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Congratulations to the Short Story
Contest Winners!!!
Below are the first, second, and third place short story
endings for you to read. Congratulations to the authors
of these stories, and thanks to all who entered the Teen
Advisory Board's short story contest.
Second Place
Cold, Snowy Night continued
by Sonia Noble
It was a cold, snowy night. The wind whistled around the
log cabin where four people sat huddled around a blazing
fire. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
One of the people around the fire, a girl with blonde hair
in braids, stood up and, throwing off the blanket she was
wrapped in, went to answer it. On the threshold of the cabin
were four people who at that moment resembled snowmen more
than humans.
"You're late," the blonde girl said with disapproval.
"I don't like it when people are late."
"Aw, let us in, Marianne," said the tallest snow
person. "It's freezing out here."
Marianne smiled and held the door wide to admit the newcomers,
who, in the firelight, proved to be children - not children
really; they were all in their early teens - bundled up
within an inch of their lives, and all bearing a resemblance
to Marianne. Marianne helped them out of their coats and
hats and scarves and gloves and boots, and then hung them
on the coat rack in the corner. The five of them returned
to the fireplace, found stools and sat down on them.
"For heaven's sake, Aunt Molly," said the oldest
girl who had just come in, with the same blonde hair that
Marianne had. "It's 1906! No one lives in log cabins
anymore. You could move to town where we could visit you
without practically getting killed in the process!"
An old lady, the only adult present, looked up from where
she sat in a stately rocking chair by the fireplace. "Blythe,"
she said calmly, "I am quite comfortable here, and
no one has gotten killed coming out here yet. Besides, you
should know quite well by now that I never do what anyone
else does."
Blythe smiled. Her Great-aunt Molly was her favorite relative,
and she really loved coming to visit her, even if the tiny
cabin was not in the most convenient spot on the planet.
"I like your cabin," said a small girl named Vivian.
"It's so exciting!"
"I think so, too," whispered Aunt Molly.
Aunt Molly gazed at her seven great-nieces and -nephews
with pride. They were quite a bunch, her nephew Peter's
children. Blythe was so impetuous, even at sixteen, and
the twins, Cora and Claudia, a year Blythe's junior, were
so calm in comparison. Jonathan, thirteen, was happier and
more complacent than most boys his age, but he still enjoyed
teasing his sisters. Marianne was everyone's little mother,
a very cheerful twelve year old. Her next sister, Vivian,
the beauty of the family, was Marianne's opposite. She loved
danger and excitement, and Blythe joked that when they put
tomboy in the dictionary, they put her picture next to it.
And Neil, the baby, was the average little seven-year-old
boy: adorable and infuriating.
"How was the party?" Marianne asked wistfully.
Sara Hawkins, the town's richest girl, had thrown a New
Year's Eve party for those older that thirteen only, and
even Aunt Molly's invitation that the family spend the night
with her, and that the younger children come over early,
had not cheered her much. She was very close to her older
brother and sisters, and usually did whatever they did.
"Trust me, you didn't miss much," sensible Cora
said. "Sara Hawkins is flat out boring sometimes, and
tonight she was at her peak."
"Be nice," said Blythe. "It wasn't that bad."
"You're only saying that because Jack Silsby was there,"
said Jonathan. Blythe blushed, like she always did when
the boy next door was mentioned. "Honestly, I would
really have rather been here."
The twins nodded. Most kids their age would have avoided
spending the night at their great-aunt's house like the
plague, but Aunt Molly wasn't every great-aunt, and the
kids were slightly out of the ordinary themselves. Aunt
Molly had lived in the log cabin she had been born in her
whole life. She had never married, and had taught school
in town for nearly fifty years until she retired a few years
beforehand. But she seemed as young to them as their own
friends did. Blythe had once said that she talked more easily
to her great-aunt than she did to most of her friends. Aunt
Molly was always interesting, always coming up with a new,
odd fact or hilarious story from her childhood or her teaching
days. She was an avid reader, and had read most of the children's
favorites, and was able to talk to them as if she was one
of their school friends. She encouraged the children to
be alert and to broaden their minds - she could easily talk
politics with opinionated Vivian and theology with Blythe
and the twins, and they could, under her influence, discuss
them with an ease and knowledge few adults had. Compared
to snobby Sara Hawkins, Aunt Molly was a breath of fresh
air, and worlds more likeable.
"So, what should we do now that we're all here?"
Aunt Molly asked.
"Let's play a game," Blythe suggested.
"Something that will warm us up. I'm freezing!"
"What game?" asked Cora.
"Charades!" shouted Vivian.
"Charades is good," Aunt Molly said approvingly.
"Is that all right with the rest of you?"
The other children nodded. Charades was an old favorite,
and gave them a chance to use the acting talent that the
entire family had.
Because the family was not the average family, they had
some very interesting charades - everything from The Battle
of New Orleans to a dust mite. There was lots of laughing
and frustration, especially over Jonathan's dust mite, and
they played for well over an hour, until they ran out of
ideas and had become discouraged after four misses in a
row.
"Aunt Molly?" Cora asked. "Could we read
one of your plays out loud?"
"That would be a lot of fun," added Claudia.
"And could we have hot chocolate?" asked Blythe,
who had a major soft spot for hot chocolate.
"And pop some popcorn?" asked Neil. He really
didn't like popcorn that much, but he liked to see it pop
over an open fire.
"I think we could do that," Aunt Molly said.
"You older ones know where the things for making cocoa
and popcorn are. You can get them while I get out my old
play collection."
The oldest kids scurried to get the supplies from Aunt Molly's
kitchen area, while Aunt Molly went to her mammoth bookshelves
and got down a huge stack of books that contained the scripts
of plays. When the hot chocolate and popcorn makers returned
from the kitchen, they looked at the plays while setting
up, and tried to decide which one to read. A Midsummer Night's
Dream was finally settled on, although Blythe wanted Romeo
and Juliet (her crush on Jack Silsby had made her feel romantic,
but that idea was doomed, since no one wanted to play Romeo),
and Vivian wanted to read Peter Pan.
Once the play was decided on, they had the difficult task
of casting it. Vivian and Neil fought fiercely to play the
annoying sprite, Puck, but Neil could pout better, and he
got the part. Cora and Marianne played the two human girls
in the "Love Square", Hermea and Helena, and Vivian
and Blythe played the boys, Lysander and Demetrius. Claudia
and Jonathan played the fairy king and queen, and the king
and queen of Athens, and Jonathan did double duty and played
Bottom, who got to have a donkey's head for most of the
play. Aunt Molly filled in where needed, and everyone had
one or two tiny parts as well.
It was lots of fun to read the play aloud, even though there
were only three books, so there was a lot of pausing as
the books were passed from one person to another. Actually,
it was more fun that way. There was also a lot of laughing
over the romantic parts, which seemed so much funnier in
the context they were being read in.
They were almost to the end of the play when the tiny antique
clock on the mantle struck midnight. As it was now New Year's
Day, the group stood up and toasted each other with their
cocoa and sang "Auld Lang Syne." Then they sat
back down and finished their play.
When Neil had sleepily stumbled through the last line, Aunt
Molly stood up and said, "I don't want to be in trouble
with your parents tomorrow. So off to bed now, and don't
dawdle. I'll be up in a few minutes to say good night and
make sure you're all settled. And no talking once the lights
are out, Blythe and Vivian. I'll have little sympathy for
you if you're murdered because you asked Cora if she wanted
to swim to Paris at two in the morning."
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Blythe and Vivian, notorious night owls, smiled and promised
to be on their best behavior. Then Vivian raced Neil up the
stairs, and the others followed, thinking how lucky they were.
Some people brought in the New Year at silly parties they
were only at because they wanted to impress somebody, but
they had spent it doing something they loved, at a place they
loved, with people they loved. And there was no better way
to start the new year than surrounded by love.
Third Place
Christmas Ghosts
continued
by Casey Andrew
Terri walked up to the library circulation desk to check out
a book. It was a book on ghosts of the holidays. While she
waited at the front desk for someone to come check her materials
out, she looked through her books. She looked at the pictures
of the Headless Horseman, all the ghosts from A Christmas
Carol, and ghosts from other holidays she could not name.
Then she heard a large noise from behind a shelf not too far
away and slowly, all the lights in the library went out, one
by one.
"Who-Who's there?" she stammered.
"Why, I am just the librarian," said a voice behind
the shelf and as she moved into view, Terri felt relief spread
all over her. The librarian was a black woman with thick-looking
black hair.
"Why, child, I'm sorry if I scared you. What are you
still doing here? It's just about time to close up,"
she said.
"I was just waiting for someone to check out my book,"
said Terri, holding it up.
"That's what we have the bell for," the librarian
said, as she walked over to her desk and rang a little bell
Terri had not noticed before.
"Oh," mumbled Terri, a little embarrassed. She shook
off the feeling and asked "Why did all the lights go
off in that weird way?"
"Some other librarian must have thought me to have left
already and turned off the lights. Mind you, these here lights
have been doing some funny things lately. Remind me to call
the power company," said the librarian.
There was a silence. "Are you going to check out that
book or are you going to stand there all night?" asked
the librarian. Terri handed her the book.
After it was checked out the librarian said, "Do you
want a bracelet? You make a wish, put on the bracelet, and
when the bracelet falls off, your wish will come true. We
weren't going to start handing them out until tomorrow, but
you can have one tonight anyway."
"Sure, I'll take one," Terri answered.
The librarian reached under her desk and pulled out a basket
with bracelets of different colors in it. She held it out
to Terri. "Take one," she said.
Terri picked a white and blue one. "Thanks." Terri
closed her eyes tight and made a wish. Then she put on the
bracelet. She picked up her books and headed toward the door.
"When it falls off, the wish will come true," the
librarian called after her. "And you can't cut it off
or anything, it won't count!"
"Okay, bye!" Terri called back. She jumped on her
bike and rode home.
The next day Terri woke up late, she had been dreaming very
badly. She went off to the middle school in low spirits. She
was pretty tired all day, and she soon found concentrating
on what the teachers were saying very difficult. She was getting
the feeling as though some invisible force was gaining control
over her every second. She really started panicking though
in her math class. She could barely move where she wanted.
Suddenly sweat started rolling down her face. It was like
she was hypnotized, no, it was like her body was hypnotized.
Her full attention was on the invisible force.
"Terri, please pay attention! We're doing a review for
the huge state exam! Now Terri, tell me. What is the square
root of 144?" asked the very strict math teacher.
"I-I don't know!" Terri cried out looking very panic-stricken.
"Now, Terri, you know this, don't let that math test
get to you! You're the best in our class! You represented
the whole ninth grade in the math-a-thon, and you won!!!"
"I don't know what's happening to me!!!" Terri yelled,
not paying the teacher the slightest bit of attention.
Then Terri jumped up and ran out of the room. Of course, the
teacher didn't know that it wasn't Terri's fault she couldn't
control her own body. Everybody shouted at Terri to come back.
Terri tried, oh, how she strained herself so hard to have
control of herself! But she completely couldn't. She burst
into tears.
The invisible force took her out the school doors and down
the street. It made a turn, and Terri went down a couple more
blocks. It stopped right in front of the library where she
had been the previous evening. She ran up the front steps
and inside.
The librarian who had given Terri the bracelet was at the
check-out desk. She looked up and saw Terri. She gave a nasty
grin and said, "I thought I'd be seeing you here today,
in fact, I was just waiting for you to arrive. Why don't you
come with me?"
The invisible force pulled on Terri, and she followed the
librarian to a door. The librarian took out a key and opened
the door. There was a set of stone stairs. The librarian led
the way down. Terri struggled to not follow, because she knew
that those stairs would lead to nothing but trouble.
Downstairs looked like a laboratory. There were things that
looked like heavy machinery. There were some bookshelves with
books on them. There was a cauldron that was steaming. There
was also a desk at which the librarian sat down. Terri's legs
that seemed to run themselves carried her over to the chair
opposite the desk and sat down.
"What's happening to me?" asked Terri, glad that
she at least had control over her mouth.
"Why, this is all just part of my plan," said the
librarian.
"What's your name?" Terri asked.
"You can just call me Julie. Not like you'll be able
to, when I'm through with you."
At this, Terri started panicking even more than she already
was. What was Julie meaning when she said 'when I'm through
with you'? "Why can I not control my body?!" Terri
asked.
"Why darling, it's just all part of my evil plan. See,
it's the bracelet that I so sweetly gave you last night, it's
a body hypnotizer, I cast spells on them. The brac-"
"You cast spells on them? But that means you would have
to be a -"
"A witch, yes. The bracelet forces you to come here,
usually it takes 18 to 20 hours for the bracelet to become
fully activated, Yes, so it brings you here, and then you
forcefully go through the transformer and you turn into a
Christmas ghost! Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday!"
Julie gleefully called out.
"But why do you want Christmas ghosts? I mean, what's
the point of the whole plan?" Terri asked.
"I'm not finished with my plan, now if you would quit
asking stupid questions, I'd tell you the rest. Now then,
I will hypnotize your mind so then your mind and body are
under my control. You will go out, scare people out of banks,
jewelry stores, rich people's houses, wherever I tell you
to go! Then you steal stuff, valuable stuff, all kinds of
stuff! I'll be rich, rich I tell you!" Julie dramatically
finished.
Great, now how am I ever going to get out of this, Terri thought,
if my body is under her control. I have to think of a plan.
But it was no use. There was nothing to be done.
BOOM!!!
The door to the lab burst open. Terri could hear tons of footsteps
pounding down the stairs. Suddenly Terri's math class, the
teacher, and the principal were all in the room.
Everyone was jumping up on Julie. The math teacher asked,
"Terri, are you all right? We heard all about the plan
about Christmas ghosts and the hypnotizing. We followed you
here, I knew something was fishy when you jumped up and left
the classroom."
Terri did not know what to say to this. The teacher took out
some scissors and cut off the bracelet that had been hypnotizing
Terri's body and Terri could definitely feel all control coming
back to her.
"Terri! What should we do to the witch lady?" one
of Terri's classmates asked her.
"Well think! What gets rid of witches?" Terri questioned
the kid.
"Water melted the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz,"
the person answered and so they poured water on the witch.
She melted and was gone forever. And Terri never met another
witch again. |
