The House

The House(The Storyteller) The House

There was only one reason why I didn’t want to go into that house. The only reason was that I had heard all the stories about this house at the Boy Scouts semi-annual bonfire. My friend Jimmy suggested that we tell scary stories around the campfire as it died down and became a yellowish orange color that reminded me of a jack-o-lantern. So, naturally, being boys we did. Jimmy was the first to tell a story. His story would have scared a kindergartner, but not six eleven year old boys. Then Will told a story. Will was an outsider at school and at Boy Scouts, but nobody made fun of him here like they did at school. Will cleared his throat and began a story that would change our lives, or lack thereof, forever.

Will told that one day a man and his children were hiking through the woods when they stumbled upon this very house. The man wanted to explore the house and the kids wanted to rest, so they went inside. They looked around for a few moments and then confirmed that the house had been abandoned for a while. Just after they said that they heard a loud scratching noise coming from the kitchen. The noise was so loud that the man grabbed an old broomstick thinking that the noise was a raccoon that was mad at their presence in the house. Just as the man was sneaking over, two hands appeared out of the wall, seizing the man and dragging him straight into the wall. The man fought and fought the mysterious arms but to no avail for they were ten times as strong as the man and all his children. The distraught children had no idea what to do about their lost father. Then the eldest child spoke up and suggested that they look around for their father. The children searched day and night with no luck finding him. Rumor has it that those same children search that house every night and if you are quiet enough you can hear them calling for their father that will never be found.

Now that the kids were here Will began to lead the way fearlessly into the house. The Boy Scouts were armed with nothing but their pocket knives and their knowledge of the story. They decided to search the kitchen where the man disappeared, first. When they arrived at the kitchen they discovered no sign of anything that could have caused the man’s disappearance. Then the boys decided to split up into a buddy system. Jimmy and Will searched the upstairs area, Jake and Steve searched the rest of the living area, while Jeff and I got stuck searching the dark and dank basement. Then we all made up a code using our knuckles as our communicating devices.

Bang! Bang! Bang! My knuckles responded by throbbing repeatedly. As it turned out, we got stuck searching two basements instead of just one. Each basement was the size of the living room and kitchen together. Based on their banging, Jake and Steve had discovered nothing out of the ordinary. Also based on their banging we could tell that they were waiting for everyone to return in the living room. Jeff and I were now feeling our way along the second basement, wishing that we had won rock, paper, scissors, for the flashlight. We decided to go back up and beg for the flashlight from Jake and Steve and then continue searching the basements. When we finally saw the light of day again we could tell something was wrong. Jake and Steve were each looking at us with pure terror in their eyes.

They told us what had happened while we were in the “dungeon”. As soon as we finished talking to each other with our secret code, they heard screaming from upstairs where Jimmy and Will were. They didn’t want to leave and have us arrive from downstairs to find them gone. My first thought when they finished the story went to Jimmy and how his parents would feel if he got lost forever like that man with his kids. Without waiting for the others, I ran upstairs calling Jimmy’s name every second. As I ran up the long flight of stairs, I could hear the breathing and footsteps of my friends coming to help me rescue Jimmy and Will from this unseen terror that lies in this horrid house. As I screamed Jimmy’s name one more time, I stopped to survey my surroundings. We had reached the top of the stairs and were faced with a scene that you would see if a grizzly bear broke into your house. There was broken glass from an old flower vase and there was an overturned desk. But the most scary thing about this scene was that right there, in the middle of the hallway was one of Jimmy’s old Nike sneakers and a picture that he always carried with him. The picture was one of his family, Jimmy’s mother, father, and sister.

I didn’t even bother to yell for Jimmy anymore because I knew that he was gone. He probably disappeared into the wall just like the man did. Instead of mourning over the loss of my best friend, I went on searching for Will. We had no idea where Will was except that he was up here. For the moment I had a choice. My options were to walk out of this horror house and leave Jake, Steve, and Jeff to their own devices. Or I could stay and help find Will. In my heart I knew I couldn’t do that, I knew that I must lead all of them out of here alive! So I marched onward, knowing that my friends would follow me. Now that Jimmy was gone I was the oldest Boy Scout there. I told the three kids my new plan of action. We were going to stay together this time and search every room individually since the idea of splitting up did not work out well last time.

There were three rooms ahead of us. Each of them could possibly contain Will or the monster. One of the rooms looked like a bathroom while the other two looked like bedrooms. We decide to search the bathroom first, since that seemed like the least dangerous one of the three. We tiptoed silently over to the bathroom to discover the door slightly ajar. I pushed the door open the rest of the way and found Will hiding behind the toilet.

As soon as he saw us, Will ran over to us like we were the last people on Earth. We then had Will tell us about what happened to Jimmy. At the sound of Jimmy’s name, Will flinched like a dog that had been beaten too much. He told us that they were walking along quietly and searching every nook and cranny of the old house. On their right Jimmy spotted a closet just big enough for one person to fit into. Jimmy decided to search the closet while Will stayed outside. As soon as Jimmy opened the door two arms, with no body attached to them, grabbed Jimmy by his own arms and dragged him into the closet. In Jimmy’s panic, he knocked over the desk holding the glass flower vase. By the time Will finished telling us the story he had tears in his eyes. “I just want to go home.” Will said, barely able to contain his emotions. I decided, right then and there, that I would do my best to lead these Boy Scouts out of here alive.

I made another plan. We were going to walk down the stairs with me in front and Will in back. “The oldest protecting the youngest” I called it. Every few steps I would yell “roll call” and everyone that was still there would state their names back to me. I didn’t think it was a bad plan but I knew that Will wouldn’t get out of here. Will also knew that he wouldn’t get out alive but he was willing to sacrifice himself to possibly save us.

“Roll call” I yelled. “Jeff is here” "Steve is here” “Jake is here” As I waited for Will to state his name, in my heart I knew that he was gone. We walked another few steps when I heard a commotion behind me and I knew Jake was gone. That is when I freaked. I ran. I ran as fast as I could all the way down the stairs and out to the front yard. Then I realized someone was still behind me. It was Jeff! Jeff had made it out alive! We stayed outside panting and crying tears of joy. We had made it out! Then I felt someone or something was watching us. I turned around slowly and saw two giant arms sprout out of the house and grab Jeff from behind! He scrambled along the ground, looking for somewhere to hold onto against these giant arms. When he couldn’t find any, he stared straight at me with pleading eyes. With tears of joy fresh on his face Jeff started crying tears of terror! But instead of helping Jeff, I ran. I ran all the way back to Boy Scout camp. I ran and ran and I have never stopped running, to this day. I run all day and all night in fear that one day those giant arms that took all of my friends, will catch me and take me back to that old abandoned house.

I then proceeded to smile at my terrified audience of five, eleven year old Boy Scouts. Their names were Will, Jeff, Jimmy, Jake, Steve, and of course me, the amazing storyteller.

Happy Halloween. :)