This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents
The Old Bradbury House
Maryanne
The Transformation Tank
Trick or Treat
The Clay Jack O’Lantern
Halloween Jokes
FREE GIFT!
About the Author
The Old Bradbury House
Mia pulled on her nightgown and smiled contentedly. It was a wonderful feeling to get ready for bed after a long day of school! She fluffed her pillows and made sure that her favorite teddy bear was sitting in the corner where her mattress met the wall.
Then she put the sweater she’d worn that day on a hanger and opened the closet door to put it away.
“ARGH!” Two hairy, gruesome monsters with horns and fangs jumped out of the closet, and lunged at Mia, their claws extended!
Mia dropped her sweater on the floor and screamed. “Help me!” She turned and made a mad dash for the door, tripping over her desk chair and falling on the floor.
But before she could leave the room, one of the monsters grabbed her by the ankles. And both of the monsters started laughing.
Mia was so surprised; she stopped panicking for a moment. It was then that she realized the monsters were her older brothers, Jordan and Nate!
“We wanted to test out our Halloween costumes!” Nate explained between hysterics. “According to you, they’re scary enough!”
“That’s not saying much,” Jordan put in. “Everything’s scary to Mia! She’s the world’s biggest scaredy-cat.”
Mia put her hands on her hips. She could feel the anger mounting within her. Her brothers had made a fool of her once again! And the worst part was, they were right. Mia was a scaredy-cat. And she was worried that Nate and Jordan wouldn’t respect her until she finally did something brave.
“What’s going on here?” Mom demanded, coming into the room. “Are you guys teasing your sister again?”
“She’s so much fun to scare!” said Jordan.
“If she wasn’t such a wimp, playing jokes on her wouldn’t be nearly as much fun,” Nate added.
Mom sighed. “Enough is enough. Go to bed, boys. Good night, Mia. Sweet dreams.” She gave Mia a comforting little hug and left.
But Mia didn’t feel any better. She was fuming inside! If she didn’t put her foot down and put an end to all of this, Jordan and Nate would keep on teasing her forever!
The next morning, as Mia and her brothers walked to school, Mia cleared her throat loudly. She had an important announcement to make. Although she was dreading this, she knew it was the only way to get the boys to leave her alone.
“Guess what?” she asked Nate and Jordan. “I’m going exploring in the old Bradbury house after school.”
Her brothers stopped in their tracks and stared at her.
“You can’t go there!” exploded Jordan. “It’s haunted!”
“And you’re the biggest scaredy-cat ever!” Nate reminded her.
“Not if I go in that house,” Mia replied. “No scaredy-cat would ever do that.”
Her brothers had to agree. They wouldn’t even set foot in the old, abandoned house themselves!
“I’ve gotta see this,” muttered Nate.
“Come watch me!” Mia told him. “Right after school.”
That afternoon, Mia met her brothers in front of the Bradbury house. It was a tall, skinny house with broken windows and sagging porches that hadn’t been lived in for at least a hundred years. The neighborhood people often heard strange noises and ghostly moans coming from inside.
Mia didn’t know anyone who’d ever gone into the house. And now she was going to do it. She couldn’t believe herself. Her heart was pounding, and her palms were sweating. Maybe she could live with Nate and Jordan teasing her for the rest of her life, after all.
But, when she saw how impressed her brothers were with her newfound bravery, Mia knew she didn’t have an option. She left them behind in the overgrown yard and walked bravely up the porch steps. She turned the rusty door handle and stepped into the dark, musty Bradbury house.
Right away, she felt ghostly cold air swirling around her. Orange and yellow eyes blinked at her out of the darkness. Strange lights flashed and flickered from the second floor. Eerie laughter rang out in one of the bedrooms.
Mia was so afraid, she was frozen to the spot. And then a white, wispy figure began streaming down the dark, dirty staircase. It reached its ghostly arms toward her and screamed, “Miaaaaa!”
“Ahhhhhh!” Mia screamed back. She turned and grabbed the door handle. But when she twisted it, the door didn’t budge. “Help!” howled Mia. “A ghost is trying to get me!”
The ghost laughed wickedly. “You’re mine now!” it shrieked.
But, just in the nick of time, Nate and Jordan sprinted up the porch steps, broke a window with a rock, and hauled Mia outside to safety. The three kids didn’t stop running until they’d reached the warmth and safety of their own home.
And, needless to say, Nate and Jordan never again teased Mia for being a scaredy-cat.
Just for Fun Activity
The ghost Mia saw was scary, but you can make friendly Halloween ghost treats for special friends and neighbors who trick-or-treat at your house!
You will need:
• Popcorn (plain popcorn)
• Plastic sandwich bags
• Black and orange ribbon
• Googly eyes
• Glue
Have an adult help you buy or make popcorn. It should be white in color, so plain salted popcorn or white cheddar popcorn are the best kinds to use.
With clean hands, put a handful of popcorn in as many foldable plastic baggies as you want to fill.
Tie off the baggies with black and orange Halloween ribbon.
Glue googly eyes to the part of each baggie that holds the popcorn.
You’ve just made a cute, fun, and easy ghost goodie bag!
(You may also want to try this idea with other white foods, like mini marshmallows or white-chocolate-covered pretzels!)