Just Desert

It was Halloween night. Everyone was wearing costumes and was trick-or-treating. But one house wasn't quite in the spirit. That was 24 Linden Ln.
"Hey Joe," Robby said. Joe and Robby were brothers both 10 year old brothers. Their buckets were full of candy, and they had just passed the enchanted house.
"Yeah Robby?"
"How come no one visits 24 linden Ln."
"Because there's no one to visit."
"What?"
"Well, back a long time ago, there was a pumpkin. Not just any old pumpkin, but a cursed one. the previous owner of the house, without knowing, bought the pumpkin brought it home."
"What happened next?"
"The owner was going to cut the pumpkin into make a jack-o-lantern, but the pumpkin resisted. Once the knife mad contact, the owner vanished, leaving a small scar on the evil pumpkin. All anyone found was the knife lying on the ground, while the pumpkin sat on the table. Since then, no one dared to come close to the pumpkin."
Robby shuddered, "That's creepy."
"I know," Joe said with a smile. "Let's go touch it."
"Are you crazy!" Robby jumped. "After that story I'd never even think about it."
"Com'on Robby, let's go. Just a poke."
Robby was sweating like mad. "Ok, b-but as long as y-you touch the pumpkin f-first."
"Wussy."
They went to the haunted house. Like Robby said, Joe, touched the pumpkin first. And like the story, Joe vanished too.

The Harp

So it's true ,he thought, it's really true. The Ancient Greek myth about the long lost harp was really true. George was Greek except he did not believe in any of the myths. The tale of The Long Lost Harp was a long one and pretty much said that Athena had lost her harp one night and was never seen again. George picked up the harp and started to play it.

After playing for about a minute he saw that somehow he had summoned Athena. He knew what she wanted. Athena wanted her harp back, except she didn't know that George was not going to make it that easy for her.

"I am Athena, Goddess of..."

" I know who you are," interrupted George.

"Well then surely you must know that, that is my harp!" shouted Athena.

"Yes, I do know. I am not going to let you keep it though."

"How about this: We will have a race and winner keeps the harp!" said Athena forcefully.

"I think we have ourselves a deal."

"Ok then."

Athena was smart and quick. She very well knew that she could cheat, but thought that she did not need it. A fine Goddess like her against a wimpy boy who barely even knew anything. On the other hand, George was confident and nervous. He knew he could cheat and trick Athena.

The race came. George was not going to race. Instead he was going to take the harp and make a run for it. Athena was well prepared. The race started and George's plan worked finely. He had taken the harp to his house.

"Don't think you can hide from me!"yelled Athena.

"Keep the stupid harp!"

"Really?" asked George suspiciously.

"Yes. It is ALL yours," assured Athena.

George immediately started to play it.

"By the way, I cursed the harp. Once you start playing it you just can't stop!" cackled Athena evily.

The rest cannot be told by Jessie who was watching this entire time. He decided to leave and go on with his life as if nothing had happened.

Mr.Linden's Library

Lauren Grylif was a 14 year old girl. She and her twin brother Michael loved to read. Their life was perfect! They had all the books they ever wanted. That was all that mattered to Lauren.

A block away from their house was a newly built library. Nobody around town was interested in going into that library. Lauren was bored one day,so she decided to take a look around inside of this mysterious library.

"Hello there young child!"exclaimed a vice from behind the desk."I am Mr. Linden!Welcome to my library!" his voice echoed off of every wall."I need no money, for it is they key to suffering.You can rent my books for free, if you'd like." Money was no object for Lauren, but free is always good.

Lauren picked out one book,so as to not seem greedy. She had never read any of the books he had at the library before, but she planned to. Michael woud never have to know. She went up to the desk with a book called the deadly garden.

"Are you sure you want this book?" Mr. Linden asked in a quiet whisper.
"I'm sure this will do." she said happily, trying to lighten the mood. "Promise me you WILL NOT leave this book open at night while you sleep." he said, quieter this time. Librarians have the wirdest rules Lauren thought to herself.

That night Lauren disgarded the promise she made. She was awoken by a tingling sensation in her arm. A large vine was making its way up and out of the book and up her arm. Before she could scream a hand covered her mouth.

Mr.Linden had warned her, but it was too late.

Missing In Venice

Even with her mighty engines in reverse, the ocean liner was pulled further and further into the canal. The ship just couldn't get out of he canal.

"Reverse harder," the captain said. The boat just wouldn't budge. What could they do. Will they have to abandoned ship. There was nothing else they can do for the ship. Then the engines stopped running. They pushed her to much.

"If reverse won't work what can we do," the captain said", We can't call for help, there is no reception in this canal." The ship might be stuck there forever. The ship was pulling and tugging when the engines came back on.

"Let's get off and see what is the problem,"the captain said. Then the captain got off with his crew. They searched and searched. Then they found the problem to why the ship wouldn't move. It was a giant boulder. All they had to do was move the boulder.

"How will we move it," the crewman said.

"I know," the captain said. So they put these two hooks around the boulder with ropes and pulled. I wasn't budging to much.

"We need a bit more muscle here for the boulder to move," the captain said. Who was the strongest one there. There was no one too strong that is on the ship.

"Can all strong people come to the lower deck," the captain said on the speaker. The lucky thing was that there was a circus booked on the ship at the time. The bad thing was that the muscle man was missing. Where was he? What can they do now?

"the muscular man is missing so everyone has to find him," the captain said. Who took the muscular man. Where has the muscular man gone. Did he die. Did someone murder the muscular man. If someone did who did it. Yet time passed and it was 5 a.m in the morning when something tragic happened. the screams and everything woke up the whole guests on the ship. There was a very huge crowd of people. It was so big the captain couldn't make his way through to see waht happened. Then right in front of the captain was a murder. Pinned into the mans stomach was a note.

"Don't be talking about the muscular man, everytime you do someone on this ship will die," The note said.

"We must find a way to contact the cops,"the captain said. There was no way they could make contact.

"Looks like it is our job now,"the captain said. The captain looked around the ship at night. His flashlight was pointing at the floor. Then he saw a track of blood leading to the basement. He had to see what was down there on his own. Then out came a ghostly figure. What was that figure. Was it the muscular man or the murderer.

"Who are you and what do you want," the captain said.

"I am the muscular man," the man said. Then the next morning the muscular man helped push the boulder. Then the ship was free again.

Another Place, Another Time

Intro
The kids go off to school, and Mrs. Larmont is alone at home. She has the whole day to herself until the kids come home. But her day doesn't turn out the way she planned it to.
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It is 12:15 in the afternoon, and two kids, Brenda and Timmy Larmont, are at their 5th period, History, with their teacher, Professor Lone. Brenda and Timmy loved Professor Lone. He used to be a police officer, so Timmy looked up to Professor Lone. And Brenda thought he was the best teacher because he knew everything she asked.

*****

As the day dragged on, Brenda and Timmy couldn't wait to tell their mom that Professor Lone would take them and the whole class on a field trip to the wilderness for the weekend. But that news just had to wait.

*****
When school finally ended, Brenda and Timmy walked to their house. They walked up the stairs of the front porch, and opened the door. They noticed that their house was a complemess. Broken lamps, torn up pillows, and smashed windows.
"Mom,"yelled Brenda,"you here."
No answer.
The two of them walked around the house, trying to find their mom. She was no where to be found.

"Where could she be," questioned Timmy.

They waited and waited around for the whold night for their mother.

*****

The following day, their mom still wasn't back. So Brenda and Timmy decided to call the police and Professor Lone. The police were at their house first, then Professor Lone showed up.

Brenda and Timmy stepped out of their house and onto the porch.

"So do you to have any clue where your mom could've gone," asked a policeman.

"No idea," replied Timmy.

"Well if we can, may we search your house for clues."

"Sure thing,"said Brenda.

The two teens waited with Professor Lone while the police searched their house. It took them a while, but when they walked out of the house, Brenda noticed one of the police holding a strange video tape.

"We found this on top of your mom's dresser. Do you have any idea what it is,"

asked a policeman.

"Nope, never seen it before,"said Brenda.

"But can we play it," asked Timmy.

"Sure thing,"replied the police.

The whole gang of policemen, Professor Lone, and Timmy and Brenda walked into the house. The police put the tape in the T.V. and everyone watched.

On the T.V. screen, there was a strange man. He spoke.

If you want this lady back, then you must follow these simple instructions. His voice was interuppted by a faint scream. The camera turned. And now on the screen was Mrs. Larmont, hands tied, and a mess. Anyway, you must go south toward the equator and you must search very very hard. Because it can be anywhere. Go to the beach in the west side of South America and you will see a little train, sort of like a boat. Go on it and head east on it. You will then reach a strange island. One more thing, if you want this lady back, I hope you are rich because the only way you can get her back is if you give me something in return.

The T.V. screen turned black. Everyone looked at eachother with a strange face.

To Be Continued

The House On Maple Street

"Well, tomorrow will be the last day,"Jerry maps thinks to himself. He has just finished adding some new equipment on his new house rocket which will have it's first lift-off tomorrow. Jerry has always dreamed of going up into space but staying in his house at the same time. So he had gotten a crazy idea that he could build a house rocket. He has been working on it for just about two weeks now. All he needs to do is get the fuel and do some little touch-ups, and he will be off tomorrow night.

The street lights on Maple have just turned on so just about one hour is left till lift-off. Jerry Maps is pacing around his suburb home, thinking about what will happen at nine o-clock.

Then the clock strikes nine and Jerry hurrries into teh basement where he has built the rocket. Once inside, he fires up the engine and calls for his cat Macy to come down. When the house rocket will have escalated a few thousand feet, Mr. Maps and Macy will be able to go about their house as usual.

"Okay, let's fire this baby up into the sky, shall we Macy?" Jerry just pretty much asks himself. Macy meows. "Well then let's goooooo!" And with that, Mr. Maps and Macy were off to worlds unknown. Once at a level that they could move around, Jerry and Macy headed off into the living room. "It was a perfect lift-off, wadn't it Macy?" Macy meows again and cuddles into Jerry's lap.

Much time had passed since Jerry Maps and Macy went up and away in their house rocket. But during one cold January night, Maps and Macy returned to Earth to find a great surprise. They were gone for four years and had no recolection of what ws happening back on Maple street. When they got back, they realized that nothing had changed. The whole neighborhood had stayed the same. The only difference they found was that when they landed, took a peek outside, then cma back inside, was that the clock on the kitchen counter said one o' clock AM. It was still dark out too, they remembered. Just like when they had left.

Jerry goes back outside, only to find that someone had dropped a letter addressed to him on his front doorstep. He wonders who would be leaving letters on someone's doorstep at this hour. Jerry opens the letter. The letter said, "It may seem that you have been goen for four years, but that is not so. Here on Earth you have returned to find that you have only been goen for four hours. Don't be scared, just look around, and you'll see what I mean. But you'll never see me."

Uninvited Guests

His heart was pounding, he was sure he had seen the doorknob turn. Trevor reached fort he handle and gently turned it. It creaked open, and a little mouse emerged. It began crawling up Trevor's legs and came to a rest on his shoulder.

"My name is Buster, boy!" the mouse said. Trevor was frozen with shock.

"Y...y...y...you can talk!?!" he asked Buster still shocked.

"Yeah, so can you," Buster said. "If you want to live, go through that door there. You know, the one you opened."

Once inside, Trevor realized he was walking through a dimly lit corridor. He noticed a door to the far left, standing halfway open. Buster advised him again that if he wanted to live, he would go through this door. With Buster still sitting on his left shoulder, Trevor took a deep breathe, and walked through the door. He instantly began plunging deeper and deeper into complete and total darkness. His shrill screams of terror pierced the silent air. A foot before hitting the bottom, Trevor was jerked to a sudden halt.

"Good we made it," Buster said.

"Where the heck are we?" Trevor asked flabbergasted.

"We are in Pantchintla. My home and your new one."

"What!?!" Trevor cried.

"Yep, you're going to be living here with yours truly." Buster said gesturing towards himself.

"No, my home is in Little Rock, Arkansas, not Pantchintla, wherever that is."

"Don't worry, when we get above ground, you'll love it," Buster exlaimed. Trevor looked at him in disbelief.

"Oh, and you need a new name, how about Pinknin. Yes that suits you just fine."

"No, I'd rather keep Trevor."

"Too bad, slaves don't have a choice. Oh, that's right, you're a slave." Trevor fainted.

The next thing he knew, he was in a small room that looked like a cell.

"Hello!?" he called out.

"Good! You're awake," a short pudgy man hollered. "Now you can get to work."

"Work?!" he yelled. "What are you talking about? I belong in Arkansas!"

"Arka-whata?" the short pudgy man called.

"Never mind," Trevor muttered.

"My name is Pilton, by the way," he said. " I hear you're Pinknin."

"Not by choice."
"Better get used to it my boy! You're a slave now!" Pilton cried.

"Why?!" Trevor asked. "I'm leaving as soon as I get a chance!!"

"Nope," Pilton replied. "You stay a slave in Pantchintla 'til you die or are killed, my boy."

At that moment, Trevor realized he should have NEVER opened the basement door. He was stuck now. Trevor once again fainted.

To Be Continued...