As you know, the best time for ghosts is around Halloween. Return with me now, for another thrilling misadventure of the Prairie Ghosts. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.
The Prairie Ghosts jumped on their bikes and headed for the secluded pond, hidden by thick brush and trees. It was Halloween and they were looking for a body. Earlier in the week, one member saw a stranger stop near the pond one evening. He had carried something through the brush to the pond. Then a loud splash was heard. Soon the man emerged from the brush, got quickly into his car, and sped away. They wondered if he had dumped a body in the secluded pond.
When they reached the pond they hid their bikes in the weeds along the road and went single file down a narrow path through the trees and brush to the pond. The ground was still wet near the pond because it had been raining earlier in the day. The path was narrow and restricting. They finally came into a clearing and the pond stretched out before them. The day had been dark and overcast. Now darkness was setting in, making the dark pond, surrounded by tall trees and brush, even spookier. A light mist was rising from the water. It gave the place a sinister feeling, like a scene from a horror movie.
They stood along the edge of the clearing, watching the mist rise slowly, as they scanned the surface for any floating objects. Dan finally broke the silence. “The only thing missing is a monster rising out of the water.”
“That’s not funny,” Stan said, as his eyes nervously scanned the water.
“Lets spread out around the pond and see if we can spot anything in the water,” Dan said. “Whatever he threw in the water has to be near the bank, unless it floated out to a deeper part.” He broke off a branch to probe the water. Everyone else did the same.
Harold and Stan headed left. Dan and Terri went to the right. The water was so dirty it obscured anything that might be near the banks. Harold probed the water with his stick as they circled the pond.
The air was alive with the sound of frogs and toads along the water’s edge. A frog suddenly jumped and landed in the water, startling them. It didn’t help nerves that were already on edge.
Fifty yards from where they started, Harold’s stick struck something under the water. He poked again trying to see what it could be. Stan stepped back, and inched closer to the trees, his eyes searching for an escape route if one was needed. He knew monsters living in the murky depths of ponds, was only folklore, but one couldn’t be too sure on a Halloween night like this.
As Harold probed the water, it stirred up the mud, making it even harder to see anything. Stan joined him and he and Harold tried to dislodge whatever was lying under the surface. The water was only three feet deep in that area of the pond, but the water was just too dirty to see anything.
“Whatever you found is soft,” said Stan. “It doesn’t feel solid, like old discarded junk.”
They pushed and probed some more. The object finally moved and started coming to the surface. Harold and Stan stepped back. Their eyes were glued on the object breaking the surface of the water. A skull suddenly popped out of the water and they let out a gasp. They stared into the face of a partially decayed animal. It must have gotten stuck in the mud and drowned. It had been trapped under the water until they dislodged it. Now it floated free on the surface of the water.
“It scared the heck out of me when I saw that skull break the surface,” Harold said, his voice trembling. “I thought we’d found the body.”
The stench suddenly hit them and they gagged from the horrible smell.
“Let’s get out of here, Stan stammered. “I told you we should have told the cops and let them search for the body.”
They quickly retreated from the body floating lazily on the water, with the mist rising around it.
Dan and Terri came around the pond from the other direction. “All we found was a sack full of old junk that someone had thrown in the pond,” Dan said.
“We found a rotting body of an animal,” Stan said. “I never smelled anything that horrible before. Just about made me barf! Let’s get out of here.”
“It’s getting too dark to find anything tonight,” Dan said. If the guy threw a body in the water, he probably weighted it down.”
“Maybe he just threw that sack of junk in the pond to get rid of it,” Terri said.
“I don’t think so,” Dan said. “Why would someone dump junk here at night? I think it was a body!”
“Let’s get out of here, Harold said. I don’t like this place at night.” As the Prairie Ghosts felt their way through the dark brush, the Halloween moon emerged from behind the clouds. Branches from the naked trees reached out like boney fingers from a skeleton, trying to touch the moon. There would be no treats for the Prairie Ghosts this Halloween. The trick had been on them.
*
No comments:
Post a Comment