Once upon a Halloween...

This was a story I wrote while practice teaching in a grade 5/6 class.   Although the story is fiction, it is based on a true story that my brother had experience when he was a teenager.  The grade 5/6 class loved it.  I hope in the spirit of Halloween, you enjoy the story as much as they did. :)

The Haunted House

By. Whitney Averill

In a small town called Petrolia, there lived a boy named Aaron.  Aaron had just moved to this small town and didn’t know many people so he spent a lot of time on his own.   One day, while reading his book in the park, another young boy named Mark sat beside him and said hello.  Aaron and Mark hit it off almost instantly and spent the remainder of the summer hanging out at the park.  Aaron had invited Mark over to his house many times but Mark had never invited Aaron to his.  He always came up with excuses on why Aaron couldn’t come over. 

Then one day Aaron’s mom decided to call Mark’s parents and ask if they could watch Aaron for the weekend.  Aaron’s parents needed to go away for business and didn’t want to drag him and his sister along with them.  Mark’s parents were happy to have them stay.  Mark, on the other hand, was not happy at all.

That Friday, Aaron along with his sister, were dropped off at Mark’s house.  He was so excited when he pulled up to a big, old country home on a huge farm.  Aaron thought, “This is going to be THE BEST weekend ever!”

Mark greeted Aaron and his sister and brought them inside.  He showed Aaron’s sister Zoe the spare room where she would be sleeping.  He then brought Aaron to the basement where the pullout couch was made into a bed with blankets and pillows neatly piled on top.

Aaron’s excitement quickly faded when he sensed his friend’s lack of enthusiasm.  He couldn’t understand why Mark was so upset with him staying the weekend.  After they had finished up dinner, Mark took Aaron downstairs and apologized for acting so strange.  He told Aaron that the reason he had never invited him over was because his house was haunted.  Aaron laughed out loud and couldn’t believe Mark actually believed in ghosts.   

Mark stormed upstairs and on his way up yelled, “You just wait and see!”

That night Aaron had trouble sleeping.  He kept thinking he was hearing things upstairs but convinced himself that he was just imagining it because of what Mark had told him.  After hours of tossing and turning, Aaron finally fell asleep.  

The morning came and Aaron was awoken to the sounds and smells of breakfast being made and friendly chatter at the breakfast table.  He hurried to get dressed and ran upstairs so he wouldn’t miss out on a delicious country style breakfast.  As he got up the stairs and into the kitchen, no one was there.  The kitchen was neat and tidy and looked exactly the same as it had when he went to bed.  There was no evidence that someone had been cooking breakfast or sitting at the table socializing.  Aaron was confused.  He convinced himself that he must have been dreaming.

He decided not to tell Mark.  Instead he just went about the day as if nothing had happened.  That night Aaron was getting ready for bed when his sister started SCREAMING at the top of her lungs.  He ran up the stairs and into her room to see what was going on.  Zoe had the covers over her head and was trembling fiercely. 

Aaron could not calm her down.  She just kept repeating the word brush.  “The bbrruush, the brush, the brush!”   Mark and his mother ran into the room.  Once Zoe had calmed down enough to speak she told them what had happened. 

As Zoe was getting ready for bed, she took a brush out of her bag and brushed her hair.  After she had finished, she placed the brush back into the bag and zipped it up.  She then turned off the lights and climbed into bed.  She was just about to fall asleep when she felt a tug at the back of her head.  When she turned around, her brush fell to the floor and sitting in the corner was a ghost staring at her.  The ghost was a beautiful women dressed in an old fashion nightgown.  She had tears running down her face and she looked as though she was screaming but no sounds could be heard.

Mark’s mother brought Aaron, Zoe and Mark down to the kitchen and made them each a cup of hot chocolate.  She explained to Aaron and Zoe that the house was indeed haunted.  Back in the 1800’s a man and his wife had passed away in a fire.  The house was repaired but the spirits of the young couple never left.  The spirits usually lived peacefully, but when they sense the unfamiliar they sometimes reappear.

Aaron couldn’t believe that ghosts actually existed and his best friend had two living with him.  Although Aaron and Mark remained best friends, Aaron decided that would be the one and only time he would stay the night at Mark’s house.