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Honorable Mention: Raffaella Stroik

The Ghost Finding Society - download as a pdf      It was a cold winter night in the village of Waxington. An owl let out a piercing cry that broke the quiet night. In a big house not far from the place where the owl had hooted, a twelve year old girl named Lily woke with a start.      “If only I didn’t scare so easily,” the girl thought lying back down. She had been dreaming peacefully about the things she loved to do, when she had suddenly awoken. Instead of going back to sleep, Lily began to watch the snowflakes outside flutter down near the window. She suddenly became aware that her mouth was very dry. She slipped gracefully down off her bed and put on her dressing robe and some slippers. Lily climbed down the attic stairs and onto the landing. Lily walked down a hallway lined with two doors on each side where her family members were likely to be asleep. She walked down another staircase and into her family’s living room. Lily lit a match, and then she lit a candle hanging inside of a rounded glass cage. The living room filled with light at once. Lily went into the kitchen and made some hot chocolate for herself. She was sipping her hot chocolate when she heard a loud knock on the door.      “Who would knock on their door in the dead of the night?” she thought. Then Lily heard someone walking up the pantry stairs. The pantry door burst open and her mother stood in the doorway, her dark black hair tied in a knot. Before Lily could say anything her mother rushed to the door and opened it. A strong cold gust of wind blew in through the door and blew out the candle. A huge man stood in the doorway holding something big. He was dressed in a fur coat and had a big hat on that covered his face. “Oh no!” Lily’s mother screamed running hurriedly up to the man. She closed the door quickly behind him and lit the candle. “Lily, dear. Why don’t you go up to bed?”      “No.” Lily said, trying to look closer to see what the man was holding. “Father!” Lily cried. Lily ran up to her father, but her mother stood in front of him.      “Your father is hurt and needs some rest. Now get to bed right now.” Her mother said.      “No.” Lily said. Then she had an idea. “Fine. I’ll go to bed!” Then Lily climbed to the top of the stairs and hid behind the wall. She couldn’t believe that her father had been outside in the blizzard. Lily also couldn’t believe that her mother and father had been awake when she had been. Then she heard her mother talking.      “Oh why in the world did he have to go out tonight for the GFS,” said her mother.      “What’s the “GFS?” thought Lily.      I think I’ll just let him have some rest and let him warm up,” said Lily’s mom. Lily could hear her mother’s footsteps coming closer, and closer. Lily ran down the hall to the bottom of the attic stairs. She climbed into bed and pretended to be asleep. It was a few minutes before Lily heard her mother coming up the attic stairs. Her door creaked open and her mother’s face appeared in the door. Lily’s mother closed the door satisfied that Lily was asleep. Lily dressed and crept back downstairs to find it deserted. She sat down at the kitchen table and decided to find out about what “GFS” was. Lily put on her fur coat, big hood and thick gloves. She opened the door and a strong gust of snow came into the house. Lily stepped outside into the cold night closing the door behind her. It was a dark night and the moon could not be seen. She opened the gate door and slipped out into the open village of Waxington. Lily shivered slightly in the cold night. She started walking farther and farther away from her house. Suddenly she came to a huge gate that was slightly open. Beyond the gate was a vast open plain. She pushed the gate open and slipped through. The gate immediately closed shut behind her. Lily tried to push it back open, but it wouldn’t open. She was locked out of her own village!!! She couldn’t believe it one bit. She looked behind her. Lily screamed. There right in front of her was a pearly white “thing” in the air. When she looked very closely she could see that the “thing” looked like someone. Suddenly, the “thing” spoke. Lily backed away from the thing and into the gate.      The “thing” said, “Do not be afraid. My name is Alice. I am a ghost.”      Lily gasped. She backed into the gate so hard that her back started hurting. “You you’re a a go ghost!” Lily stammered.      “Oh don’t worry I won’t hurt you! But there are some mean ghosts coming this way,” said Alice worriedly. “The bad thing is that there’s no place to…” Alice’s voice was drowned out by a terrible song that made shivers run up Lily’s spine.      The words were: “We tear the people up to bits! We eat them at our feast. Our favorite thing is little girls.” Lily was frightened. There were huge drops of sweat running down her forehead even though it was the middle of winter.      “Hid yourself under your coat!” Alice screamed through the ghosts’ chants. Lily pulled off her coat, covered herself and sat down into the freezing snow. She made a tiny hole to look out of. Lily suddenly heard something creak open. She looked behind her. The gate was standing open. There stood the man with the big hat covering his face who had been in her house. The ghosts were coming closer and closer. Lily looked for Alice but only saw the man with the big hat. Finally, after a few minutes, she found her. Alice was lying in the snow. Since she was white like th enow she could easily blend in. Then Lily saw them. The GHOSTS!!! One of the ghosts stopped singing and turned to the others.      “Get me some water. I’m thirsty,” he said.      “Yes master,” said one of the other ghosts. The ghost was floating toward Lily when he suddenly stopped. He started shaking. Lily then noticed he wasn’t looking at her, but behind her. She turned around and saw the man with the hat over his face.      “Hurry up Asit,” said the master.      “Yes, of course, master,” said the other ghost. He floated the other direction. Lily then realized that he was heading toward Alice.      “N O O O O O !” Lily suddenly yelled. The ghost didn’t pay attention to her but took a chalice out of his pocket and was about to scoop up some snow (Alice) when Lily rushed forward. But something stopped her. A hand was pulling her back. It was the hand of the man whose hat covered his face. Lily watched terrified. But the ghost wasn’t scooping snow up, he was coming Lily’s way. Very quickly the man behind her rushed out and chased the ghost away.      “How come the ghosts were scared of that man when they had just been singing a song about eating people?” thought Lily. The man walked slowly back to Lily. He looked somehow familiar to her. He had dark brown untidy hair and his face looked very old. He went back through the gate that was still open. Lily looked behind her. Alice waved to her and left. The man and Lily walked silently down the road and stopped outside Lily’s gate. The man opened the gate for her and they stepped inside her yard. The man knocked on the door. Lily’s mother answered it. When she caught sight of Lily with the man she cried.      “Thank God, you saved her! We owe you an explanation, Lily dear. The man and Lily went inside while Lily’s mother gave each of them a mug of hot chocolate. “Lily, ask any question you want,” her mother said.      “First, what does “GFS” stand for?” Lily asked.      “It stands for “Ghost Finding Society,” her mother replied. “You see, your father worked for it because your godfather did and that is how he got hurt.”      “Who is my godfather?” Lily asked.      “Why, this man right here!” her mother replied pointing at the man.      Smiling, Lily kissed her mother and godfather happily. She had found out the things she had wanted to find out. “Mother, I think I’ll go to bed now. Goodnight.”