{"id":4179,"date":"2017-11-17T09:14:12","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T17:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/?p=4179"},"modified":"2017-12-26T16:35:27","modified_gmt":"2017-12-27T00:35:27","slug":"jayasekara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2017\/jayasekara\/","title":{"rendered":"“Horror Houses” — story by Raela Jayasekara"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young Readers League 2017 Writing Contest<\/em><\/p>\n

2nd place<\/em><\/p>\n

Category 2 (ages 12-14)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Horror Houses<\/h3>\n

by R<\/strong>aela Jayasekara
\n<\/strong>Age 12 (Grade 7)
\nBlair Middle School<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I must have been eleven when I saw a ghost. We had just moved into a new house. I ran up the stairs to the bedrooms. I chose the one closest to the stairs, it was bigger. My sister didn’t want to have the bedroom next to the stairs. She thought it was creepy.<\/p>\n

I was going to bed one night. I was exhausted. In my bathroom I was brushing my teeth. Everyone was downstairs. The room was cold. I felt like I was being watched. I looked down to the vent in the wall. In the bars, I saw a person. A little boy, just watching.<\/p>\n

I remember running downstairs. My parents convinced me it was nothing, that this house was too new for ghosts. So I went to my bed and went to sleep. That night I heard the stairs creaking like someone was walking up them I went to investigate. Nobody. All there was, was the smell of old perfume.<\/p>\n

I followed the scent to the basement. I went down the steps. The door closed behind me, I heard the lock click. I then heard the scream. A child\u2019s. Then I saw the little boy. He said to help him. His name was Thomas and he needed help. A ghostly figure appeared behind him. A woman. Thomas screamed. I pounded on the door and was relieved to hear my mother’s murmurs and footsteps.<\/p>\n

That morning we were watching television. “Horror Houses\u201d was on. lt was talking about a house where an old woman lived. She lured children into her house and killed them. A little boy was one of her victims. A picture of her room went on the screen, it was my bedroom.<\/p>\n

\n

Contest info: In 300 words or less, tell a ghost story.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Special thanks to our judges: \u00a0Allison Hill (Vromans); Shauna Redmond, Jean Penn, Leela Perea, Robin Reidy and Rosa Cesaretti\u00a0(Pasadena Public Library).<\/p>\n

Copyedited by Faith Malicdem, Teen Blog Assistant<\/p>\n

\n

To view more\u00a0stories from the contest, view the list:\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/kids\/2017\/ghost-story-contest-winners\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young Readers League 2017 Writing Contest 2nd place Category 2 (ages 12-14) Horror Houses by Raela Jayasekara Age 12 (Grade 7) Blair Middle School   “I must have been eleven when I saw a ghost. We had just moved into a new house. I ran up the stairs to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":4184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117,28],"tags":[93],"class_list":["post-4179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-writing","tag-young-readers-league"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2017\/11\/image_ghost_story_contest.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ZwbD-15p","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5389,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2019\/rispin\/","url_meta":{"origin":4179,"position":0},"title":"Revolutionary Love — a story by Emma Rispin","author":"Jane Gov","date":"November 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Young Readers League 2019 \"Hidden History\" Writing Contest Honorable Mention (Category 2: ages 12-14) \u00a0 \u201cRevolutionary Love\u201d by Emma Rispin Age 12 \u00a0 Summary:\u00a0 Amidst a war, a frightful night, and an unknowable future. \u00a0 I awoke to the frantic sounds of my father\u2019s footsteps. 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