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Our second place Middle School category winner was written by Rumney Marsh Academy student Alaina Cataldo of Revere, Massachusetts. |
On a dark, gloomy Halloween night, the full moon making a faint light through my window, shined down on my locket in the corner. My locket reflected the small sheer of light making the tiniest heart shaped light on my wall. I sat there in my room, staring at all four walls. Then, the shades on my windows started to sway. I looked to see if they were open. They weren’t, but as I looked out the window, I saw about ten little kids running up and down my street.
“Let’s go,” my mom called from downstairs. She was to drive me to a Halloween party my friend Gabrielle was hosting. She always has a Halloween party, but this year was to be the best since we were now in middle school. This year her parents let her invite whoever she wants. I thought about the fun time we all would have, dancing under the moon like a spotlight shining down on us like a popular dance show. “Come on, Alaina” my mom yelled again, “you’ll be late.” I grabbed my locket and ran down the stairs.
I liked this locket for some reason. Maybe it’s the way that it completed my dead colonial girl costume. I don’t know why I was so fond of it. I did have it for a while. I got it when I was young. It has a picture of my older brother and me in it when we were little. Maybe that’s it. Maybe I liked it because it reminded me of the past my brother and I used to share before my younger brother came along.
Here I was, going off to a traditional Halloween dance my best friend hosts every year. I had my blue, flat dress on with my white bloodstained itchy colonial bonnet on my head, and a bloodstained apron tied so tight, I could hardly breathe. My mom just had to take a picture of me in front of my house where everyone could see. I felt so embarrassed Then, I quickly gathered my things and got into the car.
When I got to her house, no one was there yet, other than Gabby. I told my mom that she shouldn’t have been such a nagger about me being late, besides, she only lives two streets down. My mom didn’t even have to drive me there, but she insisted on it so she didn’t think I’d go out shaving creaming instead of partying.
Gabby had everything set up and it looked really nice. By nice I mean scary. Her house was filled with a million decorations. She had plastic severed arms and eyes, fake spiders and fake cobwebs. Although I’m not so sure how fake the one in the corner was, but who cares. We talked a while, and soon everyone came. Ally, my other friend, asked me what was inside my locket, so I opened her to show her the pictures.
As soon as I opened it, the room grew pitch black. “Who turned out the lights?” we heard someone scream. I closed my locket, which I could barley see in the dark. Suddenly the lights turned back on again. Everyone stood completely still. There were a few kids on the couch, some kids by the computer, and others over by the snacks. No one could turn off all three switches all on different sides without anyone noticing. Besides, I could have sworn no one moved in the short period of darkness we were in.
Everyone froze for at least two minutes before Gabby’s mom; Darlene asked if everything was okay. She was upstairs and wondered why the noise stopped. Gabby told her mom the story and she said the power was fine upstairs. We couldn’t believe it. What just happened? Then I thought my locket! I went into the bathroom where the light switches are in my sight. I thought long and hard for a moment, and then I decided to do the right thing. I opened my locket.
Boy was I freaked out when the faucet turned on and the toilet flushed. I quickly shut my locket and both just stopped. My locket can control things? Better yet, my locket houses a spirit that controls things! I couldn’t believe it, my locket, mine, has some strange ghost going in and out of it.
Questions fluttered through my mind. Was I being haunted? By whom? When did this start? What will happen next? Should I be alone?
I was just about to explain to Ally what happened with the lights when I held back. It was the right thing. I was to keep my ghost to myself. As I thought this, I felt a chill up my spine, seeming to say to me, “You made the right choice. Good job.”
Ally was heading toward me. I knew what she was about to ask. I could feel it. Then, right then and there, Ally said, “Can I see your locket?” I stared for a moment. She waved her hand in front of my face. How was I supposed to tell her “Ally, you can’t see my locket because it’s haunted by an evil spirit?” It was hard to explain.
I couldn’t even think of how to tell her. My mind went blank. I stood there like a freak. I decided to keep my secret to myself. But when she asked me again, I was tempted to open it. Although I was telling myself not to open it, I did. With that, the lights went out again. Then, they turned on about a second later, and we all got a chill when they turned back on. Literally, everyone got chills at the same time.
Again we stood there, frozen, looking for someone who could have shut the lights. No one confessed. No one moved. No one talked. Suddenly, the lights dimmed and brightened. We all got freaked out until someone said, “It was me this time guys. Chill out!”
We all stood still. Was it him the whole time, or was it the spirit in my locket. I like to think of it as a spirit instead of a ghost. Just hearing the word ghost sort of gives me the creeps. I don’t like the feeling of someone haunting me. I’d rather it feel like someone’s watching me to make sure I make the right decisions.
For the rest of the party, people were asking me what was in my locket, especially Ally. She begged and pleaded to see it. I told her there was nothing in it. It’s just a fake necklace. That’s the excuse I used for anyone who asked.
When the party was over, my mom, in the car, asked me if I had fun, what we did, the usual stuff you would expect from any mother. “How was your time?” she asked. I answered tiredly “Good.” “What’d you do?” she asked like I was supposed to tell her from that last question. “There were a lot of problems with the power.” I answered. I was glad when she pulled up the driveway. I couldn’t stand to listen to more of “How was your time” phrased in different ways.
I got into my room and took off my locket. I looked into my mirror to fix my hair. You wouldn’t believe what happened next. I saw it, standing next to me. I didn’t know who it was at first. I just stared at it. Then, it whispered to me, “I’ll always be with you, and you know that.” Where did I hear that before? Then, it hit me, Great Grammy!
I knew who this was. I felt a warm tingly feeling inside. At least I know this spirit won’t hurt me. If I knew my Great Grammy, she was always polite and generous. Here she was, standing in plain sight. Then, my mom called my name. I turned to reply, but when I looked back, Great Grammy had vanished.
I called her name a couple times. Nothing, no one, no reply, no signs. Did she cross over to the spirit world? Was her time actually up? Where did she go?
A few days later, I called for her again. The next day, again, and the next. Where did she go? That night in my dream, I heard her repeat her famous line, “I’ll always be with you, and you know that.” Then, she said something else, in a muffled voice. She kept saying it like a broken record. I opened my eyes. There, she stood still, like a statue. We stared for a while and then waved and disintegrated into the thin, dark air.
For real, now, she crossed over to the spirit world. Though I still see her in my dreams, I know she is gone. Just not in my mind. I know now why she came to me, not just to make sure I do well, but because of the locket. Her death was the same year, around the same time the picture was taken. The mystery was solved.
A few years had gone and come around, a grown woman sitting on her bed, looking though a jewelry box. A heart shaped locket with a picture of her and her brother as children was inside. She noticed that piece first. She picked it up and it all came back to her, the Halloween party, the dreams, Great Grammy. She picks up her phone to call her old friends, but holds back, she decides to keep it her secret.
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