Get up! Get up!”
That was the same dream she had before,
Casey thought. She turned the page and read:
June 11
Dearest friend,
Another fire dream. This time I saw that it was our house burning. The flames climbed as high as the treetops. The heat felt like an oven. I saw the stairway collapse. But I couldn’t find Mama and Papa. I looked and looked, but I couldn’t find them anywhere.
These dreams always frighten me. But not as much as what happened tonight. I was lighting the candles for dinner when the candlesticks started to shake. They quivered in their holders as if they were alive. I dropped the matches and screamed for Papa. But by the time he came, they had stopped.
Despite the hot day, Casey felt a cold chill go down her spine. She turned quickly ahead, scanning the pages, until she came to this entry in the diary:
Dearest friend,
Something very strange happened today. I don’t know what to make of it. I was in the kitchen, embroidering a handkerchief for my hope chest. I was in a bad mood because I hate embroidery, but Mama says I have to do it.
Mama was around the side of the house, hanging the washing on the line. Suddenly, she hollered out, “Millie, stop that!”
“Stop what?” I hollered back.
“Stop fiddling with the radio!” she yelled.
“I’m not anywhere near the radio!” I yelled back. But I went into the sitting room to see what she meant.The radio was on so loud I had to cover my ears. But that wasn’t all. It was tuning in and out all by itself, as if an invisible hand were turning the knobs.
I ran out of the room and yelled to Mama, but by the time she came the radio was quiet. I know Mama doesn’t believe me. She thinks it is all my imagination….
Casey shut the book and let it fall to the porch floor. She didn’t want to read any more. Her hands were shaking and she had a funny feeling in her stomach. She felt as if she’d stumbled into one of Jaycee Woodard’s spooky stories. Only this time, the main character was herself.
Casey looked across the field to the shady woods. Suddenly, she needed to get away from the house. She felt like she was suffocating there.
Casey stood and called out to her parents, “I’m going for a walk!”
“Have fun!” her mother yelled through the window.
Casey crossed the lawn quickly and set off down the road. The sun beat down on the top of herhead. The droning sound of some insect filled the air like a monotonous, pulsing soundtrack.
Casey was relieved when she reached the dead-end sign and the shade of the trees. The farther Casey got from the house, the more she relaxed. She felt something loosen in her chest, like a knot unwinding.
As she walked, Casey started to notice things around her. She spotted something in the grass that looked like a golf ball, but turned out to be a mushroom that crumpled when she touched it. There were pretty blue flowers growing by the side of the road. She picked one and put it behind her ear. It made her feel a little better.
When she came to a mailbox marked GREER, Casey paused, wondering why the name sounded familiar. Then she remembered that was the tuna-casserole boy’s name. Erik Greer.
Casey felt a little flutter in her stomach. She peered between the trees, and caught a glimpse of a green house with a tan car parked out front. There was no sign of life.
Across the road from Erik’s house, there wasa narrower track leading between the trees. Casey could tell it wasn’t a driveway, because there was no mailbox in front and she couldn’t see a house nearby. She decided to follow it.
As she walked, her thoughts returned to Millie’s diary. Casey couldn’t deny that strange things had been happening to her ever since she had arrived at the house on Drury Road. Her parents said it was her imagination. But was it just coincidence that Millie had “imagined” the same things decades before?
The sound of running water made Casey look up. She had come to a wide woodland stream. Lost in
That was the same dream she had before,
Casey thought. She turned the page and read:
June 11
Dearest friend,
Another fire dream. This time I saw that it was our house burning. The flames climbed as high as the treetops. The heat felt like an oven. I saw the stairway collapse. But I couldn’t find Mama and Papa. I looked and looked, but I couldn’t find them anywhere.
These dreams always frighten me. But not as much as what happened tonight. I was lighting the candles for dinner when the candlesticks started to shake. They quivered in their holders as if they were alive. I dropped the matches and screamed for Papa. But by the time he came, they had stopped.
Despite the hot day, Casey felt a cold chill go down her spine. She turned quickly ahead, scanning the pages, until she came to this entry in the diary:
Dearest friend,
Something very strange happened today. I don’t know what to make of it. I was in the kitchen, embroidering a handkerchief for my hope chest. I was in a bad mood because I hate embroidery, but Mama says I have to do it.
Mama was around the side of the house, hanging the washing on the line. Suddenly, she hollered out, “Millie, stop that!”
“Stop what?” I hollered back.
“Stop fiddling with the radio!” she yelled.
“I’m not anywhere near the radio!” I yelled back. But I went into the sitting room to see what she meant.The radio was on so loud I had to cover my ears. But that wasn’t all. It was tuning in and out all by itself, as if an invisible hand were turning the knobs.
I ran out of the room and yelled to Mama, but by the time she came the radio was quiet. I know Mama doesn’t believe me. She thinks it is all my imagination….
Casey shut the book and let it fall to the porch floor. She didn’t want to read any more. Her hands were shaking and she had a funny feeling in her stomach. She felt as if she’d stumbled into one of Jaycee Woodard’s spooky stories. Only this time, the main character was herself.
Casey looked across the field to the shady woods. Suddenly, she needed to get away from the house. She felt like she was suffocating there.
Casey stood and called out to her parents, “I’m going for a walk!”
“Have fun!” her mother yelled through the window.
Casey crossed the lawn quickly and set off down the road. The sun beat down on the top of herhead. The droning sound of some insect filled the air like a monotonous, pulsing soundtrack.
Casey was relieved when she reached the dead-end sign and the shade of the trees. The farther Casey got from the house, the more she relaxed. She felt something loosen in her chest, like a knot unwinding.
As she walked, Casey started to notice things around her. She spotted something in the grass that looked like a golf ball, but turned out to be a mushroom that crumpled when she touched it. There were pretty blue flowers growing by the side of the road. She picked one and put it behind her ear. It made her feel a little better.
When she came to a mailbox marked GREER, Casey paused, wondering why the name sounded familiar. Then she remembered that was the tuna-casserole boy’s name. Erik Greer.
Casey felt a little flutter in her stomach. She peered between the trees, and caught a glimpse of a green house with a tan car parked out front. There was no sign of life.
Across the road from Erik’s house, there wasa narrower track leading between the trees. Casey could tell it wasn’t a driveway, because there was no mailbox in front and she couldn’t see a house nearby. She decided to follow it.
As she walked, her thoughts returned to Millie’s diary. Casey couldn’t deny that strange things had been happening to her ever since she had arrived at the house on Drury Road. Her parents said it was her imagination. But was it just coincidence that Millie had “imagined” the same things decades before?
The sound of running water made Casey look up. She had come to a wide woodland stream. Lost in
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