Hauntings On Boyburry Lane

• Pumindu Dias, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2019

Strolling down Boyburry Lane, Jeff and Max heard the most eerie of sounds. It was a cross between a shriek and a yelp of terror. Merely waving it off as an animal, they had no idea that the noise was the start of what would be known as the ‘Hauntings’. They both walked back to their respective houses and life went on as normal until…

Max and Jeff were two ordinary boys in an ordinary neighbourhood, but that neighbourhood holds a very dark secret. The next day was as normal as ever but as they were walking back from school, they heard the moaning again. Accompanied by the noise was a translucent, ghostly body with ragged clothes and it was missing an arm! Scared to death, the boys ran away into an abandoned house shrieking and wailing. What they did not know was that this very house was home to some spooky mysteries.

The boys ran down a labyrinth of hallways each passage leading to a whole lot more. They were bamboozled at the intricate maze that was merely the first floor of the house. Then they found a single pale door with light radiating from it and another filled with darkness. Obviously, the boys chose the light one but as soon as they stepped in, they were held in an old, rusty and metal cage. They gripped each other in fear as the cage flew down and crashed to a stop. The doors creaked open and Jeff and Max stumbled out.

Now they were in a sort of living room. Dust clung onto furniture with brands lost in antiquity. The ding of a grandfather clock could easily be heard over the empty silence of the room. Jeff and Max just stood stunned. Suddenly, a great gust of wind shrieked past the house and there was a faint ghostly moan coming from behind a door. They slowly crept towards it and opened it to see a small, sickly infant wailing and tied to a chair by chain for maybe days or even weeks. Just as the boys got close to the child, they saw a sign saying to leave the creature there but taking no heed, they helped the infant out of the chains and just as he was free, he disappeared in a wisp of smoke. They had unleashed the ghost of the house.

They wondered in and then…Everything went black and they were sucked into a worm hole of darkness. When they regained some sense, they saw that they were in an enclosed room with only a single shady window. Then, the small infant they freed was there laughing its head off. As soon as they saw it, they were back in the cool night air.

Then they saw themselves lying on the ground with a knife impaling them and then they felt a searing pain in their abdomen. Max and Jeff took their final breath and keeled over and lay limp for eternity.