Last night, I was in my room watching a super boring show that my mom picked for me. Suddenly, the whole house went quiet. It was really creepy! I walked out of my room to see what was going on – and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The Reaper was there, holding my mom in a bag and getting ready to throw her out the window!
I jumped into action right away. I summoned my magic sword and fought the Reaper with all my strength. I finally won and saved my mom! But it wasn’t over yet. The Reaper dropped a ripped-up piece of paper with a bloodstain on it. Just then, my mom fainted, so I dragged her to her bed and started putting the paper puzzle together.
By morning, I had finished the puzzle while Mom was sipping her coffee. The message said:
“GO BACK HOME. YOU ENTER YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!!!”
I had no idea what that meant. I was already home in Munich! Then I remembered – I’ve lived in other places before, like Beijing and California. Maybe “home” meant one of those! I decided it must be Beijing. The only problem was, I couldn’t go to China until summer break. Luckily, that was just two days away!
When vacation finally came, I raced to the airport, hopped on a plane and waited (kind of impatiently) until we landed in China. But when we got to the hotel … my mom disappeared again! My heart sank. Was this the nightmare the Reaper warned me about? I shuddered just thinking about it.
Then, something amazing happened – I ran into my old friend Maddie! I hadn’t seen her since second grade. I told her everything: the Reaper, the mystery message, the missing mom. Maddie said she wanted to help. I was so happy! Together, we went to the graveyard because, well, the Reaper is kind of dead, right?
We searched everywhere until we suddenly heard a scream! We ran as fast as we could and stopped in front of a spooky grave. We dug it up and – you won’t believe this – we found my mom!
My mom was shivering so much that I thought she was going to burst! Maddie quickly grabbed her and carried her to a bench so Mom could rest while I explored the spooky graveyard. Suddenly, two people came running toward us – and in the nick of time, I recognized them! It was my friends Calista and Hanna. They said they heard what happened and decided to ditch their plans to come and help. I was so relieved and happy they were there!
An hour passed, and I was starting to feel really tired. Just as I was about to sit down, Hanna shouted, “HEY! COME LOOK AT THIS!!!” I jumped up and ran over to see what she’d found. There was a shovel on the ground with another ripped-up paper next to it. The paper said, “LEAVE AT ONCE!!!”
We were so scared that we ran away as fast as we could. Suddenly, I understood what the message meant – the Reaper was chasing us! But then I remembered something terrible – my mom was still back at the graveyard! At the same moment, Maddie realized it too. She dodged the Reaper’s long arms, grabbed my mom, and carried her to safety.
We rushed back to the hotel with my terrified mom and tried to figure out what to do next. We decided to check out the city from up high, so we went to the rooftop of the hotel. When I looked down carefully at all the tall buildings, I noticed something strange. Together, the lights formed a message:
“FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING YOU FOUND AND LIVE A NORMAL LIFE.”
But I didn’t want to forget any of it! So I ignored the message and followed my friends outside to a water park. It was really weird because nobody was swimming; everyone was completely still. Then, out of nowhere, my friends froze, too. Before I could move, I started to freeze myself … until, in less than a minute, I was frozen solid.
I looked at Calista and Hanna, and right away I could tell, they were faking it! I just knew they were hiding something. They saw that I found out their secret, so they stopped pretending and told Maddie and me what they had been doing the whole time.
Hanna said, “We were actually working for the Reaper.”
Then Calista added, “We were supposed to trap you and your mom and Maddie so the Reaper could take your souls.”
Before I could even say anything, a blueish glow started shining right in my chest! Hanna looked at me with wide eyes and said, “That’s your soul!” Then my soul started swirling around me like a tornado of light, and in a flash of blue, I was free! I used my powers to free Maddie too, and together we stood up to Hanna and Calista.
I told them, “If you stay on the Reaper’s side, you’ll only have misery. But if you stand with us, you’ll have friendship, happiness and joy!”
They thought about it, and after a moment, they decided they didn’t want misery anymore. They joined us for real this time! Hanna and Calista even told us where the Reaper’s hideout was, so we set off to find him.
When we got close, Maddie whined, “I’m hungry! I want roasted beef!”
I shouted, “NO! You can’t have roasted beef right now! You can wait nine hours! Once, I had to go a whole week eating only ice cream and I survived! You’ll be fine for nine hours without beef!”
Finally, we arrived at the Reaper’s hideout. He was waiting for us, grinning in the shadows. “I see my lackeys have brought you to me so I can take your souls,” he sneered.
But Hanna and Calista stepped forward and said, “We’re not on your side anymore! We’ve joined them!” and pointed at us.
The Reaper was furious. He jumped up, grabbed his sword and lunged! I summoned my sword just in time to block his attack. The clash echoed through the dark room. Then, out of nowhere, Maddie summoned her silver daggers and fought beside me! Together, we battled the Reaper for hours, sparks and magic flying everywhere.
At last, the Reaper fell into a pool of his own shadowy power. We had won. I turned to Maddie and asked with a grin, “Do you still want that roasted beef?” Then I handed her a coupon for a roasted beef restaurant. Maddie burst out laughing and started dancing around with joy.
That’s when my mom showed up out of nowhere holding bottles of sparkling cider, (okay, not champagne this time!), and poured everyone glasses to celebrate. Hanna and Calista thanked us for giving them another chance, and we all toasted to our victory.
We did it. The Reaper was gone. Friendship had really saved the day.
THE END
P.S. This story is dedicated to my pals in Beijing. Friends forever. Story inspired by Munich’s ghost tour with my buddy Hannah, who came to Munich to visit me.
Have a story buzzing in your brain, waiting to burst onto the page? Have you created characters on a grand adventure, or perhaps written a poem about a moment that took your breath away? If you’re a middle or high school student with a passion for creative writing, we want to hear from you!
Images: Freepik, Nola