The old lady

Scary story contest entry

Cutting through the graveyard on the way home after a school dance, I saw something move in front of me. It looked like a person. I turned and ran. I heard, “Jessie, wait it’s just me! I looked back and saw Jason; the boy I hoped would ask me to dance earlier. “Why did you leave? I wanted to dance with you,” he said.

“I felt like going home before the storm,” I told him.

“Well, let’s get back; we still need to dance,” he said. I agreed to follow him. We walked but it was taking longer than I remembered. “Where are we?” I questioned.

“I don’t know, but there’s a house. Maybe someone can help us. After ringing the doorbell, an old lady opened the door. “We can’t seem to find our way back to Washington Junior High, can you help us?” Jason asked.

Jason led me through the open door. Thunder cracked and lightning lit the sky. The lady suggested we stay overnight and call our parents in the morning; she led us to bedrooms upstairs. Jason agreed. Since Jason was not afraid, I felt better too.

A crying child, followed by a music box playing, awakened me. A telephone rang and all the other noises stopped. I went to the phone table in the hallway and answered the phone.

“Get out of my room now!” screamed a voice.

I dropped the phone and ran back into the bedroom, slamming the door. I heard people run down the stairs. Opening the door, there stood Alison and Jason.

“You guys did this? It was all a big joke!” I said. Alison responded, “I just wanted your first junior high dance to be a memorable one!”

As we left the next morning, I looked back at the house. Standing in the window was the old lady watching us.


Megan Tessel is a seventh-grader at Southwest Junior High