We asked area students to concoct a Halloween story of 700 words or less that started with this spooky introduction: “When I went to Room 101 for after-school detention, I didn’t recognize the teacher who was there waiting for me …” We received nearly 200 entries from participants that were divided into three divisions: elementary, junior high and high school. Read more of the winning entries.

Here is the Elementary Division runner-up:

When I went to room 101 for after-school detention I didn’t recognize the teacher who was waiting for me. His eyes were small, sharp black stones. His smile was curved, almost twisted. He wore black pants and a dark brown, stained shirt. I looked around to see if someone would walk through the door. No one did. He motioned for me to sit at a desk in the front row. I obeyed.

Detention stinks. Nothing to do except anticipate going home. I read the clock: 3:30. An hour and a half ’til I could go home. I looked toward the wall closest to me; a window was cracked. Just then a gust of wind forced the window to fly open. I raised my eyebrows.

Looking up at the board I read the name “Mr. Cadaver.”

“Mr. Cadaver, can I get a book to read?” I asked. Without responding, he slammed a dictionary on my desk. I shrugged and began to read the A section. “Aardvark: an ant-eating animal from Africa.” I started to flip pages. I closed my eyes to randomly choose a page. When I opened my eyes to the C section, I scanned over it. “Cactus – caddish – cadaver.”

“That’s strange,” I thought to myself. I looked at the board again. “Mr. Cadaver”. I looked back at the dictionary, “Cadaver: C-A-D-A-V-E-R”, spelled the same way. I read the definition: “dead body,”

“Scary,” I said aloud. Mr. Cadaver turned around; I sunk lower in my chair. Right then the door yanked itself shut. “Can I go to the bathroom?” I asked frantically. He nodded and I bolted for the door.

I sprinted down the hall and took a sharp turn into the third floor bathroom. I stared in the mirror with a panicked look on my face. I turned to look at the doorway, and glanced back at the mirror, only to see sharp black stone eyes and a twisted smile. I blinked, hoping I was hallucinating. The face was gone when I opened my eyes. I stepped back and ran out of the room. I didn’t stop running; I ran down the hall. My foot hit something hard, and I fell.

I closed my eyes thinking only of the pain in my foot. I kept my eyes closed for a few more moments until the pain subsided. When I opened my eyes, it was pitch black; the hallways were barely lit with a sliver of moonlight.

By now, I was scared. It was only 4:15. Why was it so dark? I really wanted to go home! I grasped the railing, following it as it curved left in right, trying not to misstep. As I finally reached the bottom, of the staircase, I walked over toward a window. The moonlight made figures on the walls. I walked farther in the dark school, occasionally bumping against lockers. After walking around a while, I decided to go back upstairs and forget what I had seen.

I climbed back up the stairs, and slowly walked back to room 101. I looked at the floor, it looked wet, I bent down and felt something thicker than water. I lifted my hands and tried to scream, BLOOD! My eyes searched the room for Mr. Cadaver, I looked in the back of the room, and by the window, nothing. I ran to the door and as I did, I felt something scrape my leg. I looked down and jumped back. Mr. Cadaver was lying on the ground under his desk, eyes wide open, his heart practically thumping out of his chest. Just then the room lit up. The walls and the floor looked white. When the light faded, Mr. Cadaver screamed. I looked away, and when I turned back what I saw could not have been there. What I saw was a white, shapeless creature lingering out the window. I sprinted out of the room, slamming the door after me. I ran back to the curved staircase and stopped to rest. A loud sound caught my attention. I looked and saw a dictionary with a page missing. As I picked it up to examine, I noticed that all of the words beginning with C were missing.

– Paulina Colombo is a sixth-grader at Hillcrest School.