Scare The Dickens Out Of Us

Have you heard of the "SCARE THE DICKENS OUT OF US" short story contest 2010? It is a contest sponsored by the Clark Library Friends

$20 ENTRY FEE First prize, $1,000 and a trophy.Second prize, $500 and a ribbon. Third prize, $250 and a ribbon.Junior contest prize $250 and a trophy.

The contest is a Friends of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library fundraiser and is privately funded. All entry fees go to the Friends and are used for library projects. The contest is open to published and unpublished writers alike. The ghost story must be 5,000 words or less, in English, and typed double-spaced. Deadline October 1, 2010.

From Hope Clark's Fund For Writers

Dead Dizzy Lizzy for Class Pet

Here's a short story I wrote for and shared with my fourth grade daughter's class. There's a dead lizard in it, so I figured it could go in my horror blog.

(Dead) Dizzy Lizzy for Class Pet

Mrs. W’s fourth grade students wanted to keep a dead lizard for a class pet.

They had this lizard, see. Her name was Dizzy Lizzy and she lived in an aquarium on the shelf which the sun hits nicely in the afternoon. She had purple streaks along her cheeks, a yellow line on her back, and little teeth that seemed to smile when someone gave her a cricket. She got her name because whenever she got excited running after crickets, she twirled round and round until people watching got dizzy.

But she died.

Maybe she was lonely. Maybe she ate too many crickets one day. Maybe she got too cold the week it rained all day, every day and no one hardly saw the sun.

They were going to take her out of the aquarium to bury her in the school yard, but S. – who always says hi to stray cats and gives her dogs treats under the dinner table when she thinks her parents aren’t looking – said, “Please, can we still keep her as the class pet?”

At first, her classmates looked at her funny. Her best friend N. even giggled about it. But soon, everyone was nodding – what a great idea! – and turned to look expectantly at Mrs. Walker.

Mrs. W. said, “I don’t know. Let’s ask Mr. B.”

Mr. B was the school principal. Mr. B usually walked around doing important things with an important look on his face. And sometimes the kids didn’t want to bother him about questions like “Can we keep a dead lizard as a class pet?” because he seemed too busy to bother. Today was a hard day to bother him because it was photo day and he had spent all morning with the photographer after a student jammed a camera with a piece of chewed gum.

But they were already standing as a class in his doorway. Mr. B looked up from his desk and of course asked what he could do for them.

Someone pushed S. forward. She finally said, after three unsuccessful tries, “Please, can we keep Dizzy Lizzy in our classroom?”

Mr. B’s smile froze on his face. “Are we talking about a student?”

Fortunately, Mrs. W explained. But Mr. B still looked puzzled. “A dead lizard?” he asked.

Everyone nodded.

Mr. B leaned back and thought about it. Then thought about it some more. Finally, he plucked a book from his shelf and opened it up. He said, “I am sorry, but according to school rules, ‘Only live pets are allowed.’”

All the kids walked back so slowly and sadly that by the time they reached the classroom, they missed recess. They all crowded around the aquarium to say goodbye to their dear Dizzy Lizzy. But when they got there, the aquarium was empty. A nearby window was open, Mrs. W’s water bottle was tipped over on its side and there was a gum wrapper on the floor.

Whatever could have happened?!

Please Do Not Disturb

Here's a short story to ring the new year with. I wrote this two years ago, my first stab at a short horror piece. Be warned, it is a little disturbing.

***
"Look," the girl said to Ruben, "a nuno sa punso." A gnome in a mound.

In the moonlight, Ruben saw a two-foot tall berm. He silently scoffed. It looked more like an ant hill to him.

"Where are you going?" he asked as she veered to the right.

"Don't you know, we're supposed to leave them undisturbed, or else..."

"Or else what?"

"Or else the nuno will get mad and cast a spell on you."

"You don't really believe that, do you? Anyway, we'll just walk by it." But the girl hung back.

The church bell tolled. "I guess," she said, "we can go this way or we'll be really late for mass." She pressed close to him as they made their way toward the mound.

This vacation was going better than Ruben expected. At first he had hated the idea of going to the Philippines for Christmas. He had rolled his eyes. Christmas among the provincials, in his mother's hometown. Not to mention New Year's Eve. No parties in Boston, no watching the ball drop at Time Square on TV, no kiss at midnight with some girl.

This girl's name was Diana, and she was from Manila. They met at someone's house earlier in the evening. She had invited him to attend mass to celebrate the arrival of the new year. He knew better than to pass up such an opportunity. She was a little taller than him, big deal. She was cute anyway.

They came to the mound and stared.

"When my uncle was young," she said in a hushed voice, "he stepped on one and he went blind for a while."

"No one really lives there," he said.

"Shh. He'll hear you." She walked a few steps, giving the mound wide berth, and glanced at him anxiously. "You coming?"

He took a step back and kicked at the mound. Diana screamed.

"What have you done?" She was all hysterical. It was kind of funny, really.

"It's just an ant hill, see? There's nothing in it." He laughed, but she was already stomping off.

They squeezed into a crowded bench at the back of the church.

The priest was droning on and on. Ruben looked at his watch. Twenty minutes to midnight. He remembered another Filipino superstition. He and his sisters had done it a million times on New Year's Eve.

Jump up exactly at midnight on New Year's Eve and you'll gain an inch or two.

If he gained another inch or two, he'd be as tall as Diana.

At midnight, the church bell tolled. Ruben jumped in place. Diana gave him a scathing glance. Goll, she sure was a nag. He yawned.

When he opened his eyes, his first thought was, where'd all the people go? In front of him was a wall of wood, and to his right was a dark blue curtain.

Then he looked up.

That blue curtain, it was Diana's leg in jeans. She towered over him like a giant. And he was like an ant.

He thought of the nuno sa punso, the one he stupidly demolished.

He screamed just as Diana's foot shifted and her shoe squished him.