© James Pyles

My eight-year-old grandson Landon has been reading books from R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps” series and wanted to write one of his own. This is the first part of his first novel (probably more like an extended short story). The first parts he narrated word for word. Then it made more sense for him to tell me how he “plotted” out the story, and then I paraphrased what he was telling me.

He asked if I’d publish his story here on my blog so my readers could have a look. I think he’s really looking forward to your comments, so don’t be shy (do be kind, though).

Remember, this is a child’s first attempt at writing a horror story.

Chapter One: The Birthday Present

One day a kid named Dan was playing with his family on his birthday. “It’s time to open presents”, said Dad.

I said, “Okay, Dad.”

First, Dad gave me his present. I opened it. It was a little stuffed animal. There was a tag on it that said “Baby”.

It was a giraffe he found at a garage sale. It’s head was facing the wrong way. I awkwardly said “Thank you” to Dad.

Then my Mom gave me her present. I opened it up and it was a bow and arrow. I hugged my Mom and said, “Thank you.”

Then, a while after the birthday party, for a second I thought I saw the tail of the giraffe move, but I thought that maybe it was just a breeze making it move.

And then, I looked at the giraffe and it’s head went up and it looked at me. And I started screaming and running for my life.

I went to my Mom and hugged her and said “The stuffed animal Dad gave me is alive!”

Mom started laughing her head off. She stopped and said, “You have to be kidding me.”

Then I said, “Come with me and I’ll show you.”

So we went back to my room and the stuffed animal was laying very normally on my bed.”

And I said, “But, it moved!”

And once my Mom left, the head of Baby went up and looked at me again. I looked straight at it as well.

I started very slowly walking toward it.

And the stuffed animal said loudly, “Do you want to play a game?”

And I freaked out and started throwing toys at it and its eyes turned red and it disappeared in front of my eyes.

I started running into my Mom and Dad’s room and I pounced on their bed. I woke them up and said, “The stuffed animal! The stuffed animal! It’s alive! It disappeared in front of my eyes when its eyes turned red!”

Dad pulled me to him and hugged me and said, “It’s OK, Dan. You had a nightmare. It’s not real. Let me take you back to your bedroom and I’ll show you.”

“For goodness sake, Dad. It was alive!”

Mom gently rubbed my forehead and said, “My poor little Baby. Mom and Dad will take you back to your bedroom and show you everything is okay. Stuffed animals cannot come alive.”

“But I saw it!” Dan demanded. “It said ‘Do you want to play a game,’ and then I started throwing toys at it and it disappeared.”

Mom and Dad got out of bed. They each took one of my hands, and walked me back to my bedroom. The door was still open and Dad flipped on the light switch.

As we scanned the room, I saw the stuffed giraffe was standing on my night stand looking at my parents and me with those terrible red eyes.

“Oh my gosh!” Dad declared. “You two step back into the hall.”

Mom pulled me back into the hall and around the corner.

Meanwhile Dad must have walked over to the night stand and the giraffe.

Suddenly, there was a terrible scream coming from my room and I was so scared I started to cry.

Then everything was quiet. Mom bent over me. “Shhh, Dan. Stay here. I’m going to have a look.”

“Stay here with me, Mom. I don’t want to lose you, too.”

Mom peeked around the corner into my room. Then Mom screamed, grabbed me by the hand and pulled me back into their bedroom.

“Stay with me, Dan. I’m calling the police.”

She slammed her bedroom door shut and locked it. Then she picked up her cell phone and dialed 911.

“Police. I want report a murder. My husband was killed in my son’s room. There’s blood everywhere.!”

Chapter Two: Pool of Blood

“Mrs. Ramsey.” The head police officer was talking to my Mom, while a lady police officer was holding me. I had finally stopped crying but was still really upset that my birthday present had killed my Dad.

“We believe the substance we found on your son’s bedroom floor is human blood, but we’ll have to type and cross-match it to see if it is your husband’s blood or not. We can also do a DNA analysis as well.”

“What the point, Detective.” My Mom’s eyes were red and swollen from crying but she was able to talk to the officer. “Who else could have bled in my son’s room?”

“There’s the matter of the missing toy giraffe as well as your husband’s body. They couldn’t have walked off by themselves, so someone else must be involved.”

“You don’t think I…”

I yelled at the officer. “My Mom didn’t hurt my Dad. It was the giraffe Baby! It’s eyes glowed red! It did something to my Dad.”

The Detective ignored me and the lady police officer tried to calm me down.

“We have to consider all possibilities. I don’t recommend you stay here tonight.”

“Detective Phillips, I don’t think I could make myself stay in this house one more minute than I absolutely have to. I’ll be taking my son to my sister’s house and we’ll stay with her for the time being. I’ve already given you her address and phone number.”

“Yes, I’ve got it here in my notes. I’ll have one of my officers escort you to that address and we’ll continue with our investigation.”

After the police were done talking with us, Mom packed a suitcase for the both of us, made sure I was dressed warmly, and we got into our car. A police car led the way to my Aunt Jamie’s house where we would spend the night.

After we got there and the officer made sure we were safe inside, she heard her police radio calling her.

She got in her car, turned on her police lights and sirens, and rushed off, probably to some big emergency.

What we didn’t know at the time, is that by the time that officer got back to our house, all of the police people who had been there had disappeared. Only pools of blood remained where they had vanished.

Chapter Three: The Wizard’s Command

While Mom and I fitfully slept, there were other things going on in a mysterious cave.

The cave was mostly dark, with a creepy green glow coming from the ceiling. A man was standing in the middle of the cave. He wore what looked like a witch’s hat and dark robes. He was holding a wand which controlled the stuffed giraffe perched on the hat’s brim.

My Dad and all of the police officers who had disappeared, were sitting in individual cages watching this bizarre scene.

The man with the wand ignored all of the questions My Dad and the police asked him. Instead, he started moving the wand around and said, “Everybody listen to my commands.” Then the man pushed a button on the wand. The tip glowed red and the light flashed in the eyes of everyone in their cages.

Then my Dad, the Detective, and the other police officers said in unison, “We hear and we obey.” All of their eyes were glowing red, just like the evil giraffe’s.

Landon wanted part one to end on a cliffhanger, so here it is. Let us know what you think. Thanks.

Here’s a link to part two of this story.