PARSIPPANY — The staff at Parsippany Focus has chosen three winners in our “Halloween Story Contest” for young readers.
The first winner is a student at Littleton Elementary School; 3rd Grade, 8 years old: Ishita Bandyopadhyay; second winner is Malak Hagag – Knollwood Elementary School; 5th Grade, 10 years old and our third winner is Maya Celli – Knollwood Elementary School; 5th Grade, 10 years old.
Maya’s story was titled:
Derick and the King’s Ghost Castle
There was a boy named Derick who was always adventurous and had a big imagination, too. In his town, there was an old castle that existed around the 1500’s. People tell rumors and say that there was a king, and that his ghost still haunts the decrepit, weary place. He guards his castle from any living being that crosses it’s path. No one had ever come back to tell about it. He did not believe in ghosts, so one day, Derick decided to visit this so-called “castle”. The crumbled building had broken down antique furniture, and the carpet on the floor had a stench mildew and watered down, sour milk. There was a chandelier that had fallen down onto the ground, and the white candles, had turned yellow. Derick counted about sixteen cobwebs in a single room. There was a shelf of withered books, and the stained glass windows were broken and shattered. He was so absorbed in the interior of the ruins that he almost forgot why he came there.
Suddenly, an unknown voice called out in medieval vocabulary, “We seem to have a young fellow … a wanderer?” Derick was so freaked he dove behind a pile of cobblestones.
The ghost echoed “Be gone! Get away from our castle or thy shalt be sorry!”. This wording was not easy, but Derick tried to understand it, and he knew he just wanted to get out of there. Derick sprinted to his bike, and pedaled as fast as he could.
Derek grew up and eventually moved away. One day, however, Derick was unpacking his boxes in his new home, and suddenly, a peculiar breeze filled the room and blew the curtains. A tornado of leaves filled the room and entered through the window. Then, Derick heard the same voice he had encountered years ago. “I’ll GET YOU, DERICK!!!”.
