The Haunted House

The house at 101 Oak Tree Lane was not pretty. Its paint was chipped. Its windows were cracked. The lawn’s grass was so tall that you could barely see the front steps . . . which were also broken. The house was off-limits to everyone in town. Not that anyone tried to go inside. It was way too frightening.

My mom called it the ugliest house in town. But my big sister, Diana, had a different idea.

“It’s haunted, Drew,” she said with a serious look on her face.

“No way!” I said, folding my arms. “You’re just trying to scare me.”

Diana shook her head. She explained that after soccer practice earlier that week, her friends went to check out the house at 101 Oak Tree Lane. They went inside and heard strange, high-pitched sounds. Her friends rushed out of the house as if their lives depended on it.

“Yeah, right,” I responded, rolling my eyes at her.

“If you don’t believe me, go check out the house for yourself,” she replied with a shrug.

“Fine,” I said. “I will.”

Convincing my best friend Zia to explore the house at 101 Oak Tree Lane was easy. She loved ghost stories and all kinds of spooky things. She wanted to see inside the maybe-haunted house as much as I did. Our other best friend, Joel, was harder to convince. Joel did not like spooky things at all.

“Don’t you want to know what’s in there?” Zia asked him.

“I want to know what Diana and her friends really heard inside the house,” Joel said.

“We won’t get an answer unless we go,” I replied.

“Fine. I’ll come,” he said with a sigh. Zia and I high-fived. Then we started to make our plan.

We met after school the next day at the bus stop across from the house. It was pouring, and the sky was dark—much darker than it should have been at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. We huddled together under Joel’s huge umbrella and looked at the house.

“Ready to explore?” I asked as I pulled a flashlight from my coat pocket.

“Born ready!” Zia said.

“I’m ready to get out of this pouring rain,” Joel mumbled.

We crossed the street and walked through the tall, wet grass in the yard. Then we climbed the crooked front steps, turned the doorknob, and went inside.

We stepped right into a big puddle. “It’s a good thing we have rain boots on,” I said. Rain was dripping in from a hole in the ceiling, and the place had an aroma of old cheese.

I flashed my light around the room. There was a dusty couch, a broken table, and a piano with a lot of missing keys.

“This is so creepy. I love it!” Zia said with a giggle. We walked across the room and into the kitchen. Just then, a rat appeared. It ran past Joel’s foot. Zia quickly covered his mouth before he could scream.

He moved her hand and said, “This house isn’t haunted. It’s just disgusting! Can we leave?”

“After we check out upstairs. That’s where Diana said the spooky sounds came from,” I explained. I turned toward the winding staircase. Zia and Joel were right behind me.

The first step creaked when I stepped on it. Then I heard something else. Pat-pat-pat-pat. It sounded like quick footsteps. And it was coming from the top of the steps. I thought about running away, but Zia put her hand on my shoulder and said, “We can’t be scaredy-cats now. C’mon!”

Joel and I nodded, and the three of us slowly began climbing the stairs.

“Hello?” I called out. My voice was quiet and shaky. No answer.

“If you’re a ghost, we’re friendly!” Joel whispered while trembling.

No answer. But we did hear the pat-pat-pat-pat again. Even louder. I turned my flashlight off and we climbed the last few steps in the dark.

“At the count of three, I’m going to turn the flashlight back on,” I whispered. “One, two, THREE!”

I flicked the flashlight on and we were face-to-face with . . . A LITTLE DOG! We all gasped and then laughed. The mystery of the house at 101 Oak Tree Lane was solved. A dog lived in the house, not a ghost.

“Wait! Isn’t this Mr. Lee’s dog?” Joel asked, giving the pup a belly rub.

Mr. Lee was a nice old man who lived on my street. His dog, Sadie, had vanished a month ago. He put up posters and looked all over for her. Mr. Lee lived alone, and he was devastated that Sadie was gone.

“Why did you run away from Mr. Lee, Sadie?” Zia asked, scratching her behind the ears.

Sadie dashed away from us.

“I guess she wants us to follow her,” I said as I pointed my flashlight after her. We followed Sadie into an old bedroom. We could not believe what we saw. Puppies!

“Awww! Sadie had puppies!” Zia squealed. They looked like they had just been born.

We knew we needed to help Sadie and her puppies. They needed a home that was warm, dry, and safe.

“Let’s go tell Mr. Lee. He’ll know what to do!” Joel exclaimed.

We told Sadie we’d be back and raced out of the not-haunted house. It had finally stopped raining. We ran all the way to Mr. Lee’s house and were out of breath when we rang the doorbell.

“We found Sadie!” Joel shouted.

We took turns telling Mr. Lee everything. He was thrilled! And he was even happier that Sadie was a mommy.

That night, we went back to the house with Mr. Lee and our parents. Sadie’s tail wagged so much when she saw Mr. Lee again. He was able to take her and the puppies home with him.

We still got in trouble for sneaking into the house at 101 Oak Tree Lane, but my parents were so proud of us.

We visited Sadie and the puppies at Mr. Lee’s house almost every day. When the puppies were old enough, Mr. Lee said Joel, Zia, and I could each take one home! It was such a nice surprise.

“What are you three going to name your puppies?” Mr. Lee asked. We did not even have to think about it.

“Oak,” Joel said.

“Tree,” Zia said.

“Lane,” I said.