Deep Dark Legends

an awesom e b oo k o f cr e e py ur ba n my th s

Deep Dark Legends By the Imaginative and Creative Creatures of Division 7

Copyright © 2018 The Writers’ Exchange This book was created by Division 7, Mr. Lynch’s grade 6/7 class, at Grandview/¿uuqinak’uuh Elementary in the fall of 2017.

The Writers’ Exchange gets inner-city kids excited about reading and writing through mentoring and creative writing projects like this chapbook. All Writers’ Exchange programs are free for the children and families we serve, so we could not exist without the support of amazing donors, including Marily Mearns, Social Venture Partners Vancouver, Linda Louis, the Waterbury Foundation, Bernard MacLeod, the City of Vancouver, Megan Abbott, the Grayross Foundation held at the Vancouver Foundation, Richard and Suzanne Cole, Nancy and Ted Maitland, BPS Wealth Management at CIBC Wood Gundy, John and Nina Cassils, Judy Gale, Lynn and Gene Gerwing, Lindsay Mearns, the Sasamat Foundation, Pep and Bev Lough, the Edith Lando Charitable Foundation, Mark Tindle and Leslie Cliff and the Wolrige Foundation. Thank you.

881 East Hastings Vancouver, BC V6A 1R8 vancouverWE.com Please join us in acknowledging that we live, work, learn and play on the traditional lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Coast Salish people.

Writers’ Exchange mentors: Amy, Chloe, Craig, Erin, Jen, Katharine, Paolo and Samantha Design and layout: Setareh Ashrafologhalai, setarehashraf.com Editorial Support: Erin R. and Taylor Richardson Production coordination and editing: Melissa Edwards Creative lead: Haley Wells

The Wolrige Foundation support Writers’ Exchange in-school projects.

generously donated the printing of this chapbook.

Introduction This is a book of awesome urban legends and creepy stories that we made up. Do not read them if you don’t want to be scared!

Contents The Girl in the Photo,

by Lexi 2

The Unknown, by the Unknown 20

Apartment 601,

by Michael L. 3

Titans, by Max 21

My Shadow, by Avery 4

The Beach, by Ciara B. 22

May, by Maya 6

Jane’s Death Story,

by Kitana 25

Three Best Friends,

by Adara 8

The Creepy Tunnel,

by Trajan 26

The Mistake of a Lifetime,

by Colby 10

The 13th Floor,

by Brayden 28

Pilgrim, by Eva 13

R.I.P., by Daunte 29

The Prank, by Leo 16 The Doll, by Ciara S. 17

The Girl in the Sewer,

by Jade 30

Griffins, by Thalia 18

Mary Poopins, by Angie 31 The Creature, by Liam 32

The Girl in the Photo

By Lexi Number one: You have to look at this photo alone in a dimly lit room. Look at the photo for ten minutes for anything to happen.

Number two: Only do this if you are prepared to get scared. If you are not prepared, then you might almost die from the photo.

Number three: Make sure you’re alone and there is stormy weather.

Number four: DON’T DO ANYTHING STUPID! If you look at this photo for too long, the following things will happen . . .

One day a girl named Adara heard about this urban legend. She did not believe it. So once, when she was alone, she did it. She was terrified, so she ran to her friend Ella’s house and said, “I was almost possessed by the ghost in the painting.” So her friend hugged her and kissed her on the forehead.

The next day Adara was rushed to the hospital after she climbed a tree at lunch and broke both of her legs jumping off. After she got back from the hospital she went to her friend’s house. Her friend asked, “Why did you jump off the tree?” Adara said that she did not know why she did it. She hadn’t known where she was.

There was a bully there whose name was Ashtin. Ella sent a photo of Adara to him. Adara’s photo was creepy. The eyes looked like they followed you wherever you went. Ashtin said, “It feels like I am being watched all the time.” Then one day Ashtin went crazy and tried to attack the mayor. He was put in an asylum because of that.

After he stopped being crazy he said, “I don’t even know what I did.

Please let me go.” But he stayed in the asylum until he grew old, and eventually he died there.

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apartment 601

By Michael L. One day in an apartment there was a guy called Liam. Liam and his friend were watching a TV show they were getting from another room—room 601—because they didn’t have cable. But a minute later, the guy in 601 changed the TV show. So Liam’s friend told Liam to go to 601 and tell the guy to change the show back.

Liam went to the fifth floor and then walked up one floor, but when he got to that floor it was the seventh floor. Liam thought that he must have walked up two floors. So he walked down a floor, but that was the fifth floor again! At the end of the hall, Liam saw a shadow streak across the window.

He walked over to where he saw the shadow and on the right he saw room 601. Liam knocked on the door but no one answered.

So Liam opened the door, and on a wall behind the door he saw the word “HELP” written in blood.

After two hours, when Liam didn’t come back to his room, his friend tried to find him. He went to the fifth floor, and the same things happened . . . he didn’t find the sixth floor! He saw the shadow streak across the end of the hall of the fifth floor again. He walked over there, and this time it was on the left that he saw room 601. He knocked, and no one answered. He opened the door, he saw the wall and the word “help” on the wall, but there was also another thing there—Liam’s body. Two seconds later he lost his mind.

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My Shadow

By Avery

One day I was walking in the market, and while I was walking I bumped into a creepy guy. He was wearing a long black jacket with a black hat and dark sunglasses, so I could not see his eyes.

I could not tell what he was mumbling, but it was something scary.

I did not believe the scary things he said, but something inside me wanted me to “believe.�

The next morning, while I was eating my corn flakes, I saw a shadow, or something sly creeping around my house. Later, it was very sunny so I made some plans to go for lunch with my friends.

We met up at Meet on Main and decided to sit on the patio. As we were talking I felt something touch me on my back, but when I looked, nothing was there. As I was looking around, I saw that I did not have a shadow. My shadow was nowhere to be seen . . .

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Later that day, I went home and felt a weird thing. It felt like something was watching me. I thought it was just my imagination, so I went to bed and slept on it.

The next morning, when I woke up, I was lying on the floor in an empty room. I stood up and looked around. “Where am I?” I said.

All of a sudden, something big and scary came out of the shadows— except it was a shadow and it was coming right for me. I tried running around the empty room, but it was no use. The monster was coming, closer and closer to me with every scream I made.

For a second I believed in the shadow, but every time I did believe in it, it got stronger. The only thing I could do was think, “I don’t believe,” and when I did, it disappeared.

The moral of the story is to believe in yourself.

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May

By Maya Once there was a family that went to Victoria on Vancouver Island.

They took camp in a cabin by a crystal lake. There were a few cabins either way in any direction. There was a girl that lived next door to the family, and April met her while swimming in the lake.

The girl from next door approached.

“Hi there, I’m May, what’s your name?” she said.

“I’m April!” said April cheerily.

After that, the two hit it off. They visited each other every day, and one day April went on a sleepover at May’s. After a while of eating and watching TV, April was fast asleep. At 10:31 p.m., May sang a beautifully chilling song. April was in a vulnerable state and started to follow her. April was lured into the deep forest.

When April woke up she was in a clearing—a circle empty of the tall, tall trees. April was stuck. She couldn’t move. May was in the centre, smiling. She started to turn pale, and tall. Her hair grew like black straw, her eyes were blue and glossy and she got skinny. The dress she was wearing was loose and dirty, and her smile was black and looked carved. The wind was blowing, and April could only pull herself up, then she couldn’t move after that. She just stood there. She couldn’t sleep. She didn’t eat. She got tall and skinny.

In the night, when May left, the wind blew April down and she could move again. She ran to her cabin, north of the forest.

She tripped over herself, as well as over twigs. She was covered in cuts and bruises. As April was running out of breath, she saw the cabin, and heard the screaming and thumps of May running after her. April made it to her cabin. It was unlocked, so she went in and locked the door after her. “MOM!” April screamed. The police and

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her parents ran to see her. April was still wheezing. She had run like her life depended on it—because it did, in the end.

April had been gone for three days. When her parents asked her what happened, she only said, “I was in the forest with May.” When she went to bed she heard yelping and slamming on her window, then screaming. April screamed in retaliation. April’s mom and dad ran to her room. They heard May’s voice, a sweet and cheerful voice: “April, it will get me if you don’t let me in!”

“Nooo!” screamed April, and her parents didn’t let May in. They started packing up their things. They went back to where they came from. But there have still been missing reports in that area, and they say May still lives there, waiting, patiently, for someone new.

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Three Best Friends

By Adara Wait, the map is not in the bag.

This is not happening!

snore

cough

What?

The next day. . .

I don’t know.

I thought he was with you.

No way.

Shut up.

What?

No, it’s your fault!

Wait, where’s John?

He’s gone!

Ugh, fine.

Hey, c-can I hold your hand?

Lost in the woods . . .

They find their friend dead Wow, bro.

blood

Let’s go.

Three best friends went hitchhiking for five days. They got everything they needed on their list, and three hours later they were all the way up in the forest. Right when they were about to grab the map, they realized they didn’t have it and that they were lost. They were worried.

They went to sleep, and when they woke up they saw that their friend John wasn’t in the tent with them. They started getting

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hungry but there was no more food in the bags. They packed their tent and stuff and started walking, looking for their friend. But when they found him, he was floating in the water with his eyes popping out. The girl started sobbing and the boy was mindblown.

Later, when they were walking again, they thought about him and argued about what had happened to him. Five hours later, they were still walking—and they were starving. They finally stopped.

“I can’t believe it. Did we forget we had a tent?” said the girl.

“Oh, yeah, we do,” said the boy. They started unpacking food, water, clean clothes and a nice big tent. After they were done eating, they got ready to go to bed.

The End.

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The Mistake of a Lifetime

By Colby 2:35 p.m., Tuesday. The story started at school, when a group of five kids heard a few bullies talking about an island. Some people said that if you stayed at the island overnight, you didn’t come back.

4:40 p.m., Tuesday. Dave and Gerald started to get their camping supplies ready and headed to where Bill, Noah and Thomas would meet up.

5:15 p.m., Tuesday. They got to the entrance of the island. There was one boat that was still working because an old man was driving it. The old man asked, “Why are you boys wanting to go to Unforgettable Island?” Thomas lied and said, “Someone is giving us a personal tour.” A few minutes later, the boat reached Unforgettable Island. The old man asked, “Should I wait here until the tour guide arrives?” Thomas said, “No, we’re meeting them at the entrance.” The boys got to the entrance and saw keys hanging by the lock, as if someone—or something—knew they were coming.

Midnight, Wednesday. Thomas led his friends to a tunnel he found earlier while wandering around a power station that had been shut up for years. The tunnel was boarded up. They set up a camping area in front of the power station. Luckily, they brought a lighter to light a fire. Suddenly, an old clock that hadn’t worked in years sprang to life, ringing only four times. “That’s weird. Why would the clock only ring four times if it’s midnight?” said Noah. Gerald said, “Something doesn’t seem right.”

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1:00 a.m., Wednesday. Dave woke up to the sound of someone calling his name. He woke his friends and asked, “Did anyone else hear my name being called?” All the boys told him no. Then, from the distance, Dave heard his name again. “Guys! Did any of you hear that?” he asked. “What are you talking about?” said Bill. Dave grabbed his flashlight. “Does anyone want to help me investigate this?” he asked. Thomas said, “We should all go.”

As Dave got closer to an old pipe about the size of a car, he pointed his flashlight and said, “That’s weird, there’s no one here.”

He turned to face his friends, but suddenly got dragged screaming into the darkness. His friends all chased him down the tunnel, but Dave got pulled into the darkness too fast. The boys came to a dead end, and the only thing they found was his hat. At that moment, the clock tower rang once.

The boys spent a few minutes trying to find any loose places in the wall that Dave may have been taken through, but they were unsuccessful. Back at the camp, they had seen a light through a hole in a wall by their tent. They decided that they needed to leave Dave behind. “Let’s find out how to get there,” said Bill.

Then the boys noticed a tunnel appear that wasn’t there before.

“I don’t know about this,” said Gerald. They packed up their gear, and headed down the tunnel.

2:00 a.m., Wednesday. Bill started chasing a light that was getting brighter down the tunnel. “Wait up! Why are you running?” said Gerald.

“I’m chasing the light!” said Bill.

“What light?” said the boys.

Bill ran so fast and so far that he disappeared into the dark. The boys heard his scream. They ran faster until they got to the end of

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the tunnel, where they found a $2 bill. Bill’s picture was on the bill, with writing that said, “Who’s next?” The clock struck two. The $2 bill also said, “FYI, the old man died.”

Noah and Gerald looked at each other in shock. They continued walking down to an old highway they had seen. Thomas and Gerald were in front of Noah. When they looked back, Noah was gone.

They looked around, but they couldn’t find him. The clock tower rang three times.

4:00 a.m., Wednesday. Thomas and Gerald went back to the camp and waited until the rescue team came. Suddenly, Thomas got hit in the head. Before he got knocked out, he heard the clock tower ring four times.

Thomas woke up in a hospital bed. The doctor said, “You’ve been in a coma for two months.”

“Where’s Gerald?” Thomas asked. “What happened?”

“A rescue team found you on the beach, so they brought you to the hospital,” said the doctor. “It looked like you had been hit in the head, hard.”

Then Thomas remembered what happened. His family came to see him. His friends’ parents came to ask him what happened, but Thomas didn’t answer. Five years later, he turned 16 years old. But he didn’t celebrate his birthday, because he thought that everything that happened was his fault. Thomas lived in a world of guilt until he died at the age of 86.

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Pilgrim

By Eva

It was a good summer in Siberia that year. A lot of berries and mushrooms grew in the forests and people living in the remote villages were happily hunting for them all the time. Those forests were wild and endless, sometimes with very dangerous bogs and swamps. There was one ominous swamp not far from one of the villages. The locals called it “the Witch’s Bog.” Many people, cows and goats perished there. Nobody dared to go near that deathtrap.

0 0 0 A young boy named Ivan lived with his parents in that village. Ivan was fearless and adventurous in spite of his father’s restrictions.

He liked to go to the forest with other folks and wondered why they were so scared of that hideous wetland. Nothing bad ever happened to him.

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0 0 0 Ivan had a lot of chores to do at the farm: mow the grass, and feed the cows, sheep and the old stallion, Pilgrim. Ivan treated Pilgrim as his best friend, or even a brother. He hid in the horse barn when his dad was drunk or angry. Pilgrim protected the lad by biting and kicking his enemies, but lately the horse was getting old and sick.

Ivan gave him the best hay with dried berries and fresh water from a stream, while stroking his mane and wishing him soon recovered.

Ivan woke up early that morning and decided to pick some mushrooms for his parents. He gave some hay to the cows, but his horse did not want to get up. Ivan left swiftly without anybody knowing.

While he was in the forest, a vague black shadow appeared dimly in the distance, then disappeared and appeared again. Ivan was surprised when he looked closely at the shadow: it was a young girl in a very old-fashioned black coat. She was picking berries and singing something. Suddenly, she noticed Ivan, too, and dashed away as if she was scared. Ivan followed her promptly, trying to explain that he would not hurt her. He did not notice that he was running into a swamp.

His legs sank deep into the moss and dirty black water. The more he tried to release his legs, the deeper he went down. He tried to jump out or lie flat, but it did not work. The girl in black sat nearby, looking intensely into the boy’s terrified eyes and grinning at his imminent death, absolutely ignoring his desperate pleas for help. Her young face transformed into the very old, ugly disfigured face of a witch, and her wrinkled, bony hands were now holding a horrible necklace of shrunken victims’ skulls that she was counting one by one.

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“Mom! Dad! Anybody, help!” he yelled, but nobody could hear his desperate voice. “Pilgrim?” Ivan whispered in disbelief. He thought he saw the stallion in a low marshy haze. “Pilgrim, are you here?” It could not be real. Pilgrim was very old and sick and had not come out of his stall for a long time now. Even so, the boy’s almost-drowned mind did not want to part with that last hope.

“Pilgrim, save me, please!” Ivan cried out with his last strength as the horse approached. “Please, do not sink!” begged the boy, like praying.

And Pilgrim did not sink. His legs slumped in the swamp with every step, but he pulled them out easily. He was always strong and tough.

Ivan grabbed the horse’s mane with an iron grip, pulled himself out and mounted his friend. In utter disbelief of his miraculous rescue, the young guy rested on the mighty horseback, weeping, tears running down his cheeks, murmuring tender words.

Pilgrim brought the boy back home, but did not want to go inside the yard and stubbornly stood some distance away from the fence. Ivan dismounted quickly and was going to run into the house, but he looked back at Pilgrim. “Pilgrim, come on in!” But the stallion was standing sadly and lonely apart, and did not want to move closer. “Ok, Pilgrim, I’ll be back in a second, right after I tell Mom about it.”

The parents rejoiced to see their son alive and sound. They listened to his story about Pilgrim, stony-faced. Ivan had never seen them with such faces. “What’s wrong? Why does Pilgrim not want to go home? Did you insult him?” he asked.

“Well, son, um, uh . . . Pilgrim died early in the morning, soon after you left. We already buried him in the animal cemetery.”

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The Prank

By Leo

Ella walked into her room and all of a sudden the lights turned off.

She screamed, then she heard a giggle and realized that it was her sister. Her sister was playing a joke on her. The next day when she was going to bed the lights turned off again. She opened the door but no one was there. She opened the closet door but no one was there. She looked under her bed and saw someone under it. It was a tall man wearing a black tuxedo, and his face was wrapped in white.

Ella tried to run out the door, but there was a girl staring at her. The man grabbed one of her arms and the girl grabbed her other arm, and then the girl disappeared.

The next day Ella’s sister went into her room and did not find her there. She asked her mom where she was but her mom did not know. They searched the whole house but did not find her. They called the police, and the police said they would find her, but they never did!

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The Doll

By Ciara S.

It was Lexi’s birthday and it was Friday the 13th. She went to the woods to celebrate with her friends. One of her friends, Arianne, gave her a doll that her grandmother had given her before she passed away. The doll wore a white dress with a red ribbon around its waist. The doll’s skin was very pale. Her eyes were just black.

Her shoes were red. Her hair was really long and black. One night, Lexi went to sleep around 3 a.m. Her doll was beside her, and her doll’s eyes were bleeding.

The next day, strange things happened. When Lexi woke up to brush her teeth in the mirror, there was writing on it that said, “YOU’RE NEXT, LEXI.” It was written in the doll’s blood. Lexi screamed and ran down the stairs to tell her parents, but they didn’t believe her. So she called Arianne and told her what happened.

Arianne told her get away from the doll! Arianne told her that it was possessed, so Lexi threw the doll away. That night, Lexi’s doll got out of the garbage can and went to Lexi’s room and possessed Lexi.

Lexi went back to sleep, and the next day she woke up and started terrorizing people—starting with the people she hated. And to this day the doll’s eyes continue to bleed.

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Griffins

By Thalia

A griffin is a lion and an eagle mixed together. It has the back legs, tail and body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. This is the most common mythical creature. And this is the story of how the griffin was discovered.

Two Aboriginal men were going hiking and it took quite a long time. Obviously they stopped to take breaks, and when they finally got up the mountain they took a breather and admired the view. Suddenly, out of the mist, they saw an eagle and a lion mixed together, and they were very shocked. The two men stood there. At first the griffin didn’t notice them, but then it started to slowly turn its head and view the area. The two men slowly moved along with the griffin’s head to hide behind its back, but then one of the men stepped on a stick and—crunch. The griffin turned quickly to look

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behind its back where the two men were hiding, but they weren’t there anymore. The two men had spotted a bush and quickly went to hide behind it.

The griffin finally left and the two men let out a sigh and looked at each other. One of the men said, “What-t d-o-o you think that-t was?” in a terrified, stuttering voice. The other man said, “I don’t know . . . a mo-monster?”

They both stood up slowly. “It’s gone—the animal thing is gone,” said one of the men in a scared voice. “I’ve never seen anything like that. I think we should never speak of this again!” The other man said, “O-okay.”

So they walked all the way down the mountain, with no breaks this time. They did have short chats, but not long talks. When they got to their village, they never spoke of it again. So it remained a legend forever, never proven to be real or fake.

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The Unknown

By The Unknown A girl named Elaine was from the orphanage. She thought nobody would want to take her, but she was wrong. A family called “the Velientes” wanted to adopt her. On the way to meet her family, Elaine was having mixed-up thoughts. Some of her thoughts were negative, and some were positive.

Elaine’s POV: I’m on my way to meet my family. I’m really nervous . . . what if they don’t like me and just bring me back to the orphanage? No, they wouldn’t do that. All of the people in the orphanage say they’re very sweet and nice.

Elaine continued thinking about her new family and didn’t even notice the van had arrived at the house. She got out of the van and looked at the Velientes’ house. The Veliente family’s house is amazing! It’s huge! It’s like a castle—no, a mansion. Oh, wait . . .

Before she could even finish her thought, she was interrupted by a woman. The woman introduced herself and asked Elaine to come with her so she could meet the rest of her family.

They had all introduced themselves and it was now midnight.

Elaine was going to go down to her new father and mothers’ room, but then . . . the lights turned off. She was now in a dark room with an unknown person. In front of her were her family, tied up by their necks with masks on. She was then attacked and her soul was trapped in the Velientes’ mansion—by the Unknown.

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Titans

By Max It was 3 a.m. I was the only one awake. We were in an orphanage.

I heard it before I saw it—the huge shadow of a monster crawling on the street below. It reached through the window and plucked a child out of his bed and swallowed him whole. The monster was a titan.

Kids have gone missing before, but the caretakers thought they had just run away. The bad thing was that only kids could see titans. Kids had reported titans but no adult believed them.

Titans looked like giant ugly humans with tentacles for hair.

The tentacles could go through windows and pluck kids out of bed.

The only way to not get eaten was to drink blood each night before bed, no matter what kind or how much. Then you had to chant, “Titans, titans, go away. Come again another day.” If you forgot or did it wrong or stuttered you would be next.

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The Beach

By Ciara B. The bell rang at school. Arick had decided to go to the beach because he’d had a tough day at school. But a group of kids came and started calling him names and crowding him. A teacher came by and told the bullies to go to the principal’s office. As they walked away, the bullies started calling him “Fish Boy” in a mocking tone.

Arick stood at his locker all tightened up, with his face looking terrified. He heard people whispering about what had just happened. Arick grabbed his stuff quickly and ran away. He started walking to his house, but when he saw the same group of kids he took the bus instead. When he got home he started packing his swimming suit, towel and goggles into a drawstring bag.

His mom saw him packing his swim stuff and knew right away that it meant he had had a bad day and needed to go swimming. “Arick, be careful how far you swim. Something happened in that water,” said his mom. Arick didn’t hear her properly, but he pretended he did and just said, “Ok, Mom.” About an hour later, Arick arrived at the beach. It was almost night, and so he went to a corner shop first to buy snacks. At the beach, Arick put down the snacks along with his towel and beach bag. He took off his shoes and T-shirt. He was already wearing his shorts because he lived near Australia and the weather was always warm.

Arick started heading into the water. The water was warm, and he felt himself loosen up. He headed out further into the water.

As he got further and further away from shore, he felt something brushing against his feet. He thought it was just seaweed. He dove down and looked through his goggles, trying to see the seaweed,

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but he just saw things going into the sand. The things were too fast, and Arick couldn’t see them properly. He swam back to the surface and heard the engine of a small fishing boat. He looked around, but couldn’t see any boats that were nearby.

By this time, Arick was feeling scared. He decided to start swimming to shore. He turned around and saw a boat coming, moving to go in front of him. He swam down to go underneath the boat, and as he was swimming he looked up to see the boat from underneath. But the boat was gone.

Arick continued swimming but soon he felt like there was sand underneath him. He felt things touching his hands and feet, but he couldn’t see anything. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his foot.

He tried kicking it off, and as he was moving around his goggles fell off. All he could see was a black figure in front of him. He tried swimming away but he was stuck there. Then he looked again and the black figure was gone.

After a while, Arick was sinking in the water and losing his breath. He tried swimming up to the surface but he couldn’t. Then he felt something touch his hand, but he couldn’t see what it was.

The thing touching him flung him up to the surface. He heard the boat horn again but still couldn’t see the boat. Then he looked down into the water and saw a boat rising up underneath him.

Arick woke up in his bed, realizing it was all just a dream. But he also realized that he was wet with salty seawater and there was seaweed in his hair.

The next day, Arick was getting ready for school, and he felt a weird feeling in his foot, like there was something inside him.

He just tried to ignore the feeling. An hour later, Arick and his mother were in the car, and Arick started to sweat even though the car was freezing. “Arick, are you ok?” his mom asked, but

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Arick didn’t answer. “Arick, this isn’t funny,” she said. Arick still didn’t answer.

His mom stopped the car and shouted, “ARICK, ANSWER ME!” But then Arick started to hover off of the seat. “A-Arick!?” said his mom. But Arick smashed into the side window.

Fast Forward “It’s been five days,” the doctor said. “He’s still alive.”

“You can’t give up,” said Arick’s mom.

Then, Arick’s heart stopped beating—but something else woke up . . .

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Jane’s Death Story

By Kitana

There was a girl named Jane who died in a car crash when she was 20, when her friend was driving recklessly. Jane turned into an ugly demon. One year later, some friends were driving recklessly again, and Jane appeared so they crashed fatally. It kept happening again and again, and the only thing to stop her was a mirror. A smart girl named Julia had the idea to get a mirror to show Jane her face, and then to say her real name ten times.

Julia got her friends to pretend to be planning to drive recklessly, to get Jane to appear in the car. Once she appeared, they said her name ten times and she disappeared in the mirror. Then they decide to celebrate and have fun.

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The Creepy Tunnel

By Trajan

no trespassing

Ten years ago, there was this girl who lived in New York. She was walking in the woods outside the city, and when she looked around she found a tunnel. There were vines growing over the tunnel that covered a sign. She pulled away the vines and saw that the sign

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said “NO TRESPASSING.” She thought about going in, but she was nervous. She walked away a couple of steps, and then ran in like the Flash. She kept on running, then tripped. The girl saw this really long shadow, then fell and hit her head and passed out.

The girl woke up scared, and felt like she couldn’t move. Then, she got pulled into the dark. She was screaming for help, and her voice was echoing through the long, long tunnel. “Help, someone, help, please,” the girl said. She was taken to a dead end, then she passed out.

When she woke up, she looked around and found this console that had Call of Duty in it. She started playing it, but she didn’t know she was playing it online in real life. A guy with high-pitched voice said, “Take off your mic and turn around.” She turned around and saw this tall figure. The tall figure opened its mouth and showed really sharp teeth. The girl slapped the tall figure and the figure got very mad. It tried to pull her away but she kicked it and got away.

“I got to make it to the end,” the girl said. She kept on running.

But the figure teleported and hit the girl really hard. She fell on the ground, and she was like this: “Someone, help.” And then she passed out.

She woke up all strapped up to get eaten. The figure threw something sharp at her face and missed by an inch. She saw it was an axe and tried to grab it with her mouth—“nom, nom”—then she got it and used it to cut the ropes. She had the axe and was ready to fight the figure. Then she ran and kept on running. The figure was two minutes behind her. She tried to hit it but it teleported and was gone for good. The girl was screaming, “Yes! I made it!” She ran out of the tunnel—and then the figure caught her.

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The 13th Floor

By Brayden In the early 1980s there was a hotel in New Orleans that had a 13th floor that was haunted. The 13th floor was the scariest and most terrifying floor of all time. One day there was a little girl named Annabelle. Annabelle was a seven-year-old girl who died. Now she haunts the 13th floor.

One day a group of teenagers went to the hotel and checked in.

The manager said, “Your guys’ room is on the 13th floor.” The teens went up to the 13th floor and went inside their room. They saw that there was an old bed, cracked-up walls, a broken mirror and a smashed window. The teens moved to the next room and they slept in that room for the night.

The next morning, the teens called a paranormal investigator.

The investigator told them that he would be there the next day at 10:15 p.m. While they were waiting, they heard a loud scream across the hall. The paranormal investigator showed up and came to the bedroom and saw all that the teenagers were terrified. The investigator pulled out his bible, holy water and cross, and started to get rid of the demon girl.

An hour later the paranormal investigator was almost done blessing the whole floor and the demon girl was gone. The paranormal investigator told the teens to pack up and leave, and as they were leaving they saw a body lying at the end of the hall. They ran out of the hotel and left New Orleans.

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R.I.P.

By Daunte One stormy night Daunte was having an epic sleepover with Max, Michael and Millie. It was a fun sleepover but then they got bored so they decided to do a ritual. They thought it was fake and wouldn’t work. All they needed to do was drink toilet water, eat a dead spider and say “Pennywise” three times.

Then they heard something break downstairs. They turned around to see a six-foot-tall clown munching on a body part. They identified the clown. It was Pennywise. The only way to defeat him was to not be afraid of him, because he can’t hurt you unless you are afraid of him. They ran upstairs to Daunte’s room and locked the door, but outside the window Pennywise was eating a random man. Pennywise jumped into the window, grabbed Michael and said, “I will take him and only him, and you can live happy lives and grow up fine.” He took him, then he vanished, never to be seen again.

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The Girl in the Sewer

By Jade It was just getting dark at 4:52 p.m. in L.A. on November 22, 2012.

Some of my friends, Maxy, Hana, Leonardo, Daunte, Liam, J.S. and Thalia, left school with me and were walking on a side street when it started to rain. We were three blocks away from Starbucks so we just kept walking. Suddenly, we saw a bright light in the sewer. Max went to see what it was and an arm reached out. Max was too slow to back away and he got sucked in. Leo and Daunte went to try to get Max out of the sewer but it opened bigger and they dropped down into it. Hana went to grab them and I tried to save her because she’s my best friend, and she and I both fell in, and we were all was trapped in the sewer now.

The smell was so bad you could see it. We started walking down the sewer and we saw a girl with bright silver eyes, long blond hair and a grey dress, and she was holding a small teddy bear. She said, “Hey, it’s bad down here. Get out while you can. Follow me and I’ll bring you out of here to somewhere safe.” As we walked, she sang “Ring Around the Rosie” over and over again. It started to creep us out, so we stopped. We looked over and saw a big pile of bodies. Hana and I screamed. The girl looked back at us and said, “You’re too late. Now I’ve got you. It’s your turn.” We tried to run but she grabbed us all. We screamed and she said, “Hush, my kids, tomorrow all your worries will be no more.”

It was 12:32 p.m. and the little girl had gone to sleep, so we all stood up. We tiptoed to a small ladder and climbed it and we all got out onto the street—all except one. It was the girl who tried to kill us. We trapped her in the sewer. She woke up and screamed, “I’ll get you next time, kids!” We yelled back, “No, you won’t.”

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Mary Poopins

By Angie

Do you want to know the truth about Mary Poppins? It all starts in deep, dark woods where a big mansion was. It was an old place where a girl named Lizy lived. One time Lizy went to use the bathroom and the lights flickered off. When she turned them back on, she found a note: Hello, would you mind playing a friendly game? Bring a friend over. The instructions are: Dare your friend to try it; turn lights off; enter bathroom with a candle; say Mary Poopins three times.

Then you will get three wishes.

—Mary Poopins The next night, after her parents left, she invited her friend Sally over. Sally agreed to do the dare. Sally turned the lights off and lit a candle. Her friend locked the door and said “Mary Poopins” three times. All of a sudden, Mary Poopins appeared from the toilet. “Pick a number from one to three,” Mary Poopins screamed. Sally did not know what to do. “Three,” she said. “Lucky choice,” said Mary Poopins, then she threw cyanide at her and jabbed her with her umbrella. There was a loud scream. Lizy tried to open the door but it was locked. Lizy called the cops and they found Sally dead. Lizy never trusted anyone after that day.

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The Creature

By Liam A week ago, dogs and people were going missing. Billy, a sevenyear-old boy, and his dog, Donttae, went to find the missing people.

One night, when his mom was sleeping, Billy got Donttae and went to Stanley Park to look for the missing dogs and people. As he was searching around, Donttae started barking at a bush. Billy walked toward the bush and found a hole leading downward. Billy yelled down, “Hello!� and it echoed. Then he heard barking coming from the hole and suddenly Donttae jumped in. Billy jumped in, not knowing what was down there. He saw a humongous hallway and dogs and people who were strapped to the walls. Billy felt a strange moisture on his neck. As Billy turned around to look, he saw a tall, thin creature with no face. The monster opened the flaps on its face to show razor-sharp teeth and tentacles coming out to grab Billy.

Donttae ran away and neither of them were ever seen again.

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As an author of a Writers’ Exchange book, you are invited to sign up for FREE afterschool and summer programs at the Writers’ Exchange home base at 881 East Hastings Street.

We run programs for kids in grades 1 to 12.

Ask your teacher for a signup sheet, go to vancouverWE.com or call Jennifer at 604-428-8228 for more information.