A Spooky Ghost Story for Tweens....
Skye
Blue & the Dream Catcher Ghost
(Chapter
Excerpt)
By
Susan Martinez ~ copyright © 2009
Official Author Web Site:
www.susanmartinez1.com
Chapter
4
It was Halloween night and Skye had no plans whatsoever.
No ballet class. No karate
class. No homework. Plus she was too
old for treat-or-treating.
She
was wondering how she would spend the evening as she looked out her front door
at her mother’s elaborate Halloween decorations on the front porch.
There were orange and white fairy lights, ghosts, witches, ghouls, and
goblins placed here and there. Skye
had to chuckle when she noticed that her mother had actually spray painted the
pumpkins bright orange and their stems tar black.
Only her mom would feel the need to enhance Mother Nature’s natural
beauty.
When
Skye’s cell phone rang, she grabbed it out of the pocket of her pink hoody and
checked the caller ID. It was Selena
Fernandez, the girl next door.
“Hi,
Sel.”
“What’s
up, girlfriend?”
“Just
trying to decide what to do tonight.”
“Me,
too. Oh, oh, oh…I have an idea!”
Selena gushed out.
“What?”
“Why
don’t we have a bonfire in my backyard, and then watch horror movies in your
home movie theater? That would be
soooo fun!”
“Just
you and me?”
“Why
not? We’ve spent every Halloween
together since we were three.”
“What
if we get bored?” Skye asked. Important
question, she thought.
“We
could invite some boys over from the neighborhood.”
“I
hate every stupid boy within a one mile radius of my house!” Skye exclaimed.
“Remember how they tee-peed my house after my twelfth birthday party?
My dad wanted to have them arrested and thrown in prison for life.”
“They
were mean.”
“Worse
than mean. They acted like immature,
insensitive jackasses, especially when my mother was in the hospital.”
“Don’t
you know any fine guys from the dance studio or karate?”
“Not
that I’d invite over to my house.”
“Why
not?” Selena demanded, annoyed by Skye’s pickiness.
She loved boys and didn’t much care if they were immature, insensitive,
or even jackasses. Boys were fun.
“They’re
either players or egomaniacs.” Of
course, she was referring to Rain Antonius, the King of Egomaniacs.
“Besides my dad would never let me have guys over to the house again.
I probably won’t be able to date until I’m eighteen.”
“So
true. Are you coming over?”
“Do
you have any monster movies besides Monsters Inc?”
“I
still love that movie,” Selena said defensively.
“Hey, I just remembered. The
Sci Fi channel is running a Ghost Hunters marathon tonight.
I love those two guys from TAPS—Grant and Jason.”
“There’s
a real TV show called Ghost Hunters?
Now that’s one big coincidence.”
“It’s
a really cool show. You’ve gotta
see it. How about if you get here by
six? I gotta go now and stack the
dishwasher.”
“Stack
the dishwasher? I thought you had
housekeeper.”
“We
do. But I want to buy the new Taylor
Swift CD and my parents are trying to teach me the value of a dollar, so
they’re making me work for it.”
“How
can you stand Country music? It’s
so lame!”
“Them’s
fightin’ words!” Selena countered in a pretend southern accent.
“Bye,
Sel,” Skye said and quickly ended the call.
She didn’t want to get into another stupid argument with Selena about
the importance of Country music to the American way of life.
She’d rather go to the dentist, take a math test, or clean a dirty cat
litter box than have that blistering discussion again for the zillionth time.
Taylor Swift could drip her teardrops on her soggy guitar until she’s
eighty years old for all Skye Maxwell cared!
It’s
said that opposites attract and that was certainly true with Skye and Selena.
They were as dissimilar as two BFFs could be.
First off, they looked like exact opposites.
Skye was fair and willowy and Selena was tan-skinned and curvy.
Then, their personalities were exact opposites.
Skye was high-strung and high-maintenance and Selena was low-keyed and
low-upkeep. Next, their goals
were polar opposites. Skye wanted to
be a ballerina and Selena wanted to be a pediatrician.
Skye was salty; Selena was sweet. And
if that wasn’t enough, Skye believed in the Supernatural and Selena believed
in Science.
Living
next door to each other and being the same age and the same gender seemed to be
the only things they had in common. Why
they had had such zany fun when they were together was one of those great
mysteries of life.
Even though Skye wasn’t going trick-or-treating, she decided it would
be fun to wear a costume. There was
no doubt in her mind that Selena would dress up in her cowgirl gear; she did it
every year since she was born. But
Skye had more imagination than that. She
loved pretending to be someone else. But
who?
She
opened her closet door, looked around for inspiration, and spotted the haunted
dream catcher lying crumbled up in one corner.
Her first reaction was to stuff it in a shoebox or hide in on a high
shelf. But she liked her second
reaction better: Burn it in the
bonfire! She quickly grabbed a stray
plastic Target bag and shoved the dream catcher inside.
It no longer was glowing green or spinning or talking.
It was just an inanimate object again, no more dangerous than a pair of
Converse sneakers. Burn, baby,
burn! She’d have to think of
something to tell Grandma Violet after the dream catcher roasting.
Skye
decided if Selena was going to be a cowgirl, than she would be an Indian girl.
Then they could really mix it up. She
found a pair of brown suede pants in her mom’s closet and a matching blouse, a
pair of white moccasins in her grandma’s closet, and bongo drums in her
dad’s cluttered closet. They
weren’t exactly Indian tom-tom drums but they’d have to do on short notice.
Digging
through her own costume trunks, she found colorful belts, necklaces, headbands,
and dangling beaded earrings to top off the look.
After braiding her long blonde hair and painting her face with “war
paint”, Skye looked in the mirror and let out a loud war whoop.
She thought she looked great for a blonde Indian girl.
Grabbing the bag containing the dream catcher and her red North Face
jacket to ward off the night chill, she headed to the kitchen to grab some
snacks and Cokes, and then headed next door to Selena’s house.
It
was a perfect night for Halloween. The
air was cool and crisp. The sky was
starless and the moon was so full it looked like it was about it burst its
seams. The otherwise subdued
neighborhood had a street party atmosphere.
Children and parents were everywhere, laughing and talking, sneaking
candy and sipping hot toddies. The
costumes were exotic and creative and everyone looked so happy.
And for one second, Skye wished her parents had given her a baby brother
or sister to share the merriment. But
then she got over it.
Selena was as dependable as Father Time.
She was ready at ten minutes to six, dressed in her cowgirl getup, and
waiting for Skye on her deck.
“Did you dress like an Indian just to irk me?” she called out to
Skye.
“Duuuh.”
Together, they ran down to the fire pit with their arms loaded down with junk food. Skye was looking forward to watching Selena’s dad build the bonfire. He did everything in such a boyish, joyful way. Even when he mowed the lawn, he looked like he was sort of skipping. When he shoveled the driveway, he looked like he was building a snow fort. He lived his life with enthusiasm, and Skye liked that.
First,
Mr. Fernandez artistically placed two fat logs in the center of the pit parallel
to each other. Then he placed a bunch of balled-up newspaper in between the two
logs. Then, like playing with
Lincoln Logs, he positioned two more logs on top of the pile perpendicular to
the original logs. He stuffed more
balled-up newspaper and kindling in the gaps.
He then made a tepee with four long logs around the structure, and
surrounded it with even longer pieces of thick kindling.
Then
came the part that Skye liked the best. Before
he struck his first match, Mr. Fernandez beat on his chest like a cave man and
shouted, “Me make fire! Me make
fire!”
Selena
and Skye laughed at his silliness as he tossed the first lit match into this
creation. Immediately, the wood
burst into flames and the girls clapped and laughed with delight.
Then
in all seriousness, he turned to the two girls and said, “Now remember the
Fernandez bonfire rules. Rule number
one is ‘Keep a bucket of water nearby, just in case the fire gets out of
control.’ Rule number two is
‘Use long marshmallow and hot dog sticks so you won't need to get too close to
the flames.’ And rule number three
is ‘Make sure your sparks don't start any other fires.’”
Then he turned to the neighbor girl and said, “Skye, I know your
dad’s a fire fighter, but I’d rather not have my house set on fire tonight,
okay?”
“Okay,
Mr. Fernandez. I promise we’ll be
careful.”
The
girls ate everything in sight and drank Cokes and Mountain Dews for hours.
They resorted to peeing behind a bush rather than running up to the
house. Judging by their behavior,
the friends both seemed to have contracted a serious case of Moon Madness.
They laughed until their sides ached.
They danced around the fire like lunatics.
Some days you gotta dance. They beat the bongo drums, sang their favorite
songs at the top of their lungs, and told ghost stories.
They chased each other like cowboys and Indians in the Wild West.
And by the time Skye’s mother was calling them inside to watch their
horror movies, both girls were more than ready to settle down.
“Oh,
I almost forgot!” Skye said, suddenly energized.
“Forgot
what?”
“I
have something I want to throw in the fire.”
“Your
Jonas Brothers CDs?” Selena asked playfully.
“Ha.
Ha. I want to burn the dream catcher
my grandmother gave me.” Skye
lifted it out of the bag and dangled it in front of Selena’s startled face.
“Why
do you want to burn it? Are you
nuts? It’s so pretty!”
“It’s
pretty, but it’s possessed! It’s
like that Bride of Chucky doll!”
“You’re
soooo dramatic.”
Both
girls jumped with fright when a large gray owl suddenly flew over the bonfire
and landed in a big Oak tree nearby. It
stared at them with its round golden eyes then let out a loud call, “Who! Who!
Who!”
“Shut
up!” Skye shouted up at the noisy bird.
“Don’t
make it mad, Skye. Owls are bringers
of bad news,” Selena said with worry in her voice.
“My dad once told me that there is an old saying in
“You’re
making that up because I’m dressed like an Indian.”
“No
I’m not!” Selena protested. “He
really said that. I swear!”
“Whatever.
Stand back. I’m tossing
this poltergeist plaything in the fire!” And
she did.
It
hit the fire and instantly exploded; sending sparks flying in every direction.
Skye and Selena had to duck to keep from getting hit.
The girls watched, fascinated, as the flames grew higher and taller and
eventually formed the shape of a person. When
the words “Help me! I’m stuck!
Help me! I’m stuck!”
began to be heard loud and clear, coming from the fire person, Selena began to
scream at the top of her lungs and race towards her house wild with fright.
Skye,
more used to paranormal phenomena, didn’t feel the urge to run away.
Excitement danced in her chest as she reached for the emergency bucket of water
and threw it on the flames. In
seconds, the fire sputtered out and the night was silent again.
Only the extinguished fire could be heard, hissing its dismay.
Skye was hyped up from all the adrenaline pumping through her veins and
could barely catch her breath. Then
by the light of the full moon, she saw a very concerned looking Mr. Fernandez
quickly approaching.
“What
happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m
fine. The fire’s out,” Skye
said, keeping her voice sounding as calm as she could.
“I’m going home now. Bye.”
Then Skye ran up the lawn towards her back door and rushed inside,
leaving her trash, jacket, and burned up dream catcher behind.
When
morning broke, Skye awoke to the wonderful smell of pancakes cooking on the
kitchen grill. She bounced out of
bed and stepped on something. Looking
down, she was absolutely, positively, enormously shocked to see the dream
catcher on the floor, looking as good as new, beneath her right foot.
And it felt icy cold.
She was about to lean down to pick it up when she heard the sound of a
girl giggling in the room. Since
Skye was the only one in the room and she definitely wasn’t laughing, she
realized the eerie sound must have been coming from a ghost.
Suddenly scared out of her wits, Skye bolted towards the door of her
bedroom and ran down two flights of stairs to her grandmother’s bedroom.
Skye
Blue & the Dream Catcher Ghost book is available at Amazon.com or your
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www.susanmartinez1.com