Tales of Adventure: Finalist #4

This story of an adventure that went horribly wrong earned the "Don't Try This At Home" award. (I shortened it a little bit. Hope you don't mind!)

Hello my name is Claire Maine-inn, which is an anagram for my real name. My friend MK, which is short for Mary Kathryn, and I went over to our friend Jackii’s house a couple of years ago to stay the night. She lives one block from an old high school. So we all planned to sneak over to the school after her Dad and step-mom went to sleep because her cousin had told her that strange things happen at night over there and that was why they closed the school. I told her that he was trying to scare her and that why would they close a school for something that happens during the night, but she was determined to go. So all of us dress in black outfits and put our stuff in a dark purple gym bag that Jackii had in her closet. We brought a flashlight, three scarves to use in case of asbestos, a cell phone, a telephone book to keep the door from locking, and an old I-pod that MK had so we could find our way back.

When we got over to the school we went to the front, which was locked of course. We tried two more doors and decided to go through an open or broken window. We couldn’t find an open window but we found a broken window and broke it more to get in. We started to walk around the school. First we went to the gym and looked around but didn’t see much so we went to the locker rooms. When we first walked in I heard something, and MK said do you hear a shower running? So we looked around and found showers but they were old and off except one but it was hardly on. Jackii said well that was probably the sound MK why don’t you turn it off. MK said no I don't wanna why won't you or Claire do it? Fine I'll do it if you stop fighting I said.

I walked over and turned it to the right and it turned on and was spitting out dirty water. We all screamed and ran out. Let’s go somewhere else said Jackii. Most of the classrooms were the same, empty except for a few things like old papers and books. One of the doors we tried to open would not open. I said hey bet there is something in there why don't we break it and get in? Jackii said no that would be vandalizing. So we lifted Jackii up because she is smallest. We asked her if she seen anything. Not really it's dusty up here she answered so MK said break the window then. She pushed it in with her hand carefully and we could hear it crack then fall in.

What do you see we asked Jackii. She said push me higher, I think I see something in here. It looks big. Toss me over so I can get in. So we tossed Jackii over the other side. She screamed as she fell over and landed with a sickening crack she started screaming and crying. So MK pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. We told them where we were and what happened, and they came over fast. They were able to open the door, and when they did we saw Jackii crying on the floor, her arm bent at a odd angle with a bunch of blood on it. Jackii said when she hit the floor she slipped on the glass and broke her arm. The police asked us what we were doing in the school, and we told them we wanted to see if it was haunted. They told us that we shouldn't go around this school and that there's a reason they lock up the doors. They called all of our parents. We were in trouble for a long time after that and Jackii wasn't allowed to have sleepovers for three months. She is all better now and the doctors said that it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

The only thing I could never figure out was what happened to the big thing in the room. When they opened the door, the class was empty except for Jackii and she says she doesn't remember seeing anything.

Tales of Adventure: Finalist #3

This is the finalist that left all the judges dying for more!

A Tale of Adventure

By Pearl

"He could be lying in a pool of blood, bike lying on top of him, ball in hand, unconscious, slowly dying right now. Or he could be kidnapped, laying in the trunk of a car, ball, bouncing and hitting his head over and over again. Slowly going unconscious. "I said dramatically.

"But we don't care, we all hate Tony," my sister's friend Mehul said.

I replied "Yeah, but getting a ball is a stupid way to die."

"We still don't care, we all still hate Tony," this time my sister answered me.

"So . . . You're finally back, what happened?" I asked my chubby next door neighbor, Tony.

"I got kidnapped, oh, yeah, I got the ball. It rolled all the way out off the neighborhood."

"What! You got kidnapped?" Mehul asked shocked.

"No big deal, I've gotten kidnapped a few times before, all I had to do was stick my gum, which I always carry in my pocket, in the car's ignition and wait for the person to start the color. Then all I had to do was give them a karate chop in the back fo the head and he was gone."

"Dead?" I asked

"No, just knocked out," he replied.

Later that day asked my sister what she thought of Tony. I told her that something was weird about him. He treated kidnapping like it was nothing, he said he'd been kidnapped before . . . My sister thought I was crazy, but I wondered if there was something more to Tony Melgranda than meets the eye. Maybe they were spies. No, my mind wandered back to when my sister, Jade was playing with Tony. His brother said that he wanted to be a Marine, to serve his country. If they were spies then Tony's brother would already be serving his country. No, it had to be something worse.

I decided to go on the Internet and look up his mother's Patricia Melgranda. I checked the first link. I was shocked I had expected something bad, but not that bad; Patricia Melgranda was the head of the American Mafia. That would explain their cars. They had about six cars, and they were all really nice cars until they scratched them with their car keys. Their family also didn't care about how bad they banged up their cars. Their family was constantly almost always squishing us with their horrible driving. That was why Tony's brother wanted to be Marines, it was the only way not to be a member of his mom's "job."

Once I found out I wanted to move, but they would get suspicious since we only moved there two years ago. Now I want to find out more and I know I will.

Tales of Adventure: Finalist #2

Here is Spring's real-life adventure. After reading it, I've been busy booby-trapping my apartment all week!

Once upon a time, my brother and I were bringing in the mail and paper for some friends (the Craigs) who were on vacation. It was OK for both of their cars to be in the backyard since they were renting a car. Everyday I saw both of the cars in the backyard until one day (which happened to be Monday.) Well they were supposed to be home on Monday, but I didn't know what time, so my brother and I thought they were home. We rang the doorbell to see if they were there, but nobody answered, and the mail and paper wasn't taken in. So I decided to go in, since that was why we were there anyway. When we got in I called "Hello!" and no answer. So I just put the mail and paper in the designated box and drank some water (one of the things we got as a reward for bringing the mail and paper in was unlimited water!) And then I left.

When we got home I told my dad that one of the cars wasn't there, but the mail and paper wasn't inside. My dad first thought it might be stolen, and we were going to call the Craigs if they didn't call us first. Later the Craigs called and said the car WAS stolen and the house was broken into. Drawers were open, but the only thing we found gone was the keys and some headphones... I discovered that the headphones were gone because when I was at my piano lesson (Mrs. Craig is my piano teacher too) the day after we discovered the the burglary I was going to play a music game on the computer but the headphones were gone. Now what kind of thief would take keys and the WORST HEADPHONES the Craigs had?

It's kind of scary to think that maybe the burglar was in the house when my brother and I were there.

Tales of Adventure: Finalist #1

By International Mastermind

“And the head rolled to Amy's feet.”

I yawned. Not because it was midnight, but because everyone’s “scary stories” were very boring. I was sitting with Emily, Cathy, and Gwen in Emily's room, on Emily's birthday.

“Gwen,” said Emily. “That story was so not scary.” I silently agreed.

“Oh, yeah?” Asked Gwen. “Let's hear you tell a better one.” I leaned back and listened to Emily begin.

“So when we moved here last year on my birthday, I moved my stuff into the room down the hall. But the first night I started hearing these noises. Like little girls giggling. But I am an only child, so I got all freaked and, um, moved in here.” She blushed. “I haven't heard anything since.” Emily sat back, her eyes daring them to criticize. I must have fallen asleep then, because the last thing I remember was my friends giggling.

“Uh,” I grunted as I sat up in my sleeping bag. I glanced around the room. All of my friends were sitting up, looking tired.

“What time is it?” asked Cathy, sleepily.

“It's one in the morning!” said Gwen. I had no idea what had woken us up. The house was silent. Emily told us all to go back to sleep, and soon we could hear her snores.

“Did you hear that?” asked Cathy.

“We can all hear Emily snoring.” I said. Suddenly I heard a soft laugh.

“That!” Yelled Cathy.

“Shut up!” Gwen hissed.

I grabbed a flashlight. “Let's go.”

Cathy, Gwen and I tiptoed down the hallway. “This is so stupid, Sylvie.” Gwen whispered to me. “I can't believe that you even remembered Emily's stupid story,” she grumbled. She silenced as we heard another giggle. I ignored her insults. When we reached the door at the end of the hall, Cathy moaned.

“What's wrong, Cat?” I asked. “Oh, nothing. I'll come.” she said. The handle squeaked as I turned it. The room behind the door was bare, except for an old torn couch.

Gwen walked up and kicked it. “Can we go now?” she asked from behind the couch. She started to walk around the couch. “Ow!” she almost yelled. Her use of four lettered words was very creative. “I stubbed my stupid toe.”

I walked up to Gwen, and looked down. Gwen had hurt herself on a loose floorboard. Gwen was pouting on the couch, and Cathy still cowered in the doorway.

I called Cathy over. “Check that out,” I said. She reached out a hand and jiggled the board until it popped out. Now Gwen was also crouched around it.

Cathy reached into the hole, and then drew back. “Eyeuuw,” she said. “Cobwebs.” I thrust my hand in. Ick. She was right, there were sticky strings clinging to my arm. I could feel a spider crawling over my fingers. Suddenly I felt something hard and cold. I pulled it out for everyone to see. Whatever it was, it was covered in dirt and grime.

“We better go wash that thing off.” Gwen said.

We ran it under hot water for awhile. “Hot water kills bacteria,” said health conscious Cathy. Soon the pile of dirt in my hand turned into a silver locket. Gwen grabbed it, she had always been intrigued with anything that sparkled. She slipped it over her head, and broke into a fit of giggles.

“Um, Gwen?” asked Cathy, waving her hand in front of the girls face.

Gwen raised her hands above her head and pulled the necklace off. Her giggling ceased, and her face twisted into a grimace. “No fair!” she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

“Wasn't my fault,” I said.

Cathy cleared her throat. “Um, shouldn't we open it?” Cathy tried to reglue her fake nail back in place, while I gave a try at prying the latch open.

“Where'd you guys go?” asked someone behind me. I swiveled around. Emily leaned on the bathtub, rubbing her eye.

“We found this,” I said holding up the locket. “You try to open it, Cathy's nail fell off, and my fingers are about to.” She held the locket firmly, and pulled. It cracked open easily in her hands. A giggle, so much louder and sharper than the others, rang out. The air before us was a little bit misty, but that might have been my imagination. But I'm almost sure of what we heard next.

“Hello girls!” said a high, girlish voice. I could swear that something else was being said, but we were all screaming so loudly that I couldn't be sure.

We sat at the breakfast table in the morning, eating pancakes. “I got that locket for my birthday,” said Emily. “The same day that we moved here!” We had figured out that the locket had belonged to Emily's grandma, and before that, her grandmas sister, who had died of a plague when she was seven. None of us had slept that night, with a ghost loose in the house.

“Thanks for coming to my party,” said Emily, grinning. “Thanks for having me!” I said, grinning back. I was almost across the street when someone called my name. I turned back to wave, and saw a little redheaded girl in an old fashioned dress, waving at me. I turned back, and smiled. I knew what scary story I would be telling at my next sleepover.

By Popular Demand

Tales of Adventure now presents the second grand-prize winning entry.

THE SAILOR GHOSTS

By Nellie

One day, I asked my mother if I could take a walk.

"Sure," she said. "Just be back by 2:30. I think it's going to rain." So I decided to go to the park, because it has a creek, about a million trails in the woods, and I thought I could do some good in the world by killing a mosquito or two. I wasn't at all interested in the playground, because it was under renovation to make it safer. Playground renovators seem to be more interested in making sure [you won't] get a 1mm bruise, instead of making sure you have fun.

So I got to the park, and it turned out that the renovations were done. I decided to check it out, just to see how badly those evil renovators had destroyed the playground equipment. Was I ever in for a surprise. Instead of 2 foot slides or sandboxes, there was simply a huge model ship.

This, in case you haven't picked up on it, was out of the ordinary. I decided to explore the ship. I ran home and got my flashlight, just in case, and then I came back and boarded the ship.

Twenty pale, transparent, sunken-eyed men moved towards me, their arms
outstretched.
I froze.

Suddenly, all the men lunged forward and attempted to grab me around the neck. Lucky for me there's only enough room on my neck for about two pairs of hands. In my panic, the only thing I could think of to do was turn my flashlight on and scream at the top of my lungs. It worked. The ghosts fell back, shielding their eyes from the light and, luckily, letting go of me. I ran home. My mother was surprised to see me back so early, and she looked like she was about to give me a chore to do, so I said I just wanted to get something. I then sprinted up to my room, grabbed my book entitled GHOSTS AND WHAT TO DO IF YOU MEET THEM (RUN AWAY), and was out the door in forty-five seconds.

I arrived back at the ship determined to figure out more about the ghosts. It didn't take long for the ghosts to come up and try to strangle me. Hmmm. The first time, I'd screamed and they'd gone away. I screamed again. Nothing happened, except a couple of the ghosts looked at each other in disgust. Oops. Hmmm. I'd also turned my flashlight on. I shut up and turned my flashlight on. Nothing happened. Oh dear. By this time, it was getting hard to breathe, but then I remembered that last time I had screamed at the same time as having my flashlight on. I turned my flashlight on and shrieked as loudly as I could. All the ghosts dropped me and shrank back as before. I realized, now that they had started to let me breathe, that they were sailor ghosts, ghosts who were once sailors before their ships sank. Sailors who died differently never became ghosts. Uh-oh. Sailor ghosts are the most dangerous kind of ghosts that roam this earth. They travel around, often on sea, and do nothing but drown people. On land, they begin to strangle people until they're barely alive, then drag them underwater and drown them. Wait a second... How did they get the water to drown people? I'd learned about sailor ghosts from GHOSTS AND WHAT TO DO IF YOU MEET THEM (RUN AWAY), but it hadn't said anything about how they got water when they weren't on sea. Suddenly, the bottom of the ship collapsed. I found myself in an underground lake. So THIS was how those ghosts did it! I concentrated on saving my life.

I grabbed a plank of the collapsed floor and pulled, trying to get myself onto the floor of the ship. Slowly, I managed to get myself up. I sat there panting and reading my book to try to find out how you got rid of sailor ghosts. Well. The book said you had to lob pine cones at them. To make matters worse, you have to hit them with ten cones before they vanish, and then they only disappear for six months. Here goes, I thought, and dashed out of the ship. I then began picking up pine cones and throwing them into the ship. After ten minutes, I ventured timidly in to see how many I'd hit. Not bad-- nine of the twenty were gone. I went outside again and picked up ten cones. I came back inside. One! Two! Three! Pop! One of the ghosts disappeared. What? Oh-- I'd hit him seven times already. One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Pop! Ha! A ghost I'd hit three times. Run out side, gather more pine cones, run back in. One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine! Ten! Pop! Run outside, gather more pine cones, run back in. Over and over. Finally, finally, the ghosts were gone, and the ship disappeared with a Pop!

My mother met me at the door, frowning, her hands on her hips.

"You're late!" she snapped. "It's 3:15!! Where've you been?"

"You wouldn’t believe me if I told you."

"Try me,” she said.

"Alright, I will." I told her everything. She didn't believe me, and
grounded me for a month. Stupid old ghosts.

All this happened a week ago. I've spent my grounded time so far writing this (heh, heh heh, don't tell my mother I've been sneaking downstairs at night and using the computer!). I've also been preparing myself for five months and three weeks from now, when I'll have to get rid of the ghosts again. I don't want to be responsible for any innocent civilian drownings.

The End

Now, For Your Reading Pleasure . . .

Tales of Adventure presents one of the two Grand Prize-winning stories. Enjoy!

I JUST LOVE THESE RELAXING VACATIONS

By Hazel

Other people’s names are changed, but nothing else is.

It starts when I flag down the taxi. Everything’s normal, except that the driver really, really needs a shave, more than I think they usually seem to. I get in, give him the address of the mall where I’m supposed to meet my friend Angie, but then he starts driving in the wrong direction, and cackles when I ask what the heck he’s doing. Something’s wrong, I think. I start banging on the window and screaming. He hits me in the head, and I black out. Where in the world are the police when you need them?

The next thing I know, we’re pulling up in the alley behind an abandoned warehouse. Another man comes out and opens the car door. He pulls me out, but I’m kicking and screaming like crazy. He pulls my arms behind my back, and I can’t break free. I kick him in the shins as hard as I can, and then I wham my head into his nose. Now he lets go, and I run. But the first man has gotten out of the car, and catches me by my hair. That is definitely not playing fair. They drag me inside. There’s a woman leaning against the wall, smoking. She seems familiar. Then I realize that she’s the creepy-looking woman who’s been hanging around my school lately. With a gasp, I recognize the smell of her smoke from the description in a drug awareness class we had in school. She’s smoking marijuana!

One of the men says, “We got her,” and she says, “It’s about time, Seth.” Then Seth says, “Where should we put her?”

“Oh, upstairs somewhere.”

The other man cuts in. “I still think we should lock her in the car outside.”

“Yeah, right, and leave her the keys, too, huh?”

“Ok, ok, you don’t have to be so rude,” he grumbles.

“Yeah he does,” says the woman. “Really, Andrew, you ought to know that by now.”

Seth drags me upstairs, and I bruise his shins several times along the way. Then he flings me into an empty room and locks the door. I fall down and bang my head on the wall. I mean, jeepers creepers, are they trying to give me a brain concussion?!?
I realize he’s taken my purse.

Brilliant.
Now there’s no way I can escape.

I bang on the door and yell, “Hey, give me back my purse! It has all my make-up in it! I neeeeeed my make-up!”
Not what you were expecting, huh?
Well, just keep waiting.

Andrew comes and throws it at me, saying, “Here, take it. Gee, how dumb do you think we are? Did we think we wouldn’t search it?”

“I think you’re very dumb,” I say. “And what’s more, you’re a terrible kidnapper. I don’t think you even realize what you forgot.”

“What?” There’s a note of panic in his voice. “Tell me!”

“Hahaha! Like I’d ever tell! How dumb do you think I am?” Then I run past him into the hall, but Seth has come up, and he grabs me and yells, “Marjorie, she’s escaping!”

“Well, bash her head in. Why are you telling me?” is the reply. Seth and Andrew stuff me back in the room and go downstairs. An argument starts.

“What do you mean, ‘why are you telling me?’ Are you nuts or something? This whole thing was your idea!”

“I just wanted to get rich, Seth. You’re the criminals. I have nothing to do with it. The cops have nothing on me, I’m just your wife.”

“Oh, so if we’re caught, you’re gonna lay all the blame on us? That’s nice!”

“Oh, stop it, Seth. I’ll call her parents and ask for ransom.”

I decide they’re occupied for a while and open my purse. I get out the book that will be most useful to me, Getting Hot Boys. I open it up to the hidden box I’ve cut in the pages inside and take out my cell phone. Hee, hee, hee! They never guessed. I have the coolest kit in my purse. But when I try to call the police, a big NO SERVICE appears on the screen. Jeepers creepers, how far out of the city am I? I wonder where I am, period. I take my jackknife out of the box, fold out the screwdriver, and take a heating vent out of the floor and then use the knife blade to cut through the duct and ceiling below. They’re really old and flimsy, and I have a good knife. Now I can see downstairs. I grab my phone. Even if I can’t call the police, I can still take pictures with it. I get a shot of each of the kidnappers to show the police later. Then I turn it off to save the battery.

There’s a shriek downstairs. “Seth! Get over here! They’re saying she’s still at home!”

By listening in to their shouting match, I realize they thought I was Hazel Fitzimmons, a really rich girl at my school who looks kind of like me, but I’m Hazel Fitzwilliam. Marjorie comes charging up the stairs and flings open the door. She grabs me by my hair and screeches, “Who are you? How can we get hold of your parents? How could you DO THIS TO US????”

“Get off me! What are you talking about?”

“You’re not that rich girl! What are we gonna doooo?”

I refuse to give them my phone number or anything, and eventually Seth and Andrew take her downstairs to try to calm her down, because she’s having hysterics.

I spend a few days there, planning my escape and eating the pbj sandwiches they give me, which are truly nasty. At least I don’t have allergies to worry about.
Lucky for me the stone of the walls is rough.

A couple of days later, I’m off! I’ve wiped a whole lot of jam off my sandwiches the past few days, and now I smear it on some floorboards and pry them up with my jackknife. I stick them to the window and hit it as hard as I can. The idea is for the glass to break and stick to the jam, so it doesn’t fall down and make a lot of noise, but I can’t break it.
Brilliant.

I take the boards off and pull up the heating vent again. I throw it at the window and it goes crashing out in a beautiful shower of broken glass. I run to the window and see Andrew lying on the ground, out cold, the vent lying by his head. Hooray! If only it were Seth. I climb down the wall, seriously encumbered by my purse. I have just started sneaking away from the wall when a huge, vicious looking dog comes running at me, snarling. I’m really sorry, but I have no idea how I manage to run back to the wall and get twenty feet up before the dog gets there. Seth has heard, and he comes running out. He pulls out a gun and fires at me. I just love these relaxing vacations, don’t you? I manage to get up on the roof without getting killed, and then I start running and leap to the next roof. Seth and Marjorie come pounding up the stairs, and before I’m three roofs away, they come out on the roof of the first building. She’s armed too, and fires at me. She’s a terrible shot. I keep running, and they run after me. I land on a roof with a huge colony of moldy chimneys on it, and, hidden by them, climb down the wall and in a window. A minute later, I can hear them crashing around above me, saying things like, “Where is she? She disappeared.”

Idiots.
When they leave, I lie down and try to sleep.

When I wake up, it’s night. I decide not to risk climbing down the wall in the dark, and try to find a staircase inside. I find one, but it’s in really bad condition, and I have to test each step before putting weight on it. I climb out a window on the bottom floor and consult my compass. The kidnappers didn’t get it because it’s hidden inside a pink compact, and they didn’t look inside.

My kit also includes gum, a sewing kit in a lipstick tube, a penlight that looks for all the world like a pen, various first-aid supplies in make-up containers, a cutesy pink note book and cutesy pink pen in which I take important notes, an expired credit card to open doors, a book, Getting Hot Boys, with a secret box inside for my knife and cell phone, and a roll of duct tape disguised as “Mecko The Gecko’s Re-Decko-Ating Tape (for use on windowsills, doorframes, etc.) style number: 65783943, style: Pretty in Pink”. I had to use pink duct tape, but I think it will work just as well.

When Seth first drove off in the taxi, we were going south, so the best I can do is walk north. The first population I see in this area takes the form of a rat the size of a dog and his cat-sized friends. The first human population leers at me and makes me severely uneasy. After walking for a couple hours, fast, but not too fast (I hope), it begins to turn into morning. A few hours after that, after (in my paranoid mind, at least) narrowly escaping mugging and worse seven and a half times, I see Andrew hurrying down the deserted street, with a tremendous lump on his head. Ha! Serve him right! I try to get away without attracting attention, but he spots me and starts running and yelling at the top of his lungs. I run, but I’m looking over my shoulder at him, and I run right into Marjorie and hurt my nose. She grabs my arm, digging into it with her red fingernails. She’s a lot stronger than she looks, and jeepers creepers, can she ever screech loud! Seth comes running and grabs me from behind. I swing around and he bashes his head on a wall. He groans and slumps to the ground. I kick Marjorie as hard as I can, and then Andrew tries to help her. I’m not really sure how it happens, but he trips and lands with his head on a brick. He’s out cold, too. I tie them up with my duct tape.

I can barely stop laughing when I think of a guy like Seth, lying on the ground, trussed up in Pretty in Pink Re-Decko-Ating Tape.
Then I realize Marjorie’s disappeared.
Brilliant.
I say that a lot.

My nose is bleeding from the fight, but I keep walking. Then I get this creepy I-am-being-watched feeling, and I realize that Marjorie can track me by the blood I’m dripping. I start squeezing my nose, and suddenly I see Marjorie running towards me. I scream and run away, and come out on a much more crowded street, just as a bus is pulling up. I jump on, and Marjorie falls down, so I get away. (Let this be a lesson to you: don’t chase people while wearing stiletto heels.)

The bus pulls away from the curb and as soon as I’ve paid, I sink down on one of the seats with a sigh. Everyone is staring at me, and I realize how filthy I am, not to mention that you can still tell I had a nosebleed. I get off a couple stops later, and find a bus that will take me home. On the walk between the bus stop and home, I find a poster my parents must have made, telling everyone I’m missing. I take it with me as a souvenir. When I get home, I call the police and tell them I’m back, also that Seth and Andrew are tied up in tape, and my guess as to where it was. When they let me get off the phone, I call my mother’s cell phone. She’s walking around the neighborhood, looking for me, and when she realizes it’s me, she screams and comes charging home with my father. The police find Seth and Andrew, and later Marjorie, and now they want to come and talk to me and see the pictures I took , the newspaper wants to talk to me, all my friends want to make sure it’s really me, and it’s 2:45 in the morning before I get to take a shower.

THE END

And The Grand Prize Winner Is . . .

Congratulations, Hazel (aka Buyer Madonna)! Your two stories were both favorites with the judges. As one judge said about SAILOR GHOSTS, "It's one of the few stories that's made me shiver AND nearly pee my pants with laughter." Her favorite part of the story? A handy book entitled "Ghosts and What to Do if You Meet Them (Run Away)."

But for everyone's reading pleasure, we will be sharing your second story (I JUST LOVE THESE RELAXING VACATIONS). Even Kiki Strike could learn a thing or two from you! (The judges were particularly fond of the pink duct tape.)

Your story will be posted tomorrow morning. In the meantime, Hazel and all the finalists, make sure to write in and claim your FABULOUS PRIZES!

The Finalists Are . . .

Like I said earlier, three judges, three totally different lists of winners. (And one big argument.) The following six contestants took either first or second place on someone's list. (One judge insisted on a tie for first place.) Their stories were all amazing, so each of the finalists will be the recipient of a special prize.

To all the other contestants, it was a pleasure reading your TALES OF ADVENTURE! Thanks for entering!


(The finalists, in no particular order.)


MOST BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN STORY

This award goes to International Mastermind, who had us hooked from her very first sentence, "And the head rolled to Amy's feet." Her story started wonderfully, ended wonderfully, and kept the judges on the edge of their seats in the meantime!


MOST TERRIFYING CAUTIONARY TALE

Claire Maine-inn takes this prize. Her account of breaking into a deserted school in search of adventure had the judges reading with their hands over their eyes. (Which isn't easy!) We're all so glad you and your friends made it out alive!


MOST TANTALIZING CLIFFHANGER

Pearl's tale of a shifty neighbor with possible Mob ties left all the judges dying for more. Pearl, you MUST tell us what happened with Tony! Keeping it a secret would be horribly cruel.


MOST REMARKABLE TRUE-LIFE STORY

Spring's life is apparently too exciting for fiction. (If only the rest of us were so lucky!) After reading about her near encounter with a real-life burglar, the judges are all still sleeping with the lights on.


MOST INVENTIVE TALE

L. Harder, somewhere there's a judge who's furious that you didn't win top prize. Your story of a painting haunted by a sinister ghost really was one of the most exciting stories, ever. You have a truly bizarre imagination--and we hope you put it to good use writing more stories.


MOST DELIGHTFUL CHARACTERS

Ghosts, sleuthing skills, and hippies. Lovelenaxanoria's story had it all. But above all, the judges really loved the characters you created. They seemed wonderfully real--particularly the know-it-all little brother. He should have his own series of books!

Tales of Adventure Contest: Meet Your Judges!

Happy Day of the Dead, everyone! Today's the day that the winner of the Tales of Adventure Contest will be announced. We received over 20 spine-tingling entries, which we read by candlelight for added effect. I, for one, haven't been able to sleep for a week!

Before we share the winning entry later today, I think it's important to introduce our esteemed judges . . .

Ms. Kirsten Miller. If you don't know who she is, you might be on the wrong blog.

Ms. Darcy Devine: femme fatal, amateur spelunker, and professional monkey wrangler. (With a name like that, you know she's had an adventure or two!)

Mr. Ace Daly: renowned male model and creative genius.

All judges have been instructed to choose the most THRILLING story. No points were deducted for spelling mistakes.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL CONTESTANTS!

Looking for Tales of Adventure!

This is your chance for fame, fortune and glory! (OK, maybe not fortune.) It's time to share your stories. So send us an account of . . .

1. An adventure you've had.
2. A ghost you've encountered.
3. Or a "case" you've solved using your Kiki Strike skills.

This isn't a creative writing quiz. The stories don't need to be long. Heck, they don't even need to be true. (As long as we can't tell the difference.) They just need to be exciting.

An independent team of experts will pick the most thrilling (not necessarily the most beautifully-written) tale. On November 1, the winning story will be posted on the blog for all to read, and its author will receive a special package, including a signed copy of the Empress's Tomb, a Kiki Strike T-shirt, and more!

Send your stories to talesofadventure@gmail.com