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 Knollwood Elementary School; Julia Bruggeman, 11 years old, in the fifth grade. Julia received a plaque from Parsippany Focus, lunch for Julia, her parents and her teacher and a $25.00 VISA gift card.

Frank Cahill, Publisher and Nicolas Limanov, Photographer, visited Knollwood Elementary School and congratulated Julia.

The Ghost Phone

by Julia Bruggeman

Natalie was in her house, ready for school. She closed the door and hurried out, but she heard a voice. “Come with me to the Lost Woods. Come with me to the Lost Woods.” Natalie stopped, turned around, and screamed her head off. There wasn’t anything there. So, she walked into what seemed to be the woods that her parents wouldn’t let her into. When she walked in, it wasn’t a normal forest. There was a blast of light and everything changed. Instead of light shining down through the trees, the trees were covered with gigantic cobwebs. It smelled like dust and mold. Natalie, who was filled with fright, looked around. She was lost, but she was in luck. A small payphone that looked like it was from a million years ago was right in front of her. She called her mom, but it sounded like someone else.

“Hi the voice said. “To request this caller, press one.”

Natalie thought this person must be very famous to have a great voicemail like that, so she pressed one. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH” Natalie screamed. “Don’t yell. It’s okay,” said a ghost figure that slowly began to appear. “Hi, fm Marcie!” Natalie was surprised about this.

“How do I get home?” she asked.

“Just come with me and you will see.”‘ So, Natalie followed Marcie into an immense stone castle that seemed bigger inside. “This,”‘ Marcie said “This is the Castle of Ghosts! Natalie thought this was crazy. Inside, was a golden throne, surrounded by terrifying ghosts. Soon, a ghost with a gold crown with rubies on it came out. “I am King Ghost,”‘ he said “If you want to go home, you have to defeat me in a battle. Marcie, you know what to do.”‘ Marcie went through Natalie’s ear and into her body to give her powers. ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! Natalie and King Ghost battled until Natalie had one blast left inside her. ZAP! She did it! Marcie· can now show Natalie the way out, but Marcie told her something important. “I’m your sister, Natalie. I died when you were little.”‘ Natalie’s jaw dropped, but she didn’t have time to think because Marcie already blasted her back home, where she belongs.

PARSIPPANY — The staff at Parsippany Focus has chosen three winners in our “Halloween Story Contest” for young readers.

The second winner is a student at Knollwood Elementary School; Alexa Strain. Alexa received a plaque from Parsippany Focus, lunch for Alexa, her parents and her teacher and a $25.00 VISA gift card.

Publisher Frank Cahill and School Photographer Nicolas Limanov visited Mrs. Seib’s fifth grade class and announced the winner to the students.

What was in the basement?

by Alexa Strain

Behind the door Kacy heard a voice. One dark and gloomy night, Kacy was home alone. Her parents had to take her little brother to his soccer game. Kacy was watching T.V. when she heard a noise come from the basement. In Kacy’s house she had a frightening basement that nobody ever used. She wondered who could have been down there.

SLAM! Kacy got scared. What was that Kacy thought. It could have been just the wind so she ignored it. Stomp, Stomp! “Who is that”? Kacy screamed! Kacy called the police and they found nothing.  That night she went downstairs to see if anybody was there.

All of a sudden, she saw something. She called her parents immediately., and right when they got down there, it was gone. She stayed in the basement because she knew something was down there. She saw it again. “Who are you?” Kacy said. “I am a ghost and I want to kill your whole family.” “Why?” Kacy yelled. “Every Halloween I like to kill one family, so I decided to kill yours this year” said the ghost. “That’s not nice” Kacy said. Finally after an hour of talking Kacy convinced the ghost never to bother them again and become a nice ghost. That night she told her parents. They didn’t believe her but she knew that she saved her family and that’s all that mattered.

PARSIPPANY — The staff at Parsippany Focus has chosen three winners in our “Halloween Story Contest” for young readers.

The third winner is a student at Knollwood Elementary School: Sapana Dhakal. Sapana received a plaque from Parsippany Focus, lunch for Sapana, her parents and her teacher and a $25.00 VISA gift card. Publisher Frank Cahill and photographer Nicolas Limanov visited the class and awarded Sapana with her winnings.

Scary Story

by Sapana Dhakal

Sally strolled down the dusty dirt path, her hands clamped to her dog’s leash. Her dog, Cookie, trotted beside her, wagging her tail. The shadowy trees leaned into them, their coarse branches reaching for their heads. Wet grass poked through the mud, and crickets chirped. It was getting dark, and Sally was heading home. Suddenly, Sally slipped into a mud puddle, her arms flailing. She slid past her dog and let go of the leash in panic. Sally was drenched in wet mud and water. There was chunks of the mud in her hair and it was smothered on her clothes.

“Woof!” Cookie leaped into the dark forest after a squirrel, barking excitedly. Sally gasped, jumping to her feet. She swiped at her brown hair, letting the mud drip onto the floor.
“Cookie!” Sally cried. Without a second thought, she sprinted into the woods. Sally breathed hard, sprinting past trees. She lost her balance, and tripped over a branch. Her body fell to the ground. Sally lay still, stifling her whimpers. She heard the sound of snapping twigs and crunching leaves. She lay still. “Cookie?” There was only silence. Sally leaped to her feet, turning around.

In between two trees, there stood a monster. The monster had black fur, and was almost melting in the shadows. It’s eyes were red, with repulsive yellow pupils. Sally’s heart stopped in her chest. She was paralyzed with fear. Boom! Thunder shook the sky, sending buckets of rain, piercing her skin like daggers.

Sally stumbled through the trees, weeping. The rain stopped, along with Sally. She dropped to her knees, whimpering in fear. A chill tingled through her spine as she looked in horror at the sight behind her. She could smell the putrid scent of rotting meat as the entity breathed over her. Yellow saliva dripped onto the ground. Sally let her tears run down her face, unable to move. Slowly, it let its arms wrap around her, lifting her off the air. “No!” Sally screamed. She wrestled her way out of the monster’s grip, shrieking and shouting. She escaped, crying furiously as she stumbled through the forest. Sally swiveled around just as the monster arrived. Sally took a stick and whacked the monster with fierce strength. The monster responded in shock, but soon anger. It swiped back angrily, hissing. Sally threw a punch on the monster’s stomach. In a flash of light, everything melted into darkness.

Sally’s eyelids fluttered open as she sat up, dazed and afraid. Everything was just a dream. The dog, the monster, everything. Just then, she heard the snapping of leaves and twigs, and a low growl from behind her …