Young Readers League 2017 Writing Contest
2nd place
Category 1 (ages 8-11)
The Haunted Pair of Ballet Slippers
by Maelee Rose Acosta
Age 11 (Grade 6)
Blair Middle School
The little ballerina warned them! No one would listen to her. They had no idea of how dangerous the pair of ballet slippers could possibly be. Whenever she would put on her shoes during the class it would appear as though she is doing a crazy chicken dance. Once the teacher asked her to point her feet, she would flex them; when she asked her to flex her feet, she would point them. Everyone in her class thought that she was dyslexic or weird, but she was actually just a normal human being. One time she was so out of control that she twisted her ankle. The dancer could not take it any longer. So she threw one of her slippers breaking the glass mirror. The teachers yelled, “Young lady this is no place for a ballerina like you to throw things and damage them. You will have to pay a consequence and that is to never come back EVER AGAIN!” Sadly, the ballerina left the dance studio, never to return again.
Later that night on a full moon, the janitor went inside the studio. He noticed tiny little shattered pieces of a glass mirror on the floor. Of course the right thing to do would be to clean it up. So, he rapidly rushed over to the closet to get a broom and a dustpan. As he walked over to the room he heard a soft tone of music. Each step sounded clearer to him. “It must just be my imagination,” he thought. There was only one way to find out! He swiftly opened the door and saw two lonely ballet slippers dancing to the MUSIC!
Contest info: In 300 words or less, tell a ghost story.
Special thanks to our judges: Allison Hill (Vromans); Shauna Redmond, Jean Penn, Leela Perea, Robin Reidy and Rosa Cesaretti (Pasadena Public Library).
Copyedited by Faith Malicdem, Teen Blog Assistant
To view more stories from the contest, view the list: http://pasadena-library.net/kids/2017/ghost-story-contest-winners/