5th Grade's Not-So-Spooky Stories

The Unquowa School’s 5th Grade Presents

Not-So-Spooky Stories

Sylvia Barbuto Writing Seminar 5x Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 October Camp MONDAY “Are we there yet?” asked my best friend Allie.

“No!” said everyone else in the car.

“What time is it?” asked my sister. It was 3:15, August 1st, and I was going to summer camp with my best friend, Allie, and my boy-crazy sister, Rennè. I Sigh in relief that I’m only in this car for four more minutes. Soon I will be out of this darn car.

When we got to the camp my sister made her way to a guy who was at least five years older than her. While Allie and I made our way to a bench where the camp director was and some over-aged counselors, and under-aged CITs. The camp director rang the bell, and everyone started singing this cult-like song with a nice melody. The camp director called this camp “October Camp” which made no sense because it was summer. No one called her out. I checked my phone just to be safe, and now it said 3:25, October 8th, which was weird because 10 minutes ago my phone said it was August. This camp seems very, very suspicious.

TUESDAY This camp just keeps getting weirder and weirder because this morning I woke up and nobody was in my cabin. Last night I swore there were 6 girls in my cabin and now they were all gone. I rushed outside to find everyone and saw everyone in the mess hall.

I sat next to Allie.

“OMG! Where have you been?” she exclaimed. I shrugged while stuffing pancakes down my gullet. She looked a little timid towards me, but I ignored it.

“Soooooo……. made any new friends?” I said to my sister knowing that she had made friends with this blonde girl.

“No,” she said and splashed maple syrup onto her plate.

“Um…...yeah you did. That blonde girl,” I said.

“I don’t know what you're talking about, there are no girls with blonde hair here,” said my sister. I looked around and to my surprise there were no blonde girls at camp.

Even my best friend, Allie, had blonde hair- I swear but now it was red. I decided to leave, and told the girls, I need to lie down because this camp is as weird as a bunch of pigs flying!

Lying down, I try to gather my thoughts but I just can't. It makes no sense maybe I’m seeing things? Honestly, I wish I had never come here. As I try to gather my thoughts, I’m ready to go outside. I also decided to change my clothes and as I open my bag I find baby clothes. Yep, that’s right baby clothes, tons of them but no real clothes!

I run outside to ask my sister to borrow clothes, but she replies, “I’m sorry I don’t have a sister.”

I’m confused so I just ran over Allie. When I found her, her hair was blonde! I asked her but she said, “Um I don’t know you.”

So then I got even more scared and ran to call my parents. Dialing the number into the phone was the hardest thing ever. My fingers were sweaty and kept messing up.

When I finally got them they said “We don’t have a daughter.” After hearing that I dropped the phone and cried and cried and cried. This was the scariest thing that had ever happened to me.

That night I did not think about Allie and my family forgetting about me. I thought of how Allie's hair just magically changed. Maybe tomorrow I would wake up and they would remember me. Maybe there was a cure to fix everything but what could it possibly be? Tomorrow I will have to do everything I did today and find the cure!

WEDNESDAY I woke up in the morning and got out of bed. I shuffled to the bathroom, and when I looked in I could not believe my eyes today's crazy thing was that my gender is bent (meaning it changed to a boy). After the initial shock, I pulled on some clothes and walked down to the mess hall. Nothing strange happened. I spoke to my sister, who still remembered me and didn't seem to notice my new appearance. I went back to my cabin and opened my suitcase. Everything seemed pretty normal, which was more confusing.

Honestly, I was so done with this crazy place I just crawled into my bed and closed my eyes. I had found the cure! Sleep.

END OF OCTOBER CAMP Barely making it through I finished camp. On the way back Allie told her mom everything and then my sister I did too. I smiled knowing it was over. I decided I didn't want to share, because no one would understand.

5 YEARS LATER “Look, look!” Allie shouted.

“What?” I asked.

“Remember that camp we went to that one year?”

“Vaguely….” That was a lie. I remembered that camp like the back of my hand.

“They are hiring! Wanna go?”

I just laughed. After 87 doctors and 50 therapists, no one could figure out what had happened to me that summer. One thing I did know: I was never going back!

Oola Breen-Ryan Writing Seminar 5X Ms. Warshaw 16 October 2021 The Grand Apple I held the mug of hot cider in my gloved hands, relying on it for warmth. It was an unusually chilly evening in October, even for our small speck of a New England town. My friend, Ginnie, my sister, Phoebe, Ginnie’s seventeen-year-old cousin, Kate, and I were at the Grand Apple, a tiny pop-up Halloween tourist site. They had trick-or-treating in the forest, a haunted house, pumpkin picking, a small ice cream parlor, and absolutely nothing related to apples or grandness whatsoever. It was still super fun, though.

We were about to go on the best attraction of the night: the haunted hayride.

“I’m cold,” Phoebe whimpered to me, pressing her body against the waiting platform’s singular bench. Kate stood to the right of the bench, staring at her phone. Ginnie was paying for the hayride tickets at the tickets and concession counter.

“The hayride will be here in a second,” I told her.

“But I don’t want to go on the hayride!” she exclaimed. “It’s gonna be scary!”

“You made it through the haunted house. You can make it through this.” Even after saying it, I cringed. The “haunted house” was really a kid’s bouncy house with some people dressed like witches handing out candy to the younger children. Phoebe hadn’t been fooled. She just stood in the middle of the bouncy house with her arms crossed, regarding the witches with an air of complete and total boredom. She did enjoy the free candy, though.

However, the hayride was a different story. Adults had reviewed it as “thrilling” and “terrifyingly bone-chilling”. It only made sense that Phoebe would be scared.

Just as these thoughts occurred to me, the hayride emerged from the small patch of forest. That’s weird, I thought, as I noticed that nobody was on it, but I shrugged the worry off and stepped closer to the edge of the platform.

“You’ll survive,” I told Phoebe, and pulled her over to me.

Ginnie and Kate joined us, holding the tickets. “I can’t believe I’m being forced to do this with some fourteen-year-olds,” Kate muttered under her breath, then returned to staring at her phone.

Ginnie frowned at her. “C’mon! We’re supposed to be having fun.”

Kate just rolled her eyes.

The hayride pulled up to the platform. Ginnie flashed the tickets, and a small man wearing an employee’s t-shirt let us on.

We had the entire ride to ourselves. Large hay bales covered the wagon, which was quite worse for wear. Rust lined the exterior, and the paint job on the benches was horrific. Nearby, a yellow orb weaver spider sulked in its web. Phoebe plopped down behind a stack of hay and squeezed her eyes shut.

The wagon began to move. It rumbled along the road, slowly venturing into the dark, gloomy forest. The trees seemed to glare at us as we passed them.

At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was just like riding in an open-air car through the forest. Occasionally, there would be a fake ghost clinging to a tree, but other than that...

We reached a small section of woods where a cluster of wooden gravestones filled in between the trees. I raised my eyebrow at Ginnie. The Grand Apple thought this was spooky?

But then a hand reached out of the dirt. Then a shoulder. Then a head.

I shrieked. Other bodies were emerging from the graves. One held a knife stained with something that I hoped was paint.

Phoebe heard me screaming and instinctively opened her eyes. Almost immediately, she fell over in terror and began to yell at the top of her lungs. Ginnie and Kate were cowering against the side of the tractor.

The employee turned around, regarding the scene with a smug grin on his face. Only then I saw what his shirt read: I SUPPORT THE UNDEAD. Maybe this was just a cruel joke. Maybe it was all part of the hayride experience. But as I thought that, a hand reached out of the darkness and grabbed onto the wagon.

My fight-or-flight reaction kicked in, and I jumped off the hayride.

“IDA!” Ginnie yelled. I saw Phoebe and Kate join me. But Ginnie was still on the ride.

“THIS IS JUST PART OF THE––” A gl0ssy white skeleton jerked out of the nothingness and landed in the wagon. It headed towards Ginnie. Next thing I knew, I heard a small thump. She was right next to me.

“Come on!” I yelled. We all ran towards the opening in the trees.

More creatures crawled out from the darkness. Spirits, and monsters, and every other sort of nightmarish ghoul you could think of. To make things worse, the man driving the tractor which was pulling the hayride began to chase us. He was getting closer and closer.

“This way!” Phoebe exclaimed, and rushed deeper into the forest.

“What the heck, Phoebe? No!” I said, but she was already several yards ahead of me.

Kate, Ginnie, and I raced after her. Large monsters covered in spikes jumped out at us, but we were quicker. (Apparently, their spikes made it much harder to run). A minute or two later, we came out in a small clearing. Forest still surrounded us.

“Phoebe! Are you insane? We’re even farther into the forest now! I––” Ginnie said. She stopped when she realized that nobody was following us. “What on Earth?”

I turned around. There was nothing in the clearing––nothing, that is, except for a bouncy house. With several adults dressed up as witches. And a huge crowd of toddlers.

“Publicity,” I said, as Phoebe’s logic came to me like someone had flipped a light switch in my

brain. “They wouldn’t have a murderous tractor near the little kids, or nobody would come to the Grand Apple anymore.”

Kate and Ginnie stared at Phoebe. “She’s right,” murmured Kate.

*

*

*

The next morning, a small package arrived at my doorstep.

A bottle of apple cider, a youth size t-shirt, and a stuffed apple toy were inside, along with a note that read: WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR VISIT TO THE GRAND APPLE! COME AGAIN SOON!

Jack Feeney Writing Seminar 5x Ms. Warshaw 18 october 2021 The Wild October Woods It's a cool October afternoon, me and my friend Billy Williams, were in the woods on a very windy afternoon, leaves rustling, and howls, wolves in the distance. Billy and I were having a blast running and jumping into bushes and bushes of leaves. Billy and I jumped into bushes for what felt like an eternity of a long cold day. All of the sudden, Billy jumped into a bush, but didn't reappear.

A flickering light teleports in that bush he jumped in. That flickering light keeps jumping from bush to bush. I keep jumping in the bushes that have the flickering light in the bushes. Until there's only one bush left. I jump in it and it seems like I got teleported to a random carnival with no one in it but the rides are on so someone has to be here. I look to my left then my right and see a sign to my right that says that I must go through the obstacles in this carnival in order to find my friend.

The first obstacle I face is a ferris wheel going the speed of light and making so much wind. It's hard for me to stand. The giant ferris wheel spins right round and round in front of me making me look like an ant because it's so big. I close my eyes and hope that I don't get hit by the ferris wheel as I jump through. I make it through the Ferris wheel and on to the next obstacle.

The next obstacle is a corn maze. As I enter there's a sign, it says beware for the unexpected. I'm going through the maze and for what feels like an hour I just only see dead ends.

So after a while I decided it's a good idea to take a nap. When I wake up I'm in a completely

different place. It's kind of dark here. I see myself a couple times and realize I'm not in a corn maze, I'm in a different maze, a mirror maze!

I see Billy, and I try to follow him but he keeps disappearing and reappearing. I keep running in the same direction but I also keep running into a bunch of mirrors. There's another pile of leaves but this time instead of falling asleep I stay awake and see what's going to happen.

After a while I start to doze off in the leaves. When I wake up, I open my eyes and see Billy standing right infront of me. I look around and notice I'm back in the woods “Are you okay” Billy asks me “Yeah,” I say. “Where did you go?”

Billy makes a weird face at me. “I've been waiting for you to wake up. You must have been really tired…”

Drew Grayson Writing Seminar 5X Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 Stone My eyes bulged as my phone alarm tweeted like a giant screaming bird, trying to make me wake up. I checked the time, and it said 4:46 A.M. My mom must have heard it too, because right when I was about to get back in bed, She yelled “Josie, let’s go! The pumpkin patch closes when school starts!”I threw on some boots and a fleece, and headed out with my bed unmade. My sister, Eevee, had luckily already eaten breakfast. We exit the house, hop in the car, and Mom started to drive. Eevee started singing to the radio.

“Eve, hun, Ellie and Elliot are meeting us there,” Mom says.

Eevee gasped. “Yay!” Ellie and Elliot were her best friends at the time.The rest of the ride was silent, other than Eevee singing.

When we arrived, Elliot jumped on the car window, scaring all three of us. “Ah!” Mom yelled. We got out of the car, and I caught Ellie, in the corner of my eye, running towards me.

I turned to her, and she started running, arms open towards Eevee. I spotted 3 pumpkins across the field, and jogged over there. The one on the right had a very thin stem.

“Wingelo Selava!” I heard in my sisters voice. It meant “The Fling Across Dirt.” in Witch Language. Me and the thin-stemmed pumpkin started to fling against the dirt, getting my fleece all muddy. Leading into the woods. When I stopped flinging, I saw two rings spinning around the stem. I instantly took both off, and didn’t even look at them. I was thinking of giving one to Rosie, my best friend. I sprinted back to the pumpkin patch.

Everyone had already been done picking pumpkins. We usually weighed them, but this time we didn’t. The birds were singing in the cold breeze.

We hopped in the car, and I was the first one to get dropped off at school. I suddenly had the urge to go to the bathroom, so I walked into the front door of the Witch Academy High School, and it was on my right. So, I obviously went in. I then saw a girl who looked a bit older than me. She instantly caught a glimpse of my rings.

“Wow, I love those rings.”

I brought them to my face slowly, and asked, “Want one?”

She widened her eyes. Then she smiled. “Yes, Yes!” I looked at one, and it had a ruby red oval on it. However, the other ring had a green turtle on it. My best friend Rosie’s favorite color was red So, I was gonna save it for her.

“Here, do you like turtles?” She responded with a nod, and I gave her the ring, and headed out, forgetting I had to go to the bathroom. I started running looking down, and I crashed into Rosie as if I were a big robot.

“I got you a hairclip!” she yelled.

“Really?” I whispered. “I got you a ring!”

We swapped accessories, and she put the ring on. She instantly turned to stone. The people in the hallways screamed in horror. I just... stared. Then I knew it. Page 393, Mingo’s Spellbook. I rapidly ran up to the Science Lab, and into the closet. I found the book by its rough texture. I turned to page 393, and found The Two Rings. The spell to cancel was “Malineseknito Chileponosois!” I ran downstairs, heading in the bathroom. The sad stoned turtle-ring girl had been turned into stone too. “Malineseknito... Chileponosois!” I yelled.

She fell on the floor in color, and before she could even say a word, I ran out to Rosie. I

memorized the spell. “Malineseknito Chileponosois!” I yelled. As soon as she turned into her human form, I passed out in horror. I never woke up again.

Henry Helmer Writing Seminar 5X Ms.Warshaw 18 October 2021 The Necklace

1744, Day Unknown “Your Grace, your boy would like to speak with you.” A mysterious man in a servant's uniform said. “Not now!” A man wearing a ruby amulet and robes made of fine silk, encrusted with pearls yelled. The man with the Amulet was hosting a large ball, all the royalty and nobility from the nearby counties and kingdoms. Once the man finished getting dressed, the man had walked down a marble staircase with a fine blue rug running down the staircase with gold pots with lilies and marigolds all done up for the ball, as the guests started to arrive, the extraordinary orchestra started playing. As time passed by it had gotten late, “Knock, knock.” the large wooden doors started playing it’s own music, “KNOCK! KNOCK!” he man turned around and he heard a “THUMP!” The doors flung open and a hooded figure stepped in. It had become clear she must have been a woman after taking off her hood. A ray of heat caught them off guard. It was as hot as a batch of freshly made cookies just coming out of the oven. The hooded figure just shouted something in a foreign language and walked outside. It became as cold as Antarctica, then everyone disappeared.

Present Day, 2021 Claus Wemberly, a boy from Wemberly, England had just finished his favorite book called “The Treehouse Adventures with Daisu Washington '' Claus loved Treehouses, he had one of his own too, that he and his father built together a few years back. That afternoon, it was breezy, seeing as the Town of Wembrely was a coastal town. As Claus, his friend, and siblings

rode their bikes through Library Highway, at the end of Library, they reached the end of the road to their treehouse in the woods. On the walk there, they stumbled upon a red amulet and a silhouette of a pale white figure appeared, hovering over them with a basket of milk in its hand.

“AHHH!” the four of them screamed. In a blink, they began to run as fast as they could in one direction until Arthur nearly crashed into a large stone wall, it was the old Wembrely Hunting cabin. They quickly found the gate, the doors were partially. It was not a very dramatic entrance, or pretty. It was chilly and vacated by nobody but dirt, and possibly ghosts. They ran upstairs finding the window in the corner open. They hid in the corner until they noticed there was a squirrel sniffing out acorns, ignoring the squirrels' annoying sniffs. As time passed by, they all agreed that it was safe now, from the squirrel and the hooded figure holding a basket. As they headed downstairs, they found a library to sit in. Noticing a ghost watching over them, before anyone could say anything, the ghost said, “Ugh, are you claus,” the impolite ghost crossed her arms. “My dad wanted me to give you this, also, that’s my book.” She motioned to give him her book back.

Before they could say anything, the ghost disappeared. She gave them an amulet. It glistened like stars on a clear summer night. Another ghost came around the corner, a well dressed woman with a gown embedded with flowers stitched on the bottom of what must have been from the late 1700s. “Hello.” She had a very soft voice. “I’m Mae, Claus, Edward and Millie, I am your great great great great grandmother.”

“Ok.” After looking around for a bit Claus saw a familiar face. It was the ghost he had grown up with.

“Hi Eddie!” Claus called out.

“Hello!” the ghost who must have been Eddie called back, he noticed the amulet that Millie was holded and he said that “The Marquess was looking for something like that, his study is on the 3rd floor,” “Okay.”

“Okay.” Walking upstairs, Claus told them about Eddie, who was a servant to Duke and Duchess Wemberly 277 years ago. The study door was open. “Hello Claus, Tom, Millie, and Arthur,” the man said.

“Are you the Marquess?” Millie asked.

“I am,” The Marquess responded. The Marquess explained how the amulet had powers and how the amulet was very powerful and dangerous if it was in the wrong hands. “The carriage will be prepared.” He motioned to the servants standing, bored in the corner of the room to prepare the carriage. That evening it was cold like ice, especially on a fall night, eventually everyone fell annoyed and bored, Tom brought his trusty backpack, with flashlights and , like rubix cubes “Fun!” Claus motioned for a hand occupant. The castle, vacant to the Enchantress.

What felt as if it was hours later, the house was visible for viewing point. It was a nice home with a small metal gate with metal flamingos engraved into it. The mansion looked like the disney haunted mansion, because it was a creepy dutch colonel, although substiant for creepy, it was more like cute and cosy, cherry blossom trees were planted along the property she must have cut down the trees to create a large opening, the sun must have been visible during the day. The enchantress was outside gardening, She motioned for the five to walk over, she explained that she was not the original Enchantress, she was her daughter, at age 224. “Woah!” Arthur, along with Mille, were in shock, “Just a lot of healing brewings, my dear!” She spoke as if she was a grandmother to the bunch. She smiled. “A bit too dark, eh?” She clapped her hands and the sun

rose just over the cute home, now that it was visible, you could see it looked just like one belonging to a storybook, with a charming Victorian roof, She took them inside and put her sunhat and sunglasses on, making them all a hot pot of tea, and fresh milk from the market for Arthur and Millie. As she took them outside to the porch, she noticed the amulet. She had a necklace that was just like it, with sapphires instead of the ruby one they had. She said, “I was young when my mother, well, became a ghost like everyone else at that ball 244 years ago. My mother was interesting, she was 678 when she died, well, became a ghost, I still wonder why her “sorcery” as she'd like to say it, couldn't hold her up.” She explained, a boy came running from upstairs, he looked as though he was 12 like Claus and Tom. “Oh, didn’t know we had company, I was just going outside to play!” The boy greeted the four warmly. “This is my great-great-great grandson, William.” “Hello!” He brought a baby bird downstairs to show his grandma, and the rest of them “I found it dead near one of the elm trees at school.” “You’re learning quickly!” She explained he started at magic school in the neighboring towns over. She drove the conversation back into the direction of the amulet. “If you’d like, you can keep it.” The Marquess who showed little interest in that conversation quickly said “I’ll hold onto it.” “It’s not your decision!” “It hasn't been YOURS for centuries!” “Well, do you want to hold onto it or not, it’s getting late.”

“No, give it to William!” Claus exclaimed, pointing to William. “Me!?!??! No!” “good decision!” She handed the Amulet over to William, as the Amulet placed itself onto him it turned to Emeralds. “Cool!” Tom yelled “Sorry too loud.” “No problem.” the Enchantress, whose name was Marigold, told them off to bed. Teleported them to their houses and in their PJS, Claus, Edward, and Millie all said goodnight to each other and dozed off to sleep. Claus couldn’t fall asleep, so he thought about the encounters with The Enchantress. “Was the enchantress the one who held the basket of milk? Probably.. I wonder…. That's a question for another day.”

Cole Herlet Writing Seminar 5X Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 The EPIC Halloween BATTLE One dark night, Bob Jones was in his London garage getting his jet pack set for his next mission. He was a retired British spy, but he still was hungry for revenge against someone who committed the ultimate crime.

He secured the straps holding him into the jet pack and blasted off to Columbus, Ohio Nuclear plant. He landed on the roof and broke off of the jet pack. Dressed in full black, he slithered past the cameras and made his way to the vent. He pulled out his tool bag and looked for a Phillips head screwdriver. “Argggh where is my screwdriver?” he said worryingly on the roof of the nuclear plant. “Oh here it is phew,” he said to himself. SCREEEEEEEECH! goes the rusted screws holding the vent as Bob unscrews them . How can I get down from here? Bob questioned himself. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a vent that led to a ladder. CLICK CLANK CLICK CLANK CLICK CLANK. His shoes clapped down the ladder. Once Bob got to the ground, he searched for the reactor. Suddenly he noticed a worker. He knew he needed to do something to distract him so that he could get by. Bob shouted, “HEY! WOOOHOOOO!” and then quickly dashed out of sight and towards the reactor just like Flash.

“Now where is the Plant Grow Big 9 Million 82?” Bob asked, referring to the nuclear element that grows plants at least 100 times bigger than normal. “Oh, dang workers, I'll have to be quiet,” he said. Bob saw what he was looking for on a shelf, quickly grabbed the test tube and ran back to the vent. His shoes slapped to the ground as he jumped from vent to vent. Go, go go!

Bob told himself. Bob jumped into the car a former coworker at the CIA had left for him outside.

He hit the dash with joy, and drove off. Skkrrrttt! The wheels screeched as Bob pulled up to an airplane hanger. “The keys should be under the mat… and here they are!” he said. Bob got out of the car and ran towards the small yellow plane that was waiting for him. He opened the door, climbed in, put the key in the ignition, and flipped the switch to the cockpit. The engine roared.

“To the Alps!” he yelled. After ten hours of flying, the tires screeched to a stop on the rugged runway. Bob trudged up the snowy mountains to the capsule launcher. Drip, drip ,drip... Bob filled the capsules with the test tube of Plant Grow Big 9 million 82 . He knew that once a capsule hit a pumpkin patch all the pumpkins would grow as tall as a 3 story building! Once he finished filling them, he pressed the launch button. Hundreds of capsules whistled through the wind. In no time, hundreds of different pumpkin patches had a pill sized capsule landed in fields BooOOOoooOOOP! The pumpkins grew three stories high. “Hahaha!” said Bob. “My plan has been executed!”

Meanwhile, Joe Shawn was a pumpkin farmer living in Idaho. He got really angry when he saw his fields being taken over by mega pumpkins. He thought about what he could do about it. “I know! All I need is my scarecrow, my cornfield, and my Plant Grow Big 1 Billion. Plant Grow Big 1 Billion was 4000 times stronger than Plant Grow Big 9 Million 82. Joe put the scarecrow in a sealed chamber, and then poured the Plant Grow Big 1 Billion on it. “Every minute it gets bigger. After an hour, it will be as tall as the Burj Khalifa - almost 2800 feet tall!”

Joe then turned to his corn. He duct taped the stalks together to make a sword half as tall as the giant scarecrow. After an hour, the scarecrow was ready.

SMASH SMASH! The sound of thousands of pumpkins growing and fighting could be heard all over the world. The scarecrow and Joe traveled by land and sea, demolishing

everything in their sight. When they arrived in Switzerland, they discovered Bob and his last three pumpkins. Within seconds, the scarecrow destroys the first two. The third one is 20 times as big as the scarecrow. Bob had found another test tube of Plant Grow Big 9 million82, making the pumpkin bigger than the scarecrow. Slash! Bob cuts open one of its legs. Smash! The pumpkin falls down. Plop! The other leg is cut.

“Why did you make these pumpkins?'' asked Joe. “It doesn't matter,” said Bob. “It does matter,” said Joe. “Fine, well when I was a kid I grew a huge pumpkin. It took me 7 months to grow it! One day I went out to the patch to check on it, and I saw that it was obliterated. I had been so proud, and so I wanted revenge,” explained Bob. “You don't need revenge Bob. I love pumpkins too and they can always grow again. That was so long ago in the past” Joe replied. Even though both men have found that they share a mutual appreciation for pumpkins, Bob still seeks victory. At that moment, Bob makes a secret attack and slices the legs off the scarecrow. At the same time, Joe and the injured scarecrow cut open the pumpkin and its guts spill out. Joe, with the help of the scarecrow, wins this battle. Bob shouts as he runs away in defeat “I.. I..I...I'll get you next time!!!”

Sierra Iacovella Writing Seminar 5Y Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 The Ravenmaster’s Secret Miranda swept the dusty floors of her bedroom. The little dust bunnies ran away from her, under her closet door. She sighed and looked out the window. Multicolored leaves were falling off the big tree in the cemetery outside the castle.

Miranda was an average 12-year-old girl who lived with her mother, father, and little brother in an old castle in Scotland. The castle was owned by the old Ravenmaster.

A legend had it that a long time ago, when the Ravenmaster was a young boy, he had made a secret chamber in the castle. The Ravenmaster had supposedly filled the chamber with the spirits of the people in the cemetery outside the castle. He had wanted the spirits to be his servants that he could rely on no matter what. Legend also had it that the Ravenmaster had put a curse on his pet raven, Squib, that only he could control the chamber. The Ravenmaster had been worried that since spirits could pass through walls, that they would escape. So, he left a protection charm around the chamber that only he and Squib could control. After that, nobody had really seen the Ravenmaster or Squib for years.

Lately, Miranda had been thinking a lot about this tale. She wanted to find the secret chamber and let those poor spirits out. But nobody had any idea where the chamber was. And even if she could find the chamber, how would she open it? The power was only in Squib and the Ravenmaster.

“Miranda!” she heard her mother yell through the door. “Have you finished sweeping?”

“Yes, Mother,” Miranda replied.

“Then, please start doing the laundry,” her mother said.

Miranda came out of her room and walked down to the kitchen. A pile of dirty clothing was sitting next to a bucket of hot soapy water. Miranda picked up the first piece of clothing and began to rinse it in the bucket. The water seemed to talk to her as she moved the piece of clothing around in the bucket. She allowed for her mind to wander. She didn’t like living in the old castle much. Her parents had to convert part of it into a little home ever since rent had begun to get too high at their old house. The castle, Miranda thought, was creepy. Cobwebs lined the corridors, and at night the lanterns cast eerie shadows on the walls. Once, her little brother, James, had gotten out of bed at night to go get a glass of milk. He had mistaken one of the shadows for a werewolf and had cried all night, waking everyone up.

“You realize that water is all over the floor, right?” she heard a hoarse voice say from behind her.

Huh? Miranda thought. She looked down and sure enough water was all over the place. “Oh!” she exclaimed. Then, her mind snapped back into action and realized that she had just heard a voice behind her. She turned around and saw a black raven sitting in a cage on the wall. “Who are you?” she asked the raven.

“Me? Oh, I’m Pete. I’ve lived in this castle practically all my life. No one has really ever noticed me though,” The raven said.

“Wow!” Miranda said. “I never knew that ravens talked!”

“There’s a lot of stuff that people don’t know about ravens,” Pete said.

Miranda nodded. Clearly, she thought. Then, a thought popped into her mind.

“Hey, do you know anything about the secret chamber that the Ravenmaster made in the castle a long time ago?” she asked him.

“No,” Pete said. “But if you want information on the chamber, you’d have to ask my brother, Squib. He’s the one that the Ravenmaster put the curse on all those years ago.” Miranda felt as happy as a puppy at feeding time.

“Do you know where he lives?” she asked.

“I honestly don’t know. No one has really seen him for years now. But if I had to guess, he’d probably be in the fourth floor corridor, next to the master bedroom,” Pete said.

“Thanks,” Miranda said. She had to find Squib. But everyone in her family was deathly afraid of that corridor. Especially at night. Rumor had it that the previous king of the castle had been murdered there. She’d need to get her brother on the scene.

For the rest of the day, Miranda finished all of her chores and did everything that she needed to do. Finally, when it was time to go to bed, she snuck away to her brother's bedroom.

“James!” Miranda whispered through the door, knocking. She heard him groan.

“James!” she said louder.

“What is it?” James said, opening the door. He was in his white and blue striped pajamas.

“Look, I need you to come with me to the fourth floor corridor,” Miranda said.

“What?! No way! That corridor is for sure haunted,” James said.

“Please!” Miranda begged. “We need to free those spirits! You know the tale.”

“Oh, alright, fine!” James said.

Miranda hugged her 7-year-old brother. Then, she grabbed a lantern and they started heading up the stairs to the fourth floor. Miranda had to admit, she was pretty terrified, too. Her breath became shallow as they entered the corridor.

“This was a bad idea,” James said behind her. All Miranda could see was darkness in front of her. The lantern only lit a few feet in front of them.

“Who dares cross here?!” they heard a voice say from above them. Miranda shined the light at the source. It was another raven! Thank God! She thought.

“Are you Squib?” Miranda asked the raven.

“Yes,” The raven replied. “Why?” “Look, we know about the chamber that your master made. We know that you have a curse to open it. We mean no harm. Can you let us in?” Miranda asked. She was a scared and timid mouse the billionth of a second that Squib hesitated.

“Well, unfortunately I can not,” Squib said. Miranda sulked. “But, if you can answer my riddle, I will let you in.”

“Okay,” Miranda said. “What is it?” She prepared for the worst.

“What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?” Squib asked.

“Nacho cheese!” James blurted out.

“Blast! You got it!” Squib said. “Very well, I’ll let you in.”

After a few sentences of muttering, a big wooden door emerged out of the wall in front of them. Squib muttered a few more words and then the door opened. “I’m going to regret this,” Squib said as Miranda and James made their way into the chamber. The door slammed shut behind them. The chamber was dark and creepy. Miranda could sense James beginning to cry behind her. Then, a burst of green light illuminated the room and Miranda started to see a face and arms. It was one of the spirits! They had

done it! More and more spirits came out of nowhere and swooped down on them. But it only took James a few seconds to realize what the spirits were actually doing.

“Miranda! They’re attacking us!” James shouted. And sure enough, Miranda looked closer and saw that indeed the spirits were trying to attack them. Trying to suck out their souls!

“Please! We’re trying to save you!” Miranda yelled at the spirits.

“Saving them, huh?” a thundering voice said from in front of them. “Someone’s finally discovered this chamber I made all those years ago! I’m just going to let you know that you’re not going to be able to save them.” The minute Miranda heard the voice and what it said, she knew who it was even though he was still hidden behind shadows.

“YOU!” she said. “You’re the Ravenmaster!” James was sobbing behind her.

“Well, well, well. Aren’t you one smart cookie,” the Ravenmaster said in a scary whisper. The voice sounded oddly familiar. Why, though?

“Show yourself!” she demanded.

“If you insist,” the Ravenmaster said. He walked out from the cloak of darkness, allowing for James and Miranda to finally see him. He wore a black cloak with shiny black boots. He was also wearing a mask that looked like a raven’s head.

“Take off the mask.” Miranda pressed on.

“Oh, you don’t want to see my face. It’s far too terrifying for you and your little baby brother here,” the Ravenmaster said.

No. He did not just call James a baby. Both Miranda and James ran up to the Ravenmaster and ripped off his mask.

“NO!” he shouted. He fell to the floor, clutching his stomach as if someone had stabbed him. Miranda looked down in shock at his face. She dropped her lantern and it shattered. It was her great uncle Robert! How in the world was this possible?!

“Miranda…” Robert’s voice trailed off and sounded quieter.

“I don’t believe it!” Miranda said, astonished. “I trusted you!”

“So did I!” James said. Both of them had seen and loved their Uncle Robert when they were little. How could it be that he was also working as a part time raven monster!?

“I don’t want to have to do this to you,” Miranda said. “But I’m going to have to let all of your spirits go. They don’t deserve to be slaves.”

“Please don’t!” Robert begged. But Miranda opened the chamber door and all of the green spirits flooded out back into the cemetery. Robert howled in pain.

“Why is it so painful?” James asked. He sounded a bit annoyed.

“Since those spirits were my full time servants, I used them for everything. I used them so much that I stopped doing a lot myself. Because of this, my own soul had been sucked up into them. I need to keep them close in order to keep my soul,” Robert said.

Both James and Miranda gasped.

“But how did the spirits get your soul?” Miranda asked, quivering at the memory of getting attacked by the spirits.

“Well, since they’re dead, they want a soul or a body to have back and when I came along, they saw me as easy prey,” Robert said. Miranda suddenly felt bad for her Uncle Robert. She didn’t want him to die.

Squawk! they suddenly heard above them. Squawk! It was Pete and Squib!

“We’re here to heal the Ravenmaster!” Pete said. Miranda gaped in awe as she watched both ravens land on the cold stone floor of the chamber and nip at the Ravenmaster’s cheek. Miranda gasped.

“What are you doing!?” she cried.

“They saved me!” Robert exclaimed.

“Huh?” James said.

“Ravens are natural healers! If they nip you, you're cured!” Robert said. “Didn’t you know this?”

“No!” Miranda said, astonished.

“It’s just what we do,” Squib said. Miranda felt joy fill up her heart.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”

The next morning, the Ravenmaster was cured, fit, and well again. He had planned to stay with the family for a while and live in the castle. Pete and Squib had been introduced to Miranda and James’s mom and dad and they had planned to give them food and water like they deserved. Miranda was sitting next to the big tree in the cemetery. She sighed and played with a leaf in her hand. James came over and sat down next to her.

“Hey,” he said. Miranda smiled. “Last night sure was crazy, huh?” James said.

Miranda nodded. She didn’t have words to speak. She was so happy. “Mom has breakfast ready,” James said. “Want to come and get some?”

“No,” Miranda said. “I’m not hungry right now.” She just wanted to stay outside and think of everything that had happened the previous night. I mean, they had discovered that ravens could talk, found a secret chamber in the castle full of spirits, and found out that the Ravenmaster was their Uncle Robert… What more could they have

done!? But there was still a lot more to discover in the castle, a bunch of mysteries that were just waiting to be solved.

Vivian. M Kelley Writing Seminar 5x Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 The Tales of a Great Adventure 1999 “Why do you want all the power when mom gave me the magic scepter! She had trust in me and faith in me having power! To be the Great Queen of the North! Ruler of this land!”

“You are like the selfish rats that roam in the kingdom! Mom is just favoring you!”

“I am the ruler of this land! I am destined for power!”

“I am older and more mature, not a selfish little brat like you!”

Present day It was the day after the summer festival in the town square had ended and Donna and I were so ecstatic for fall. Here in this quaint town, we are Halloween buffs!

Everything is scary and we have bonfires that I will remember forever. Last week my mom said that I was too halloween. I mean is that even possible? So, Donna, Mom, Dad, and I, and of course a dog ,Totter, piled into the car to go to meet our friends. We were headed to see The Alicia Sisters, and their parents, Matt and Marg, at their mansion at muddy place avenue. They have been our friends for a whole lifetime.

“Oh, Dorothy dear, can you please run by Stuart's Bank to pick up two pounds to fund the fall festival? After school tomorrow? ” asked my dear mother, as we pulled into the driveway of their house.

“Sure, I will pick it up on my way home with the new neighbors Weedle Wee and Weedle Wum!” I explained.

“Alright that sounds fine, but don’t be too long honey, for all our safety. We are all buffoons if we don't stay inside,” Mom explained.

“What do you mean by safety?” Donna asked.

“It is none of your business to know it's so scary your eyes will fall out of their sockets!” Mom warned.

“But...” I pleaded.

“No buts young ladys. It should not be on your little juvenile mind anyhow.”

After that, I was hooked, like Peter Pan or Captain Hook. What could possibly be in that bank? I had to find out. But, I had to keep it a secret from my parents, so I confided in my twin sister, Donna.

“Hey Donna, you got to help me, I am on a secret mission,” I whispered.

“Oh come on little sis, like I didn't know you were up to something.” she boasted.

“But I am a nice, kind, and caring person, so I am decided that I am going to help you with this one thing.”

“Thanks a billion sis!” I exclaimed.

“Why are we all gathered here again?” exclaimed the Alicia Sisters, as if they were clones, in unison.

“Because we are all a community and we work together and help each other out!” explained Weedle Wee. “Yes they are all right, I asked my dear, and not to mention loving, sister to gather you all here because I am on a mission to find the secret hiding in the bank. Now can you please help me?” I pleaded.

“I guess we can all chip in,” replied the cat.

“Well, I guess that just shows what a community means!” I excitedly exclaimed.

“Now, those who are still in their youth, is it okay if you skip school for the day?”

I asked.

“Well, I do not know. I want to be at least 8 months ahead in school work before I skip a day of school. Sadly, I am only 7 months ahead, so maybe not this time,” confessed Weedle Wum. “Oh, shut up Weedle, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! You can miss a day of school for this!” shouted Weedle Wee. “Fine.”

“Alright, now that everyone is on board we can charge into the bank!” I shrieked.

“Let’s do it! We do not want the fall festival to be ruined! I am exerting all my courage into this!” the cowardly penguin said, shaking.

“Alright then, let’s get this show on the road! Let’s sabotage the Queen of Hearts in her ‘Magic Warehouse!’” everyone roared in unison.

“Ha ha ha!” cackled the Queen of Hearts “I am so close to getting the scepter of power from my selfish and evil sister ‘The Amazing Queen of the North!’ But I will have power soon. I will be the astounding Queen of Hearts! And all my minions will bow down to me!”

“Um, ya no….” I surprisingly and confidently announced.

The Queen of Hearts gasped, “What on earth are you doing here in this secret bank of mine?”

“Um, the question is why are you here?” I questioned. “ So this is what Mom was hiding from me…” I thought “Because I am the Queen of Hearts and this is my territory,” she announced.

“I am so close to retrieving the magic scepter that none of you will ever stop me from receiving my rightful glory! Ha ha ha!”

“I am not so sure about that. Because you know why? We are a team and we work together! So on the count of 3 ,we all yell ‘ Clubs, Diamonds, and Spades unite to break the Queen of Hearts at midnight tonight!” I tell the group “CLUBS, DIAMONDS, AND SPADES UNITE TO BREAK THE QUEEN OF HEARTS AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!” they all proudly said in unison, even the cowardly penguin.

So, ya, we all defeated the Queen of Hearts, one of the most powerful queens in all of our small villages. But, the funny part is I was half guessing on the whole ‘defeating the queen thing’ but it worked. We defeated her together as a community and we will have and cherish that special bond for ever and ever until we pass away and the next generation defeats the enemy at the time. For now, we are the heroes and I could get used to all the praise on our big defeat , because it feels great to be alive!

2039 “Everyone, can you please listen? This is my turn to host the monthly tea party and my theme is how we all became best friends!” declared the clever cat.

“Well, that is kind of a long story,” I noted.

“Well, I think not!” the clever cat said.

“Fine but let's get one with it...” *giggle*

James Kelly Writing Seminar 5x Ms.Warshaw 18 October 2021 The Mysterious Man in the Night This Halloween night has been the weirdest night ever. I know there is a full moon. The things that happened tonight were even crazier than other full moon nights.

Wait, there he is! A strange man wearing all black! He just disappeared when I saw him!

Wait, was that… Screaming!?

My name is Groot, and I’m a tree monster. It all started like a normal night. I woke up this evening, before trick or treaters started trick or treating because it was a special night.

Normally I sleep straight through the day and don’t wake until midnight. I looked out the window, and saw a mysterious man appear right in front of my house. I was frozen with fear and it felt like I was being held down by a giant elephant. He was only there a few seconds and then he disappeared. I thought I was dreaming or that maybe I had eaten something bad and was getting sick. But I ran to the bathroom, splashed water on my face, ran back to the window, and there he was again.

I think this time he was closer than last time. He kept disappearing and would come back a little closer each time. When he got really close I shook as if there was an earthquake outside.

Then I heard the screaming…

Okay, now this day got even weirder and scarier. I could kind of see someone in the distance that looked like a friend of mine, but how could my friend want to almost scare me so badly that I would have daymares while I slept in my house? Even so, there was something that

gave me the feeling it was him. I couldn’t just try and fall asleep with the yelling and screaming, so I decided to find out who this mysterious man was. I knew how I would do it.

Since each time he appeared he got closer to my house, I would go to where he appeared the last time, so I could sneak up from behind him. So I got something to eat and then put my plan to work. I watched to see where he would appear next, and when he disappeared again I went to where I last saw him. I got in position and waited. Suddenly, he appeared, and I saw...

My friend John! I thought it was him, but why…? And then I remembered. Oh yeah! He is a teleportation alien! I said to myself. John could teleport anywhere on the planet, but not onto other planets. His UFO crashed in my backyard 5 years ago, and ever since he has been my best friend.

“Why did you try to scare me?” I asked.

“I wanted to get you in the Halloween spirit!”

Then I remembered that it was Halloween. I had forgotten all about it! He said that he timed the teleports perfectly so that each time a trick or treater screamed, it would scare me. I was relieved no one got hurt, and more importantly, that no one was trying to kidnap me.

John and I went to get food at the forest diner. We ordered pancakes and waffles for our breakfast dinner. Afterwards, we had a sleepover at my house. While we were brushing our teeth in the bathroom, I looked out the window. I could have sworn that someone had just been on my front lawn, but then they vanished… Was my mind playing tricks on me, or was there someone else watching me?

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Bryant Krueger Writing Seminar 5x Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 When Yeskal Destroyed the Tradex

“Don’t do this Yeskal! All I wanted to do was help!” Kash yelled horridly.

“You should’ve said that earlier,” Yeskal replied, dropping her sister into the lava pit. “All I wanted to do was help,” Yeskal whispered, mocking her burned sister in disgust.

15 years bac, Yeskal was a 532-year-old Tradex girl, daughter of Unicif, goddess of death and combat. Her sister, Kash, was a 406-year-old Tradex, goddess of living souls and health. (Tradex years are a fourth of a human year). When they were born, Yeskal was made with a radioactive heart, which made Kash jealous of her powers. The radioactive heart gave her powers to form any object or grow and shrink.

Because of Kash’s jealousy, she signed up for a scientific experiment. They pumped her full of chemicals to figure out if her body could sustain high heat. They discovered that she could.

Because Yeskal’s powers were nothing anybody had seen, the camp where she was raised for many years told her she would have to leave. Once her father agreed that she should leave, she began a phase of hatred. The camp heard from messengers that Yeskal had plans to come back and destroy them all.

Soon, her sister, Kash, was sent to not only stop but bring Yeskal back so that her camp could rip her heart out and then replace it with a normal heart. Unfortunately,

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when the two sisters met, Yeskal dropped her in a volcano. Kash failed and let her whole camp down.

As Yeskal’s camp got weaker day by day, Yeskal began to grow stronger. Once her camp was dying on its own, Yeskal's powers began to lose strength too. But that didn’t stop her from destroying.

Present Day, While Yeskal was torturing half of the world, Kash was gruesomely being burned apart and her intense screams of pain and horror rattled the rocks around her. As pain gave Yeskal strength, it weakened Kash, but couldn't kill her. It could only weaken her down to a piece of dust. That experiment might have given Kash the power to live. She was as weak as a worm. She was having a flashback of the experiment she had been volunteered in. Kash was gaining strength! The powerful goddess started to slowly hover, drenched in lava still crisp and screaming. Kash collapsed down on the ground yelping and barely breathing. When Kash looked at her hands she fainted.

The next day, Kash woke up very slowly. She was having a hard time seeing anything. Kash’s sight was blurry and unconcentrated until she saw people charging at her with looks of fascination. It was the people from her camp! They were looking at her with disbelief. When she tried to stand up, she immediately stumbled to her knees.

Everyone around her had wide eyes with their jaws wide open. They started to carry her back to what was left of her camp. Bit by bit, she was gaining strength, breathing, and finally yelped, “Where am I?!”

“Honey, you’re home,” Unicif pointed out to his daughter. “Let’s clean you up,” Unicif said.

Once she was cleaned and all she asked “Do you need help with anything, father?” muttered Kash, seeing what Yeskal had done.

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Five weeks passed, and Kash and her camp members completely fixed up the camp until it looked good as new. They were ready to take on Yeskal, but first, they had to train. Kash was no normal Tradex; she was now a fire goddess. (That means a goddess or god whose powers are fire, she/he would be able to shoot fire from their hands.) The Tradex ways of training were spells, hand to hand, a bow & arrow, and guns. Tradex warriors take hundreds of years to finish their training. At last, the warriors had completed all stages of their training and were ready to take on Yeskal.

After 11 weeks of training, the Tradex warriors were navigating themselves to Yeskal. Suddenly the front of the pack stopped and went into a fighting stance. They had found bloody footprints of Yeskal. They weren’t scared, they were ready to fight.

“Siunclay!” Unicif screamed (which means either the intruder found or get ready to fight). Kash was at the end of the pack, waiting and waiting for the chance to be released and be able to have revenge on her sister.

Yeskal stared at her father, shooting him a mean and devilish grin. “You shouldn’t have said to leave, Father.” ''I didn’t know that you’d turn into such a torturous Tradex,” Unicif replied. “We apologize for making such a quick decision, we will offer you a spot on the royal court.”

“You aren’t kidding,” Yeskal coughed up laughing in disgust. “I will never serve your sickening royalty!” Yeskal stiffly shouted, throwing magical swords at the Tradex warriors.

A few days later, Unicif and 12 others were the only ones left fighting. Kash hadn't even started to fight. 3 days later Unicif and Kash were the only ones alive and Kash had just begun to fight. Kash was hurling fireballs at Yeskal, making her stumble every time.

Kash was being badly hurt, but at last, she knelt, put one hand on the ground and made

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a cloud of fire swarm around her, and cast a spray of fire as hot as a burning pan, making Yeskal crumple onto the ground and completely blackout. Kash felt the pain from the hard battle she had just fought, and screamed “Raaaa!” Yeskal had no chance of winning.

Once Kash had attempted to heal everybody, the Tradex civilization was doing what had to be done to Yeskal. They had to rip her heart out and replace it with a normal Tradex heart. 3 years later, Tradex people were happier than ever, especially because they had the new and improved Yeskal on the royal court to guide them through any situations. And they lived an aware life from then on.

Happy Halloween!

Maximilian Waterhouse Kusche Writing Seminar 5Y Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 The Boy Who Was Threatening His Friends Fin was anxiously and excitedly awaiting the arrival of Halloween. It would be one more rest until his favorite holiday. Looking for someone to hang out with to pass the time, he walked around from house to house to see if his friends were there.

He rang each doorbell on the whole block until he got to Lucy’s house. He rang the bell and when the door opened he said, “BOO!” Lucy didn’t move.

Then she slammed the door shut and shouted through it, “RUN!” “Why?” asked Fin. “Because there is a monster behind you!” screeched Lucy.

Fin said, “Oh, don’t worry about him, he’s just my pet gorilla, George.”

“Just leave, you’re being so annoying,” said Lucy flatly.

“Fiiiiine.” Fin said, groaning, and headed off, alone and lonely, to his favorite restaurant, Fin, the sushi place.

Fin strode into the restaurant purposefully and asked to see the manager. He wanted to ask if he could work there. The manager easily said, “Yes, on one condition. You mustn’t break anything!” Fin agreed happily and asked if he could make some food for himself for that day and come back the next day to start work.

Surprisingly, the really nice manager, Jack, agreed, so Fin made himself some delicious sushi and went home. He ate it extraordinarily quickly, as normal.

After supper, Fin went on a run because he had a lot of energy from all the sushi and his mouth was on fire because of the wasabi. However, he was still hungry so he went to Sammy’s Pizza Place and got a pepperoni pizza.

The weirdest thing happened to Fin while he was there. The pepperoni on his pizza came to life! This terrified him so he ran away as fast as he could. His heart was pounding and he was running out of breath. He was running so fast he thought he was going to faint, yet he had to keep going.

He turned a corner and there he was - back at Lucy’s house. He barged through the door without thinking. “LUCY!” he cried and seeing her sitting calmly in front of her fire and not wishing to look like a scaredy-cat, decided not to mention the attack of the petrifying pepperoni and instead said, “Do you want to go trick or treating with us tomorrow night?”

“Depends,” replied Lucy “Why are you shouting my name, and who is ‘us’?”

“Jack, the manager from Fin, and Sammy from Sammy’s Pizza Place down the road,” said Fin. “We are all going trick or treating together.”

Lucy responded, “Yes, I will go with you guys.”

Then Lucy, Sammy, Jack, and Fin went and got ready for Halloween because the celebration was the next day. Fin had a trick up his sleeve. He was going to be a mummy. Fin said to himself, “I will pretend to get kidnapped, and then all my friends will look for me, but I will be walking towards them in my mummy costume and scare them all!” With his secret plan, he went to see if his friend’s costumes were done.

The next day, Fin called his friends and said, “We should trick or treat before everyone’s candy is gone.” His friends agreed and came right over. They started ringing bells and knocking on doors and when Fin had the chance to do his prank, he tried to pull it off. He quickly jumped into a bush to hide and yelled for help. His friends looked around and when they turned back to the bush, there was a mummy right there. He had popped a cardboard mummy up from the bush and placed the card, bored mummies, all around. They were so scared they ran the other way, right into another one! There were mummies everywhere around them! Fin even had speakers behind them making spooky noises.

Jack, Sammy, and Lucy jumped and the leader of the mummies (aka Fin, dressed as a mummy) was right there walking towards them. Fin had a big scary laugh so they yelled and started to run. Fin yelled, “Come back!” with a scary voice.

Then Fin turned off his spooky voice and they said, “Are you Fin?” Fin said, “Yes, I am.”

The three yelled “FIN! Why did you do that?”

Fin said, “Because it is Halloween.”

The friends didn’t love that explanation and were still visibly upset with Fin. Fin kept trying to explain, but they said, “Let’s just go home.” Fin agreed, but first wanted to play the song, “This is Halloween.” Eventually, they got home exhausted and ready for bed. They were glad the day was over.

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Oscar Lehnerd-Reilly Writing Seminar 5X Ms.Warshaw 18 October 2021

Max’s Halloween One day on hallows eve there was a ten year old named Max. He was playing with his monster toys thinking about all the candy he was going to get the next day on Halloween. He couldn't wait until the next day. In fact, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep that night. The next day, Max jumped out of his bed and rushed down stairs. Max had school that day, but luckily he got to wear his costume. He was dressing up as Boba Fett from Star Wars, which was his favorite movie. That morning his mom made her chocolate chip pancakes, which was the best breakfast in his opinion. He rushed out of the house to get to school and show off his costume.

Max’s school was only a couple blocks away so he could walk but today he was sprinting. When he got to school he went inside and it looked and sounded empty. Max was scared so he went to his classroom to see if his teacher was there. He entered the room and right when he got in, something started pulling him down. He looked down and saw one of the school jack o'lanterns biting him. He kicked, trying to get away. Then he saw a fat large witch coming right at him. He managed to get away from the pumpkin, but he didn't think he could get away from the witch.

Max, his friend Jarol, said as he was walking to the school “Who is that person that looks like a witch chasing you?”

.

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Run! Max yelled. “I will explain when we get to my house.”When they got to the house they rushed inside and locked the door. They both thought they were safe, but then, every decoration in Max’s house came to life. Max yelled “Mom Dad” they came over, but they were zombies and started chasing the two boys. Max said “Let's go through my window.” It's the only way”. So they ran up the stairs to Max's room.

Max threw a bunch of stuffed animals he had so they could have a soft landing.

Then he grabbed a ton of his favorite toys, just to have them with him if they don’t make it. They jumped and fell in the cushiony pile of stuffed animals. It took them a while to get out of the stuffed animal pit. When they did get out everyone Max’s parents, the Jack-o-lanterns,the witch was chasing them again so they rushed to the car, locked the doors and rolled up the windows.

“I'm going to drive away,” said Jerol.

No Max shouted. “You're ten, you can't even drive yet!”

Jerol ignored him, and he stepped hard on the pedal and zoomed away. Jerol was driving for about an hour just to get about a day lead. There was a tent in the back of the car from when they went camping, so they set it up and there were also snacks and sleeping bags. They figured they should be good for at least a couple days before they needed to restock. That night, Jerol and Max played Go Fish with some cards they found in the car. Then Max heard a noise saying Max! Max! over and over again.

Jerol said, “Max, are you okay?”

Max woke up.He was sweating like crazy,and when he looked around he realized he was in his bed.For some reason,his toy car was in his hands. Was it just a dream? he thought to himself. Then he said, “Impossible I never remember my dreams.” He quietly tiptoed downstairs in case his parents were still zombies but they looked completely .

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normal. Max’s mom made him chocolate chip pancakes, just like in his dream. Max’s mom told him that Jerol is coming over to trick or treat. He got his costume on and left for school feeling so excited to get his candy. As he walked to school, he felt a pain in his calf. He pulled up his costume to see what was wrong. There was a pumpkin seed stuck in his calf. He threw it into a garden and skipped happily to school.

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Ava Leykikh Writing Seminar 5Y Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 The Disappearing M Milo, Aidan, Reid, and Demi were on a morning walk after a sleepover.

Demi said to the others how they should walk to the Lato Public Park. They agreed, so they went straight there but something felt off. The group thought that it was because the playground was near an abandoned school.

They were there for a while as they played on the creaky swings and the wobbly slide.

When Milo saw thunder he told everyone, but as soon as he tried to speak it started to pour excessively. They begin to think of where they should go since there was no close shelter beside them. Aidan got an idea of the abandoned school near them. It was the only close shelter. They began to run as fast as a shark going to get its prey to the school.

As they got there, they split up and looked in the school as they were drenched. Writing room BORING, math room BORING, science room BORWait, yes! Milo rushed everyone in to come to check it out. They came running and started searching for a lot of stuff around the room. They went to check what was inside the space, and they saw... toilet paper wrapping.

They go to check out what it was, but everyone chickened out. Everyone except Reid. He went to see what it was and he saw a mummy! he didn't believe what he saw, every one of them thought it was a sculpture or something that has to do with old science. They all looked at each other disgusted. Aidan saw mold in the back of the (VERY OLD) mummy. They didn't think much of it, so they went to look for other stuff.

Reid turned around and looked aghast! He said, “Guys turn around.”

“What?” said Milo. “OMG! THE MUMMYS GONE!” They saw blood dripping from the little cage it was in. Aidan started screaming as they all balled in tears. They heard a creak at the door, “ hind and seek a round or 2 I’m just a mummy what can I do to u ”, they went to hide all together but couldn't find Reid.

Milo said, “ We can't leave him behind, let's go back and find him.”

They agree but are tremendously scared, they go looking afresh and find blood on the shattered window sell. They saw Reid’s baseball ( he goes everywhere with it) rolling across the dented dusty hallway. They run as turbo as possible. As they continue running the mummy is chasing after whatever is left, Aidan, Milo, and Demi. Milo saw a house and ran up to it, begging the owner to let him in.

The kind lady said, “Yes, but only for a little.”

“Thank you so much!” said Milo and ran in. By the time he left outside to go inside, all he could hear outside was silence; he reminded himself that the others had nowhere to run. He stayed there for the night, which turned into a year, and missing papers went up. The lady asked if he was missing Milo and said, “Long story short…” “My friends and I went on an adventure and we went to a science room in an abandoned school to check stuff out. My friends, Demi got lost, Aidan ran away and nobody talked to him since, and Reid got eaten by a mummy”. “ was your mom looking for you” “ packs all his stuff” ill be right back i-i-i-I’m going to the store to get some-uh-uh-uh milk ya milk

Nerushka M. Lopez Writing Seminar 5Y Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 The Runaway Gem Hi, I'm Lia and I'm from Connecticut. I love to invent new things. Once I made a robot that shoots lasers. My mom is really strict, so I have to hide the things I invent, or else she would throw them out.

Let me tell you about a crazy thing that happened to me. It was October 30th, so that meant it was my birthday. I ran downstairs so fast I heard all the stairs shaking. My mom handed me this weird book that talked about odd places. There were things like where zombies live. Soon after I went to bed thinking about why my mom would give me this book. Was she trying to tell me something?

The next morning I walked downstairs to the kitchen to see my mom crying. I asked her in a light voice, “What’s wrong?” She turned her head and started doing the dishes. I left without eating breakfast. The whole school day I was miserable thinking about why my mom was crying this morning. As I walked to my next class this boy asked me if I wanted to go out to go grab Dunkin Donuts with him. I looked at him up and down and smiled.

“Is that a yes?” the boy said.

I nodded. “Meet me around 6 at Dunkin’ Donuts,” I said. Everyone around us stared at me.

At 5:30 I arrived at Dunkin Donuts. I sat down and waited for my date. It was 6:30 and he was still not there. So I did what I had to do. I left to go home and my mom was GONE! I looked everywhere and called her 4 times on my phone. I called mostly everyone I knew and they all said they didn't see her. I began to sweat. I walked to the nearest store around me but she was still not there.

Because it was October 30th, that meant Halloween was the next day and I had no costume at all. I walked 9 miles to go to the nearest Walmart to buy one thing, and then another 9 miles back. When I got home my mouth dropped. My mother was just there like nothing was going on. She ran to her room and hid something.

The next day it was HALLOWEEN! I put on my costume. I was a wolf by the way.

The whole night I went trick or treating ALONE! Dun da Dun, I’m not gonna lie it was pretty scary. As I walked home this dress-up mummy bumped into me. Or so I thought.

The mummy was speaking this weird language.

“Are you okay?” I responded. He ran away and that was that.

I went to bed thinking about all the drama that had been going on. I woke up thinking about that book my mom got me. I got curious and started reading the book. It talked about how some mummies are still alive but in disguise. HMM I said to myself That made me think about that mummy I ran into last night. I did some research and studied . At 6 o’clock I got ready for school and ate breakfast this time. When I walked out the door the same mummy I saw from the other day was sitting there right in front of me.

“Umm Halloween is over,” I said softly. The mummy grabbed my hand with no warning and walked me to the woods to his cabin. He showed me this book with cool gems I had never seen before. The mummy pointed at this one particular gem. It was a

sea blue color and so shiny. I was so confused. “WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?” I yelled.

The mummy hid under a chair, scared for his life. I felt bad so I helped him get back up on his feet. Then suddenly this old, creepy man came out of nowhere. I jumped so high the mummy flew to the other side of the cabin. The mummy and I ran so fast we made it to a grassy sunny place in a matter of seconds. The mummy had brought the book with him. When he started speaking I put on the gibberish translator that I had invented last year. The mummy was trying to say that every year he always looks for the same type of gem and that he needs the gem so he can turn back into a human. I nodded and did some research again. After searching on my phone for a few minutes, I found something that said we could find it in Massachusetts. So that meant we had to walk for two days because I did not have a car to drive and I was only fifteen “WE MADE IT!” I shouted, grateful to finally make it.

We started running for minutes until we reached this weird forest, and then we entered a cave .I was so scared for my life. I started feeling really tired, so I sat down and closed my eyes for a bit. It turned out that when I fell to sleep some weird guy grabbed me and the mummy. He kidnapped us! I thought in my head. Soon after BAM! Someone woke me up. It turned out I was dreaming.

The mummy and I got back to walking. I felt like my feet were going to fall off. It was also so cold and I had no jacket. On the other hand, the mummy was just chilling as if it was not cold. Soon after we made it to another cold, dark, gloomy cave. Maybe this was where the gem was? I thought to myself. I was excited to find this gem and go home.

About 3 minutes later, the mummy yelled in excitement. I ran over to the mummy like a cheetah hunting for food.

I put on my gibberish translator really quickly. He was saying that he found the gem. The gem he had been looking for for years now. A few seconds later he swallowed it. I was shocked! I was about to give him CPR when I saw he was smiling with joy. Soon after, he vanished. I was so worried we had just walked 2 days for him to just vanish?! rWell, I guess I spoke too soon because suddenly the most beautiful boy was behind me.

I gasped.

“Were you the boy that was a mummy 20 seconds ago?” I asked. He nodded. I ran and gave him a hug for the adventure he gave me, not only a few heart attacks he also gave me. “What's your name?” I asked. “My name is Lia.” “Nice to meet you, Lia. My name is Tony.”

A few years later we moved to Massachusetts and built our own house. It took us a while. But I'm 18 now and living with Tony. We go trick or treating every year. We are living the best life without any of our parents. You can also say that Tony has the brain of Albert Einstein? Meanwhile, I’m the best scientist in the world. And that's our story!!!

Cameron Mitchell Writing Seminar 5X Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021

The Burning Car Late one evening, my sister and I were walking through the Unquowa parking lot and heard a loud. BOOM! We headed to the field to practice soccer. Suddenly, we saw a burning car. It wasn't fully burnt yet, but there were little sparks shooting out of the trunk.

The person in the car didn’t get out, because they were shocked there was a zombie above him. I was sneaking behind the fence to try and convince him to get out of the car, but he wouldn’t. As the evening got later, the sparks got bigger and bigger. Then, out of nowhere, a zombie appeared! The zombie started to guard the car that was burning.

I made a little splash, splash, because the parking lot was wet so then I ducked down so the zombie wouldn’t see me. Right then and there, I saw the zombie creeping up to me and my sister. We went under a car to hide. I saw the zombie creeping up on me and my sister, so we went under another car to hide. Then the zombie went back to the burning car.

I swooped right past the zombie guarding the inflamed car. My sister distracted the zombie and I couldn’t unlock the car, therefore the guy in the car opened the car doors.

Finally. I opened the door immediately to let him out, and we all ran towards the school. I tripped on the stairs but got back up and started to run again. As we got inside, we heard the locks click. Click. We were stuck inside the school! We see a teacher but they just keep

on walking around doing nothing because they know we're following them. We asked them to help us out of the school but absolutely no response though.

Later, the teacher goes and does some work so we stopped following them after a while. We thought amongst ourselves if we should beg the teacher to let us out but we decided to just pull on every door and we couldn’t do anything. We made a move and hid in one of the classrooms. I stuttered when we ran to the classroom.

I shouted, “We should… Run!” We heard the zombie chasing us then we raced through the halls and got away from the zombie, until 3 minutes later we saw the zombie hiding in the cafeteria chewing up some zombie brains.

I said, “This has been quite a long day for us, so I think we should now get out of here.” We rush to the bathrooms for a bathroom break and the bathrooms have cobwebs on the ceilings and it’s dirty on the toilets and the sinks have gray specks on it. I shout, “Why are we still in this school? I want to go home. Help!”

Then a ghost noise whispered, “RUN!” I screamed, I panicked, and ran to the front door. It seemed all along the front door was open. We saved the guy in the car and my sister and I got to safety.

“Finally!” I shouted. After we got out of there the zombie burnt in the flames like a burnt piece of toast. Earlier the car started to burn some mysteries guy had a lighter and put a flame on the car but they were in all black so I couldn’t see them lighting the car. The next day I see the black guy again lurking around town they sprint because they see me chasing them. Then I lost them. I really wish I was much faster so I could catch them.

BOOM! I sprint towards the smoke and it seems it's a haunted house so I walk onto the floor and makes a creek noise. I scream “ahh”. . . . . . There the black man was again, this time

setting a plane on fire and never caught him. I gave up on chasing. BOOM! I heard it again I knew I couldn’t catch him so I didn’t go for it. The black man was never discovered again.

Isabelle Onthank Writing Seminar 5y Ms.Warshaw 18 October 2021` Ghost Pony Thud! Thud! Thud! Amber was sprinting home from school like a cheetah. It was a Friday night and that was movie night! Amber decided she would take a short cut through the woods. Her feet squished through the leaves and mud. Out of the corner of her eye she saw some kind of creature, and on second look she saw a pony! She walked over to the pony and pet him. When she did, her hand went right through where its forelock was. Wait what? Is this a ghost pony? Amber thought to herself. Amber tried again but still, her hand went right through. She was so amazed. She had to show her brother.

Amber brought the pony home and showed it to her brother, Adam. he was surprised and kind of freaked out and his face went white like a ghost. They decided they would name the pony Ghost. Amber and Adam came to a decision that they would keep Ghost, but keep him a secret from their mom. Adam and Amber went to the feed store and bought some hay and grain. When they came back they made up a stall. Their mom called them in for dinner.

Amber and Adam went to check on Ghost before they went to bed. He was kicking on his stall door. It looked like he wanted to come out. Amber unlatched the door and let him out for a bit . All of a sudden Ghost started to trott. They got on their bikes and started to chase after Ghost.

“Where is he going?” asked Adam.

“How would I know?” replied Amber.

Amber and Adam's legs were so tired and it was also getting dark. They arrived at some kind of slaughterhouse. Amber and Adam found out they were at a horse slaughterhouse! Adam wanted to go back home but Amber insisted that she would stay and help rescue all of these horses and find Ghost. Adam did not like that idea. Amber said that she would do all of his chores for a month! Adam agreed and they snuck into the slaughterhouse. When they went in they saw dozens of beat up and scared horses.

When they looked to their left, they saw Ghost with another horse.

OMG had Ghost been slaughtered here? Amber and Adam thought to themselves. They figured out that Ghost was slaughtered here and after he was killed, his spirit ran away. Now he just wanted to see his friends and save them, so that is what Amber and Adam were going to help Ghost do.

Adam and Amber came up with a plan. They got all of the halters and started to put them on the horses. All of a sudden they heard footsteps coming. They had to hurry up. Amber told Adam that they would need to ride bareback. They jumped on horses, opened the door, and herded the horses out of there. As they were galloping home, Amber looked back and saw Ghost with his best friend. She was so happy to help. Ten minutes later they heard a car. They both looked back and saw a red pickup truck with a white trailer racing down the road after them.

“Those are the farmers who are trying to slaughter the horses!” said Amber.

“Well we better hurry up!” said Adam.

Their hearts were beating so loud that the whole forest could hear it. Amber and Adam rode faster. Finally they got home. Amber and her brother hid all the horses and Ghost in the pasture behind the barn.

Beep, Beep, Beep.

“Time to get up, and go to school,” a voice said.

“Wait what? That was all a dream!” shouted Amber as she woke to her mom’s voice. She got out of bed and ate breakfast. As she was brushing her teeth, she looked out of the window. Parked in front of her house, she saw a red pickup truck with a white trailer...

Ramon E. Perez Writing Seminar 5x Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 The Story of Ethan and the Zombie Boom! “What did we hit?” I said.

“We hit a deer,” said my dad.

“Okay, let’s go,” I said. We were going on a long road trip. We are taking a road trip to Delaware for a big baseball tournament.

When we got there we went to the beach. When my friends got there, I dug a big hole and my friends dared me to jump in. Maybe you wouldn’t do that, but I'm a crazy kind of guy. So I jumped in! Right when I jumped in, a portal popped up. Poof! I ended up in a graveyard in another universe.

It was around 9:00 pm on a dark gloomy night. Suddenly a zombie appeared and he jumped as high as a frog. He said that he was a human just like me. I didn’t believe him one tiny bit, no matter what he told me. the zombie added that he had been here for over 100,000 thousand years. He also explained that it was probably like 10 Earth years. After 10,000 thousand years in this universe, the zombie added, “you became a zombie?”. I said, “Okay, whatever you say.”

I was so confused that my brain was fried, more than when I learned Geometry. But it gets better. He told me there was a way out of here. The zombie said that at midnight a portal opens up. “I've been looking for it for a long time but no luck,” he added. “However, since you are young and smart you will find it, and then we can get out.”

He gave me directions to get out of this spooky and terrifying universe. I whispered to myself, “I'm not really good at directions.” “I think we will be here for a long time” as I whispered “Upon the leaves, up the hill, in the bushes, you will hear crackling noises and the sound of zombie frogs,” the zombie said.

“This seems hard,” I said as I looked confused. It’s probably in a bush with a bunch of leaves and up a hill. “Right I, hope so,” I thought to myself. ‘‘So let's go!’’ said the zombie.

I said, “Okay, okay, okay. oh my god, you are so pushy... So where could it be…?” I wondered to myself. So we are going to explore this universe “Oh look, I think I found it,’’ the zombie said. “Wow, that’s not it but super cool. I have never seen this before.” He was pointing at a glowing bird.

I said, “Wait, I think I found it.”

“So let's go in,” said the zombie.

“For once in your life can you not rush me,” I said. “Dang, he is so pushy,” I thought to myself.

So we both tried to jump in, but it seemed like it only lets one person in.

It's just me. Well, I guess I am going to the beach. I hope my mom and dad are going to be there.

“Hey, Mom! Dad! Wait!” I screamed.

“Ethan!” my mom shouts.

“Can we stay here,” I asked?

So she said “Yes!” I was so happy except that I got sun poisoning at the beach. So the next day, while at the championship game, I am up to bat, aching from my sunburn, and wow! it is a walk-off home run. I guess the sunburn gives you power.

Clara Pompa Writing Seminar 5x Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 Why the Leaves Change Color in Fall A long, long time ago, before humans crowded the earth with their noisy devices, a young dragon named Flare was relaxing in his cave. It was a beautiful autumn day, and Flare was spending his afternoon lazing around like a sloth. Beautiful bright green leaves floated onto the ground. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

But then- swoosh! Freezing cold water came down on Flare’s head, drenching him. “Argh!” he yelled, shaking the water off him furiously. Flare whirled around and saw a fog of ghosts giggling behind him. (A fog is what you call a group of ghosts, in case you didn’t know.) The ghosts knew perfectly well that flame dragons hated water. It weakened their powers, and plus it was just so wet. It slid between the cracks in his scales and sloshed around as he moved.

And this wasn’t the first time they had done this, either. The ghosts were constantly playing pranks on the dragons. But this time, Flare was going to teach them a lesson. He growled at them and bared his teeth.

“Ooh,” they cried. “Dragon’s angry,” Flare shot fire at them through his mouth. They shrieked and tried to get away.

Flare knew that his fire wouldn’t hurt them - his powers had been weakened by the water, and they were ghosts after all. But they still didn’t like fire, even weak fire, as much as Flare didn’t like water.

However, Flare wasn’t about to let them get off so easily. He couldn’t let the ghosts think that they could do that again to anyone and get away with it. So he charged after them, breathing out more fire. “Come back here and say you’re sorry!” he yelled.

Now they would know how it feels to have someone hit you with things they know you don’t like. Not funny.

The ghosts tried to hide behind the trees, but they couldn’t escape from Flare.

But just as he was about to breathe another heavy blast of fire on an unsuspecting ghost, his best friend Spark stopped him. “What are you doing?” Spark said in a panicked voice, “You could burn the whole forest down!”

“No I can’t,” Flare replied. “Those horrid ghosts dumped water on my head again.

My powers are too weak to cause any damage. I’m just trying to teach the ghosts a lesson.”

“But you know what the Elders say.” Spark said anxiously, ‘Never resort to violence. It just makes enemies.' You’re breaking a lot of rules, Flare. Flare sighed. His friend was an ultimate rule follower. But it could be annoying sometimes. Like right now.

“This is hardly violence,” Flare told Spark. “You wouldn’t understand. Now get out my way!” Flare looked around and then shot fire at another ghost. “‘But the Elders-” Spark began, but Flare wasn’t listening. He shot fire at a small ghost floating in the air and accidentally hit the leaves of a tree. They turned coal black and then burst into flames.

Spark stared at the blazing fire. “Oh no,” he whispered. “Flare, this is bad,” Flare felt terrible. He had no idea his fire would do this.

“The water must have dried up.” He said to Spark. “It’s not my fault.” Spark sighed and shook his head as if Flare was just a small dragon instead of the one with

the strongest fire in the class.“Well, either way the Elders are going to be furious,” Spark told Flare. “Destroying nature is a serious crime.” Flare gulped, suddenly worried about how much trouble he was going to be in. The Elders were very important dragons that watched over the village, and unfortunately Spark was right. They were not going to be happy with him.

But then he looked up and saw that the fire on the leaves was somehow going out. “My fire must have not been strong enough yet!” Flare cried, overjoyed.

“That, and also the ghosts helped,” Spark said, pointing at the fog of ghosts blowing mist over the remaining sparks.“Oh,” said Flare. He felt guilty now. It was Flare who had been chasing the ghosts, and it was Flare’s fault for the leaves catching on fire, but the ghosts were the ones who had put the fire out. “I’m sorry,” Flare whispered to the small ghost who had been floating by the tree.

“It’s all right,” the little ghost said cheerfully. “Look at the colors on the leaves!”“Wow...” Flare breathed. Instead of them being their regular shade of green, fiery red, orange, and yellow colors decorated the leaves. There were also a few spots of green where his fire had missed the leaves, and a few brown spots that hadn’t been misted as well and were more burnt.

After all the drama was over, the Elders talked to the LOGs, (leaders of ghosts), who had had no idea that the “minor” ghosts had played “such horrible pranks,” and made sure the ghosts wouldn’t do it again. However the ghosts also got credit for saving the forest and a day was named in honor of them.

And from then on a group of dragons and ghosts always went around first just in their forest and then in other places to turn the leaves to the autumn colors that everyone knows. Of course, when the humans killed most of the dragons, the surviving few went into hiding, and ghosts became so scared of humans they asked a wizard to make them invisible to humans. So they had to do it in secret, under the cover of darkness. But even today you can still find proof that dragons and ghosts exist. Just look outside on an autumn day and you’ll find their work.

Thomas Raben Writing Seminar 5Y Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 ᾮThe Exitᾮ I trip. Everything goes black. When I wake up, I stumble. My sight is dim. I grab a tree branch to catch my breath. A twig snaps. I turn around, nothing. I walk a little faster.

A leaf crackles. I jump, but there’s no one there. I bite back a curse. The town is gone. I see a light in the distance. I smile, because someone is looking for me. But who? that dark part of my brain says. Then the light is gone.

Something cold and clammy wraps around my waist. I kick but to no avail. I look in horror as a vine slowly constricts around my waist. I grab my pocket knife and slash at the vine. I run, but the vines and the creepers grow around me. As my energy starts to fail, I hear footsteps. In a burst of adrenaline, I jump to a low tree branch. A vine touches me but it can't hold on. Safe, I think. I climb higher. At the top I look around. I was so high that my head was in the clouds . The town is now many miles away. I consider jumping then I think of my family. I'm not leaving them behind. An explosion rocks the tree and I fall. I wake up on cold steel. I sit up and look around. I run. I realize that I am in a maze. Something walking… no, running. Something is coming towards me.

I run in a random direction hoping against hope that I will find The Exit. The thing chasing me is getting closer. Then a faint light around the corner is getting smaller and smaller. The Exit, I think! Then like a cheetah chasing a gazelle, the Thing is upon me. I

make the mistake of looking back. The thing looked like a Japanese city after an a-bomb . I jump, then I'm out.

I look around. I am on the forest floor, but most of the trees are gone except the one I fell from. Then I see a worker.

“Excuse me,” I say. “What year is it?”

“It is 1985,” he replies.

“Did a kid from town ever disappear on Halloween?”

“Yes, 30 years ago.”

“What was his name?”

“Why, his name was Thomas.”

“No,” I say, “I am that kid.”

Alegria Rojas Writing Seminar 5Y Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 Ghost and Pumpkin I was walking in the cold snowy woods when suddenly I heard a BOOM!! The noise made me shiver with fear. The boom was coming from my house. I rushed there and the stable doors for my brothers’ and my two horses, Pumpkin and Ghost were gone. I heard my brother yell to me, “Cristy, did you hear that?!” Of course I heard my brother, Tim, ask me but I was in too much of a shock that I didn't answer. He came outside and saw that the horses were gone. We both took big breaths and went in my truck. We were headed to the police station to file a report, We both took big breaths and got in my truck. We headed to the police station to file a report. When we got there, an officer met us and asked us about our horses."Let's start off with Ghost. I mean, he is my horse," I said. "He is a Welsh pony with a beautiful white coat and some small black spots all over him. He is very special and a fun fact is that we got him at this time of year - Halloween!``''As for Pumpkin," my brother said, "he's my horse. We actually don't know his breed which to me makes him exclusive. He is a brown horse with a whole white face. Over all these horses are the best. The officer asked us a few more questions, and then we were done. I decided to go for a short walk to calm myself down. When I was walking it was quiet, too quiet, that I could hear someone's footsteps in the snow heading south, my direction. Once this mystery guy walked closer and closer I began to hide behind a

tree and spy on the guy. I heard their phone ring. Thankfully the person put it on speaker phone. The man on the phone said “ Sir we can't handle these two dangerous..."

"STOP!" the mystery guy said. Once he got a step closer there was a mist all around him. I couldn't focus my eyes. Again he shouted, 'Stop! Someone is among us."I thought to myself, "This guy is no joke." I took a picture and ran as fast as a cheetah. ” When I got back I showed the police and told them but the police didn't care because they thought that it was photoshop or something. Tim believed me, but at this point we knew that the police wouldn't help us. We would have to solve this ourselves. Tim and I got back in the truck and drove back to our barn. We have an empty basement that was clean with carpet. We stayed there all night and studied this man. I discovered a clue which was that I was walking in the woods when it had just happened and I was in the woods when I saw this curious man. So we decided to go out in the woods the next day and maybe he would appear.

This was the day, the day that we just may be able to figure out this guy. “As long as we stick together we may have a shot at this' ' Tim and I were packing up our bags. We put flashlights in case it got late, books in case we got robbed and we were bored on the ride to the villain’s place, and some carrots for Ghost and Pumpkin in case they were shy. We’re here now and it's about 7:00 pm When we finally got back to the woods at around 7:00 pm, we covered ourselves with mud so that the mysterious guy wouldn't see or smell us. The mist was all over the place and all around it. Luckily we heard his phone ring. "Master Mist, like I was saying yesterday, these horses are way too dangerous. One doesn't let me put poison in its food and the

other just keeps trying to kick me."Tim and I were delighted that the training that we thought Ghost and Pumpkin had paid off. "Cristy, I bought a tracker that people can't feel. I'm going to put it on him.""Okay," I said with worry. "Please be careful."Tim threw it on him. Mist didn't even blink. It worked! Tim and I went back to the barn for Phase two. We waited with Tim's iPad until we heard the alarm going off. At about midnight, Tim and I heard it ring. We were ready. We went into the woods and heard something. It was the tracker dinging on the iPad telling us where to go. I didn't know about Tim, but I was as scared as a bunny being chased by a fox."Man, looks like we're here," said Cristy .I heard it (what's it?)! Ghost and Pumpkin! Tim was already there and he called me over. We were as happy as ever!Then, footsteps again. It was Mist. My brother and I rode Ghost and Pumpkin back home bareback, while we saw Mist fall in a trap that I had made........it was over

Clara Scotto Writing Seminar 5X Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 A Ghost’s Tale It was a dark and spooky Halloween night. I was out trick-or-treating with my best friend, Tasha. Tasha was eleven, just like I was. Tasha had brown hair that curled near her shoulders. On this night, she was dressed as a witch with her sparkly dark purple and black dress completed by her shiny black hat. Meanwhile, I was dressed up as a ghost. My light blond hair and freckles went perfectly with the costume, while the velvety white silk that covered my torso made me look spookier than a real ghost. Tasha was my best friend because she knew what it felt like to have divorced parents, just like me.

I checked the time. I was so excited! It was almost midnight. As Tasha and I went from house to house, we gabbed about school.

Suddenly Tasha exclaimed, “It is too bad we have math homework tonight!”

“What?” I asked. I was as confused as a robot that wasn’t programmed. “I didn’t know we had homework on Halloween!”

“Yeah,” Tasha sighed. I frowned. Now I have to go get it! No, not now, I thought. I would wait.

After a few more houses, I decided to go get my homework.

“Tasha, maybe I should go get my homework,” I said.

“I’ll go with you!” she declared.

“No, Tasha. Stay here,” I persuaded. Tasha considered it.

“Well . . .okay,” she finally decided. “But don’t be too long!”

“I won’t!” I called, as I started walking in the other direction.

It was creepy walking alone in the dark. When the wind howled, I would stop and look around just to make sure there wasn’t a monster or a zombie or a ghost. Then I would take a deep breath and continue walking. I was as scared as someone who had just watched a horror movie. When I got to school, I started to regret my decision to go get my homework alone. As I entered the school, I smiled. There was nothing to be afraid of! Then, as I walked to room number 113, I heard the crumpling of papers.

“Principal Botwith?” I asked. When he didn’t answer, I grew a little bit worried but I just continued walking. I stopped to use the restroom but the door creaked open after I had closed it. Hmm, I thought. When I was done using the bathroom I ran to the math room. I searched my desk for the homework, but it wasn’t there! Then I saw the paper dancing in the air!

“Aah!” I screamed, and I ran out of the math room and then down the hallway. Just when I thought whatever thing that was holding my homework was gone, I saw it again!

“Go away!” I cried, and to my surprise, the invisible thing answered!

“Sorry I freaked you out,” it said.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

It sighed. “I’m Bita. The school ghost,” she answered. “I only come here on Halloween night, but everyone is always afraid of me.”

“No, no. I wasn’t afraid,” I replied, trying to sound nice.

“Really?” she asked.

“Well okay, maybe I was a bit startled, but I wasn’t scared,” I boasted, trying to sound tough. “My name is Jamie.” After that, we gabbed and gabbed and gabbed. We also got to know each other a little better. I now knew that her ghost parents were divorced, and that her favorite color was blue.

“Well, thanks for your help, Bita. Now I should probably get back to trick-or-treating,” I sighed.

“Okay,” she replied. “But don’t forget your homework!”

“Right!” I said. And every Halloween night since, I went to school to visit Bita. Also, Tasha got to know Bita, too, and she would come with me to visit her. And finally, I didn’t get scared anymore.

Emily Smith Writing Seminar 5Y Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 Gone As I walked home from dance on the grainy sidewalk, I could feel the goosebumps crawl up me as it got colder and colder in the still dark night. All I could think about was this morning.

All the yelling and screaming made my brain go wild, but it was all worth it.

It all started when we went to wake up my brother Owen, but we noticed his room looked dreadful. His window was shattered, and his favorite stuffed animal was silently waiting on the floor. Even Owen was like a ghost, gone. I stepped up to the threshold and heard a loud infuriating creak as the rusty door hinges folded open and welcomed me in. My mom was sitting at the table vigorously writing emails. My heart was pounding a million miles per hour as I asked my mom, “Have you found Owen yet?“ “No, we looked everywhere he could be, but all we found was his stuffed animal,” Mom replied. “How about you have some dinner? It will cheer you up.”

“Okay, I guess I could use some food,” I responded. Once I was finished eating I asked my mom if I could go outside and get some fresh air. She told me I could so I rushed to put on my jacket and scurried out the door. As I walked down the street I saw Owen’s family picture that he always kept in his pocket. As I looked in the distance I kept seeing more and more of my brother's stuff so I gathered it all and ran as fast as a bullet home. I bolted in the house and screamed, “Mom, I found Owen's stuff on the road!”

“Really? Show me we might find something.”

As we searched through his stuff we were surprised to find a Scooter Bar wrapper, a pack of gum, and a dirty sock. Eww I thought. We got worried. There was no trace of him so I went back outside and decided to walk up to the spot where I stopped collecting his items. I found a very hard to make out trail of candy wrappers waiting to be followed. I knew this story, I knew what would happen if I followed the trail, I knew I would find him but I would get caught in this mess too. I followed the trail but followed it on another path. I walked through the woods and looked at the trail so I could find whatever it was from a different vantage point. The wrappers turned into small red droplets that looked like blood. It made me worried. I could see a glimpse of something that looked like a fang. As soon as I saw it I knew what it was: a vampire took my brother. I could barely feel my feet. It was so cold outside and this was just a terrible moment to figure this out. Again I sprinted home. Why couldn't my mom just come with me so I don't have to do so much running? Anyways I was running as fast as I could, one to get home and be warm and two to tell my mom a vampire was what we were dealing with. There was nothing else in my mind. I was holding everything else back. I trampled through the door and screamed,” “MOM I FOUND SOMETHING TERRIBLE.” She raced down the stairs and said, “Show me now!” I explained everything to her as we crept through the forest, following the candy wrappers. We made it to the vampire. Inside, where I last had seen the vampire, we could hear shrieks, screams, and splatters. Mom was worried sick. I could hear her trembling with fear. I started to get closer and closer to the vampire and looked through a crack in the wall of the hut. We peered through the window to see what had happened….... It was too late. No, I could not believe this had happened, my

brother was gone. I peered through the window just in time to see, my brother was not kidnaped he had just snuck out. He came to have a halloween party with his friends and probably chose to dress up in my old vampire costume. I could not explain how upset I was. I barged through the door and screamed, “Owen! I can not tell you how mad I am!” “ Mom and I raced around town, scared to death!” I yelled at him a bit more and finally just let it go, but now it was mom’s turn to yell at Owen. Once we were both done screaming at Owen we went home. I was severely tired so I did not even stop to brush my teeth. I just got in bed and drifted off to sleep.

Dahlia Tomei Writing Seminar 5Y Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 Happy Place “Adam! Come on! It’s getting dark!” I yelled to my twin brother as I walked out into the fresh air. I skipped over to the tree my brother and I always go to and where we were going now.

I saw Adam running as well as putting his jacket on. I looked back at the tree but wait a second, there was something off about it...a light on the bird nest. It was a blueish greenish light.

“Adam, do you see that weird light?” I asked.

“Yeah, what is that?” he said.

“I don't know...woah...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

“Addy? You ok?” Adam said. I really didn’t feel OK but I said I was fine. We weren’t anywhere I’d ever seen. Was this some dream I was having? God I had so many questions. I asked Adam to pinch me. He did and it hurt. OK definitely not a dream.

We walked a little and found a sign. It read Strange Town. I mean it was a very strange town. There were floating buses and cars. We saw an abandoned school. We went in thinking it would be safe, or so we thought.

“Hello, anybody here?“ I asked. All of the sudden there was a boom and then another and another, then it stopped and I heard a voice say...

“Hi fellas, how yall doing?” Wait what? I thought this was going to be a scary moment but it turned out to be an adding another friend moment. I noticed tubes with kids in them. They had green gas in it and their eyes closed. I thought this would be an empty abandoned school but I guess I was wrong.

”It’s getting dark. You guys must be starving. I just made eyeball stew. It’s as fresh as a rotten tomato,” the man said. This man, or should I call him, zombie, had ripped up tan clothes with surprisingly clean and straight hair.

“He must be joking, right sis?” Adam said. ”l really don’t think so, I mean look at that big pot! I can see eyeballs in there!”

When the zombie served whatever it was called I almost threw up.

“Do you have anything else to eat?” I asked shamefully.

“I'm sorry but I didn’t make anything else“ he said. “ One big question, why are those kids in tubs?” I asked unsettlingly “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeell, it's a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“Yes!!” Adam and I said at the same time.

“Well it was a sunny and beautiful day when my son, Zion, my wife Zoe and I were walking down the Old Zombie Road, when I heard a scream and a shriek and before I knew it I was all alone with my son,” “Wait! What does this have to do with the tubes?” I said, jumping out of my chair.

“Don’t worry it does have something to do with the tubes. Anyway Zion was so depressed I started stealing kids and putting them into tubes because I thought they could be his friends,” the zombie said. Adam was a statue while I was so intrigued I almost fell off my chair.

“Well, where is Zion NOW!?”

“Over there in the corner,” “Why would he want to be there?!”

“Because he’s still sad!”

“Why is he still sad!”

“I DON'T KNOW!”

“GUYS! Why are we arguing about why Zion is sad!” Adam shouted, making us both quiet.

“By the way my name is Zen,” the zombie that apparently had a name said. I looked over at the kids in tubes, and then Zion and I felt bad for them, so I hatched a plan in less than 2.3 seconds.

“I HAVE AND IDEA!” I shouted.

“Well, let’s hear it!” Zen said with a curious eye.

I told them my plan and they looked surprised, especially Adam. “Okay Violet Baudelaire!”

*

*

*

First we went to the police station, and told them everything. They didn’t take it very well so we had to convince them that it wasn't Zens fault. While we were doing so we saw a bunch of rusty jail cells, with strange creatures and one of them had ZOE IN IT! “I missed you so much!”

Zen said. Then Zen and Zion Ran to the jail cell, turning into a ball of love, through the bars.

Turns out she never died, one of the police officers was jealous of Zen so he stole Zoe. After all that drama we returned the kids. One of them was kind of grateful that she got stolen. She told us her parents were really mean to her and that they weren't even her real parents! We gave her to her birth parents and she seemed happier right when we got there.

Later, after we had done all that we went to the monster diner to celebrate. I did feel bad for Zion so we got him a friend without putting him in tubes. sense we helped Zen,Zoe, and Zion it wasn’t hard to get home. We realized that all that time we were in the strange town was no time at home.” We’re home Adam” I said. He was already running home. That was a long and exciting journey.

Vivian Winkelman Writing Seminar 5Y Ms. Warshaw 18 October 2021 The Night of the Dreadful Discovery One day on a normal night there was an 18 year old girl with blue hair named Naraya. She was on her way to a pumpkin patch. She was really good friends with the farmer and his wife. She hid behind the haystacks so they wouldn't kick her out for being there after they closed again. While she could have come in the day, Naraya and her work friends always tried to compete against each other to get the biggest pumpkin.

They all met there each year at night to look for their pumpkins. It was tradition. That evening, Naraya got there early to be the first to find the biggest, best, and heaviest pumpkin there.

Thud, Thud, Thud, Rustle, Rustle, Rustle... Naraya turned around and a huge gust of wind went through the bushes next to her. She got really freaked out so she hid behind the other haystack. Another huge gust of wind came from the pile of hay. Naraya was really scared, so she ran home with no pumpkins.

Naraya barged through the door into her cold creaky house. She locked the door just in case. She pulled on her pajamas and plopped on the couch. Naraya turned on a horror film. She fell asleep on the couch after watching the whole movie and munching on buttery warm popcorn. She woke up to her body shivering under the blanket. All of a sudden the house was freezing. Then the same burst of wind blew over her cold shaking body, causing goosebumps to pop up all over her. She checked all her windows

and made sure they were locked. Then she remembered that she always opened her bedroom window to let the air in. She crept down the dark hall to her room. Naraya listened through the thin door. It was like the animal was almost walking around in her room. She froze at the thought of what could be on the other side….

She heard something jump out the window. She waited for five or more minutes until she went in. She barged through the door and locked the window. It must have just been an animal, Naraya thought.

Naraya wanted to sleep on the couch because the animal might have had a disease. She called the police in the morning to report what had happened. They came and checked her room. They said they found nothing. She was terrified of the thought that she had an animal out for her.

That day she left work early to catch the scary thing. When the full moon was visible Naraya started her hunt. Naraya went to the same spot behind the haystack and waited. She waited a little longer then the same burst of wind caused goosebumps all over her legs. She saw some leaves in the wind go forward but when she went to pick the net up and follow it, then she saw that there was an open spot in the bush. She froze at the sight of that. Another huge gust of wind kind of pushed her away from the opening. It was almost like the animal was leading her away from the spot. She ignored its sign and went through the opening, but immediately ran out after screaming in pain and fright. Naraya's scream was so loud the farmer called the police.

What Naraya saw was the farmer's wife, sprawled on the ground and lifeless. As she checked her body, Naraya felt a sharp pain in her leg. She looked down and saw

that something’s teeth had dug into her leg! But it wasn’t an animal! It had black hair, pale white skin, and black eyes. It was a vampire!

The farmer ran out with a pitchfork and scared it off. But the vampire injected so much venom into Naraya’s leg that she couldn't get up, and soon enough she fainted.

Naraya dozed in and out of consciousness. She was on a stretcher in an ambulance and was rushed to the hospital immediately. Naraya woke up screaming in pain. They rushed their best medics in but nothing could stop the screaming. An hour later she wasn't screaming as loud. She was almost calming down.

But then she saw what she most dreaded: the vampire. Its beady eyes stared through the dark window of her hospital room. She started screaming at the top of her lungs. The vampire busted through the window at the speed of light. It hung over her on the ceiling drooling at the thought of sinking its sharp teeth into her. The doctors tried to rush her out of the room but they couldn't do it fast enough. The vampire tried to attack Naraya, but one of the doctors stabbed a knife into the vampire's back, taking a bold risk for Naraya. The screech from the vampire was deafening. Then the vampire pounced onto the nurses, blocking the exit. The venom from the vampire was excruciating. Naraya knew the pain from its sharp fangs. She couldn't let them suffer.

All of a sudden Naraya had a burst of energy. The venom had fully overcome her. Naraya was now a vampire. She leapt on top of the vampire giving the nurses time to evacuate the hospital. The vampire struggled to find a way out. But Naraya was bigger, better, and stronger. She finished the vampire off in a matter of seconds. Naraya became the town's protector. She had also become famous worldwide. Her hometown has become safer with her around. Everyone is thankful for Naraya’s big step to put

someone's life in front of her. Naraya now has a huge medal that honors protection.

She also went on trips to help protect areas so that's how she earned her medal.

Naraya became a god in her town. And that's the story of Naraya, the Good Vampire.

Jax Yeung Writing Seminar 5X Ms. Warshaw 15 October 12

The Zombie-Pumpkin Apocalypse Once upon a time, there was a kid named George. He always went trick or treating with his best friend, Jake. George and Jake are opposites, though. While George is usually brave and funny, Jake was always scared of lots of things. They always did everything together, from walking home to playing rigged video games.

On Halloween, the two boys walked home from school together. They were wearing their costumes because of the Halloween party at their school, but they weren’t going to their house. They were going to Mr. Pomodoro’s house. They had been so excited for Halloween because they thought that this day was going to be the day to try some of Mr. Pomodoro’s candy. Mr. Pomodoro always gave out homemade sweets that were so sweet, sugary, and fond, that if somebody ate just a bite, they would just have a huge When George and Jake got to Mr. Pomodoro's house, they saw a huge line of people waiting from the front door. This was normal for Mr. Pomodoro on Halloween, since the candy’s so sweet. They went to the back of the line and pulled out their pillowcases from their backpacks. They had agreed to go straight from school to Mr. Pomodoro's house, so they were ready. They had never tasted Mr. Pomodoro’s candy before because the line was always so long, but this day was different. When it got

dark, Mr. Pomodoro came out of his house, went to the back of the line where George and Jake were, and he gave them candy. He was trying something new, starting at the back and going up the line because he felt bad for the people in the back. George and Jake looked at each other and took a bite. They had such a sugar rush, they ran into each other a few times without even knowing it, like two headless chickens.

When their sugar rush was over, George and Jake realized that they had walked deep into the forest! They didn’t know what was worse: hearing a spooky sound or getting lost in a forest. Well, they found out what was worse than both: hearing a spooky sound, WHILE getting lost in the forest. The sound sounded like a “Crunch!” sound.

The boys were very desperate to find their way out of the woods and also a bit curious, so they walked towards it. As they walked to the sound, the leaves crunched under their feet as they walked. As they walked, they ate a candy bar, chopping off each square.

After a minute, George and Jake saw a strange structure. They ran to it, and they realized that it was just a shed. But there wasn’t anywhere to go- no road, no other buildings. There was just a shed with a pumpkin patch behind it. “How weird,” they thought to themselves as they walked towards it. As they walked, they realized that the crunching sound had stopped. They were in the middle of the pumpkin patch when they took a look around. They heard the sound again. “Crunch!” They looked towards it, and… there was a tall, ugly, zombie!!!

The zombie was wearing lots of ripped clothing and had only one eye, and it came right at them, right after it took an enormous bite of a pumpkin. “Crunch!” They beamed out of the zombie’s way at the speed of light, but as they ran, George and Jake noticed something banging on the shed door. The door opened and there was a huge

mob of zombie-pumpkins! The zombie was making a zombie-pumpkin army. The pumpkins tried to stop George and Jake, but they just jumped right over them, and a few times they would crush the pumpkins under their feet as they landed right in their guts. “Ew!” they would say. The two friends finally ran out of the pumpkin patch and into the woods. They found the busy town and warned everyone by yelling, “Everybody get back! There’s a zombie!”

All of the town’s people got in the first building each of them could find in sight, and locked the door. The light went out as if they heard them, and all the sounds turned off.It was all quiet and the streets were empty. It was just George and Jake. The zombie didn’t follow them to the town. “Why?” they thought to themselves. Everybody thought that it was just a huge joke,and they weren’t happy about it because it scared them half to death, but George and Jake knew the truth. To this day, the zombie and its zombie-pumpkin army still lurk in the forest, awaiting its next victim.