Halloween Ghost Story Contest -- 2006
Elementary School Winners

Second Place

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Our second place Elementary School winners are a team of fifth graders named Max Petersen and David A. (we do not yet have David's last name) from Beverly and Lynnfield respectively. They both attend the Clark School in Danvers, MA.

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The Mummy's Tomb

by
Max Petersen & David A.

"Hey kids, look what we got from the museum!"

Dad works at the city museum. I went outside to see what Dad had. Mary, Mom, and Dad were already outside. Dad had a sarcophagus. My big sister and I asked what was in it. Dad said it was a mummy.

"Ian, come help me move this to the basement," said Dad.

I walked over to the sarcophagus. It was very dusty. It was heavy too. While I was moving it to the basement, I felt my hands go numb because it was so heavy. Actually, I didn't feel them go numb. When we finally set it down in the basement, I asked if the mummy was alive. Now you are thinking it's pretty weird that an 11-year-old boy would ask if a bandaged skeleton could be alive. Dad did not answer that's not a good sign.

That night, while I was in bed, I heard a strange noise. Thump! Thump! Thump! I told myself, "It was just thunder." I heard it again. I knew it wasn't thunder because I heard it coming from the basement. I heard it again. It was coming up the stairs. It was the mummy! I pulled myself under the covers and screamed. Then the covers flew off my head. I screamed again. It was only Mom.

"Honey, you had a bad dream."

"No, I heard the mummy."

"Just in your dreams dear."

When she left I felt it easier to go to sleep. But I did hear the mummy, I was sure of it.

The next morning, I was eating some bacon and eggs. It was very good but I lost my appetite because of last night. After I ate my breakfast, I went to school, but I could still hear that horrible thump from whatever it was last night. I tried to tell my friends but they wouldn't believe me. After school I went to a voodoo (charms) store. I asked the man at the counter, "Do you have anything that can protect me from supernatural things or mummies?"

The man at the counter stared at me and said, "Congratulations, you're the first person to buy this." The man handed me a purple sack about the size of a golf ball. "This is mummy dust. It will protect you from mummies. Just make sure the mummy touches it."

"Fine, I'll take it. How much does it cost?" You wouldn't believe that mummy dust costs $25.

I ran home, went downstairs, and put the mummy dust around the sarcophagus so when the mummy got out it would step on it and die.

"Wait a minute," I sniffed the mummy dust, "This is just sand. I can get this at the beach for free. Stupid dust!" I threw the sack across the room. It hit the wall and exploded. The sand went everywhere. I ran upstairs to go to bed and there was a dark figure in the room. I screamed for Mom, Dad, and Mary, but nobody answered. I tried to turn on the lights but the wire was cut. The figure came closer and closer and the last thing I heard was thump, thump, thump...