Scary Stories to Chill Your Bones

The Ghost of Summer Past

Dwayne Scott Watson Jr. was an ordinary boy, who lived in an ordinary town, but his house was not so ordinary.  Every so often when Dwayne was alone in his room, he would hear a weird thump, thump, thump. Dwayne always told his parents, "This house is haunted. We need to leave now!" But they would always say, "Give the house a chance."

One day when Dwayne was in his room,  he called his friend Gerald and asked him to spend the summer at his house. Dwayne didn't tell him about the strange things that were happening at his house. He was afraid Gerald wouldn't come if he did. After Dwayne hung up, he sat down on his bed. Then he saw it: a ghostly white figure standing in the doorway. Dwayne screamed. As he did, the ghost turned around and walked straight through the wall.

Dwayne Jr.'s dad, Dwayne Sr., came into Dwayne Jr.'s room. "What's wrong?" Dwayne Sr. asked. "G-ghost right there. W-went s-straight through the w-wall," Dwayne stammered nervously. "I seriously doubt there was a ghost," Dwayne Sr. said sarcastically. "But there was!" Dwayne Jr. protested. Then, glancing out his bedroom window, he saw Gerald's mom park her car in front of their house. "There's Gerald!" He ran downstairs to greet his best friend.

When Gerald came into the house, he said, "This is a lot more damaged than I expected," "Yeah," said Dwayne. Then they heard a thump, thump, thump. "What's that sound?" Gerald asked. Dwayne shrugged. "How about we go to my room?" he asked, eager to change the subject. "Sure," Gerald said. So they climbed the creaky stairs to Dwayne's bedroom.

Then Dwayne saw it again: the ghostly figure floating in the doorway of his room. "Ahhh!" Dwayne screamed. "What?" Gerald asked. He had not seen the ghost yet. "L-look," Dwayne pointed at the doorway. Gerald screamed in horror when he too saw it. The ghostly figure turned around and walked straight through the wall.

Dwayne Sr. came thundering up the stairs. "What is it? Why did you scream?" he asked the boys, who were cowering in the corner. "G-ghost," they said. "Again?" Dwayne Sr. asked. "Yes," Dwayne Jr. said. "This happened before?" Gerald asked quietly, surprised and apprehensive. "You never told me your house was haunted." "Yet what's the chance the ghost is real?" Dwayne Sr. asked. His logical mind refused to believe a ghost was real. "There's a chance," said Dwayne. Dwayne Sr. went downstairs. "Do you really think the ghost is real?" asked Gerald. "Maybe," answered Dwayne.

After a few minutes of silence, Dwayne said, "I'm starting to think that the ghost isn't real." "Huh?!" asked Gerald. "Think about it," said Dwayne. "My dad-" "Did I hear my name?" Dwayne Sr. asked, opening the door to Dwayne Jr.'s room and looking  from Dwayne Jr. to Gerald. "No," said Dwayne Jr. "No, no you didn't." Dwayne Sr. shrugged and left the room, closing the door behind him. "My dad shows up right after the ghost disappears," Dwayne said. "Isn't that suspicious?" "That is suspicious," Gerald agreed. Then, a mad genius look appeared in his eyes. "I think it's time we build a ghost trap."

Fifteen minutes later, the boys had the trap ready. When the ghost walked by, it would trip over a trip wire. The trip wire would make a pool stick fall, causing a pool ball to roll down a ramp. The pool ball would hit a Hotwheels car booster, causing the toy car to hit dominoes. The dominoes would land on a scale, causing the left side to go up, knocking down a cup of water, causing the water to knock down another cup of water. The water from both cups would go down a tube. The water would knock down a small pool stick. The pool stick would knock down a bag of gummy bears. The gummy bears would knock down more dominoes, which would land on a bellows. The bellows would pump oxygen into the fire in the fireplace, causing it to grow. The fire would burn a string in half, which would cause a net to fall and trap the ghost.

"Okay, now we wait-" Dwayne started to say. "Hello, boys," Came a voice from the other side of the room. It was Dwayne Sr. He tripped over the trip wire. "NOOOOO!" Dwayne Jr. and Gerald screamed at the same time. The ghost came into the room just as the pool stick was falling. Boom! It hit the ghost on the head. The ghost fell to the floor, knocked unconscious. "Well, it didn't work as planned, but it was effective..." Gerald said.

They called the police shortly thereafter, and ten minutes later, a police officer pulled up in his cruiser. "Why did you call?" The officer asked after he had gotten out of his cruiser. Dwayne Jr., Gerald, and Dwayne Sr. led him inside the house. They showed him the ghost. "Well," said the officer. "It's obviously not a real ghost. Let's see who it is." "Hey," Dwayne Jr. said, noticing something about the ghost. "They're wearing a bed sheet with two holes to see out of." The officer nodded, and pulled the sheet off the "ghost". A man Dwayne Jr. had never seen before lay on the ground, unconscious. "Well, if it isn't ex-officer Grayson," the officer said, staring at the unconscious man. "We caught him stealing, so we fired him." Ex-officer Grayson suddenly came to, and stared at everyone in bewilderment. "We think he used wires so it appeared he was floating," Dwayne Jr. said to the officer. "But what we didn't figure out was how he walked through walls." "One of my greatest magic tricks," said ex-officer Grayson. "I used a projector and a trick mirror so I could cast my shadow anywhere." "But why did you want to scare us away?" asked Dwayne Jr. "The house has a treasure hidden in it," ex-officer Grayson said. Right then, one of the support pillars fell. Dwayne Jr. and Gerald ran outside. Half of the pillar was on the ground. It was hollow. They looked inside. "THE TREASURE!" Gerald and Dwayne Jr. yelled at the same time.

Fourteen rubies the size of a man's fist were in the half of the pillar that was on the ground. Six emeralds the size of baseballs were in the other half. Later they had the pillar rebuilt, and the other pillar taken down. They found eight amethysts and six aquamarines in it.

Gerald and Dwayne Jr. split the treasures. They also started a detective society, and both looked forward to the rest of the summer.