Sad Ending of the Creepy Halloween

4th Grade, 1st Place

by Ninel Maliukova,

Lake Oconee Academy (Greene County)

It was my third Halloween in the United States. I moved here 3 years ago with my mom. We bought a house and a horse because I love equestrian.
This year on Halloween I was going to be in a doctor’s costume. We suppose to go Trick-or- treating around our neighborhood and I was fine with every house around us except one on 666 Crackers Neck Road. This house had a bad reputation they said if you will go there one of your family member will die. Perhaps it is just rumours but still I don’t want to loose anyone in my family.
Let me tell you a couple of words about this house. Everything was dreadfully about it. The lady who lived there never even decorated her house because there is no need to do it. The house naturally looked spooky. First of all the never been clean, garbage everywhere, dead animals, spider webs covered the unkempt bushes, one window on basement was broken. Lights were very weak, you barely could see 6 feet around you. And this smell… oh.. it was disgusting smell around.
Well me and my friends still didn’t want to skip this house because we wanted the lady to be happy that we didn’t forget about her. So we did go there. Let me skip the description how was it just trust me it was awfully horrible! After we left her house I had panic attack and when I came home I noticed that instead of candies I got dead cockroaches!
Well, next day weird case happened to me. I decided discover a new path toward the lake next to us. A few minutes later I analyze it was swamp. Oh I was desperate because even if I would scream begging for help I was too far from people no one could hear me. But I did it anyway I guess it was my natural the instinct of self-preservation. And what a miracle!!! Not too far from me I noticed my horse Spirit. “But wait”, I said to myself I can not put her under risk because she is heavy and the swamp will suck her up as well. So I said no Spirit! Go home!
However Spirit was approaching closer and closer didn’t listening to me… Well, she helped me, she saved my life. We were dirty but safe coming home. Just in from of the fence of our house Spirit over sudden stopped and I could not convince her to go home. I thought perhaps she is afraid my mom will be upset we are dirty so I decided go first by myself and explain to mom that Spirit is a real hero. When my mom finished listening my explanation her eyes were terrified she said ‘Honey I was going to tell you that Spirit died last night’…