While baby-sitting the new neighbors’ children for the first time, Katie answered the phone thinking it was the parents. When she said “hello,” nobody talked. Katie could still hear the person breathing on the other side. It was a deep cold rattling breath. Then after about another 10 seconds the person hung up.

Katie went up to check on Joey and Suzy, after she hung up, who were supposed to be sleeping. She walked down the dark hallway to the bottom of the stairs. She put one foot on the baby-blue carpet of the stairs and the phone rang. She picked up the phone and said “hello.” Again, it was just the breath and then a deep breath said, “I’m going to get you, I’m in the house.”

The thing then hung up the phone. Katie squeezed the phone and started back up the stairs. She could see the bright white full moon through the windown on the landing. She carefully went up the stairs, but the floor squeaked and the rail was shaky. At the landing, she made a u-turn up the stairs and continued to the top. At the top of the stairs she took a right down the hall. She got to the bedroom door and looked inside. The phone started vibrating meaning that a signal had reached the phone and was about to ring, so she quickly answered it, and the voice said, “I’m at the stairs.”

Katie looked over the rail and saw what looked like a person, but she couldn’t tell. The head started to roll back to look up the stairs, but Katie already had jumped into the bedroom and onto Joey’s bed. Joey sat up laughing. Katie was saying shut up while looking around for Suzy. Suzy wasn’t there.

Then Suzy jumped into the room and started laughing as well. Katie was now telling both of them to shut up, but they weren’t listening. Then she looked down into Joye’s hand and saw a cell phone.

— Sean Gippner is a Tonganoxie Junior High School student.