In unison they say,
“BIG CANDY BARS”

The brothers run up to the house with a door that is
glistening within the night. They approach the door and
empty porch to read a sign that says “Please take ONE!
Happy Halloween” Then they immediately look down to
see the huge bowl with what it seemed like a never-
ending supply of candy bars. Jackson looks at Gabriel
with a smirk on his face, “You know what that means…”
Gabriel looked back with a stern, “We take one candy
bar.” He relaxes as he is speaking, I am thinking about
getting the Hershey bar” Jackson stops Gabriel from
proceeding and maliciously says “NO! Let’s take all of
the candy bars. No one will catch us.” Gabriel responds
“...I don't know.” Jackson rebuttals, “Come on! No one is
looking. Everyone does it.” “Hmm that’s true” Gabriel
replies.

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Both of the boys quickly fill up their baskets to the
brim from the candy bowl right in front of them.
Hershey's, Snickers, Milky Way. Their mouths watered
as they saw the variety of candy in front of them. As they
were close to the bottom of the bowl the door in front of
them starts to creak open without anyone touching the
door knob. Gabriel says “Ok Jackson...very funny!” He
replies, “I didn’t do that.” Gabriel’s face sunk as he
realized that something scary maybe be among them.
Jackson’s face sunk immediately after Gabriel’s. He
knew that if he was scared, there has to be something
going on. The boys move closer to close the door but
before they could touch the doorknob it opens
completely. “AAAAHHHHHH” they yell. The boys were
so scared they dropped all of their candy.

To their surprise, they saw a closet door inside the
house that said “Candy Closet”. Bouncing back without
seconds Jackson looks at Gabriel with the biggest smile
in the world knowing he saw it too. “NO” Gabriel
commands. “Come on…” Jackson begs, “IMAGINE how
much candy is in there. Wait. I mean how many candy
BARS are in there. What if the door opening was fate
pointing us to get more candy?” Gabriel responds,
“Hmmm you know, you may be right this time.” A huge
smiles grows on Jackson's face, and the boys walk inside
the house.

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As the boys walk in they were are cautious of where
they are going. They house was dark, but lit enough for
them to see where they were going. The house had a
scary sense to it, but it didn’t matter since they knew they
were going to get more candy. They slowly walk to the
halls and approach the candy closet. Jackson reaches for
the door knob and slowly opens it anticipating what they
are about to see. Gabriel opens the light to get a better
view of the closet. “WHOOAAHH” Jackson yells. “ITS
CANDY HEAVEN” Gabriel responds. The candy closet
is full of candy from the ground up. They were so amazed
their immediate reaction was to stare at the candy other
than grabbing as much as they can before they are caught.
The boys inside the closet to get a better view of all the
candy. They are both holding candy when the door shuts
on its own. The boys look at each other knowing that they
were in trouble. Jackson reaches for the door knob to
escape, while he comes to realize it is locked. Jackson
asks, “How do we get out??” Gabriel yells “I am not
sure! I am stuck here with you!” Gabriel drops his candy
and is pacing back and forwards in the 3x5 closest as
Jackson is standing there still as a statue about what
happened. “Oh my goodness we are going to get in so
much trouble. THANKS A LOT JACKSON” “ME?!”
Jackson replies. “YES YOU! It was your idea to come in
here and now we are both going to be grounded”

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As their adrenaline rushes and argument begins to rise,
the boys are yelling over each other like no other. Then
all of a sudden, the lights shut off. In the heat of their
argument, the boys are quiet at once knowing that they
are really in trouble.

The boys had no idea what to do. They tried
numerous times to open the door or turn on the lights and
none of it was working. After an hour passed by, Jackson
felt so much guilt he started to yell “I AM SORRY! I will
NEVER do this again!!! PPLEAASEE someone help!”
After losing hope of getting out Gabriel says
“Jackson…that won't do any-” Before he could finish his
sentence the door pops open. The brother run out of the
closet so quick, they were not able to process the fact that
they door opened out of nowhere. After getting out they
shut the closet door behind them, coming to realize they
left their candy in there. Not only the big candy bars, but
the candy from the entire night.

After realizing this at the same time they look at each
other and Jackson says “We are not going back in”
Gabriel immediately replies and says “AGREED” The
boys run of the closet and out of the house. As they were
leaving they noticed how the candy bowl was filled to
brim just like how it was before they grabbed all of the
candy bars. They brushed off the thought knowing they
were lucky to be out without getting caught. As they were
leaving they saw two boys come up and take multiple

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candy bars, even though the sign said only take one.
Gabriel says “Hey guys, only take one. That’s what the
sign says.” The boy replied and said “No one is
watching” and his friend responded and said “It doesn't
matter...everyone does it!” Jackson responds,
“Whatever…”

As the brothers went home empty handed they were
really sad they didn’t get any candy. They met with their
mother where they originally planned and without saying
anything she hands them each one candy bar. The
brothers look each other confused knowing that she not
only didn’t ask about their candy baskets, but gave them
a candy bar. The boys examine the candy bar all around
to see if it was too good to be true. When the boys turn
their candy around, they see a note on the back. “Never
take more than one candy bar ever again” Jackson reads
on the back of his candy bar. Gabriel finishes the
sentence by reading the back of his candy bar, “Even if
no one is watching.”

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