Frightmares 2: More Scary Stories for the Fearless Reader
By Michael Dahl and Xavier Bonet
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About this ebook
Michael Dahl
Michael Dahl is the prolific author of the bestselling Goodnight, Baseball picture book and more than 200 other books for children and young adults. He has won the Association of Educational Publishers Distinguished Achievement Award three times for his nonfiction, a Teachers’ Choice Award from Learning Magazine, and a Seal of Excellence from the Creative Child Awards. Dahl currently lives in Minnesota.
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Book preview
Frightmares 2 - Michael Dahl
SECTION 1
DON’T LOOK BEHIND YOU
THE FLOATING FACE
Iris tightly gripped the books to her chest. Her long black hair swirled about her face. Her school uniform skirt flapped against her knees. She didn’t remember the wind being this strong when she walked to the library right after school. But when the library closed for the night and Iris, the last one out, stepped onto the sidewalk, a gust of wind greeted her, a gust full of soot and grit that roared in her ears and made her shut her eyes. The rough breeze swept through the streets, ripping newspapers out of people’s hands and knocking over garbage cans.
Iris hadn’t been watching the clock or paying attention to her phone. She had been busy skimming through books for her history report that was due tomorrow morning. And now she was late for dinner.
Iris got a better grip on her books and then set off down the sidewalk for home.
A block from the library, she waited for the light to cross the street. A pale piece of paper rolled and twirled down the street toward her. It never touched the street but danced and floated a foot above the ground. Iris was still waiting for the light as the paper blew nearer.
There was no one else around. Not even any cars. Iris decided to walk across, and that’s then she noticed the paper. It floated above the street and drifted toward her legs.
Iris expected it to be a square piece of paper, but instead it was round. Then Iris gasped. It was a paper face. A pale forehead, two curving eyebrows, slits for eyes, a sharp nose, parted lips, and a little white chin. It must be a mask, thought Iris. The paper face danced around her, caught in a whirlpool of air.
Iris walked across the street and the face followed. It never fell to the ground. It never touched her. Instead, it bobbled and glided around the girl. When Iris reached the other side and continued down the sidewalk, the face never left her side.
At one point she reached out to grab it, but the wind pushed it beyond her reach. Then she stood still and watched it circle around her.
Once more Iris reached out, but then she quickly drew her hand back. The floating face smiled at her. The thin pale mouth actually moved. And as she continued to watch, the mouth moved faster and faster in the moaning breeze. No longer smiling, it frowned, then grimaced. It opened wide, revealing a set of teeth.
Iris screamed and ran.
The paper-thin face floated behind her, never more than a few yards away.
Somebody help!
called Iris. Somebody!
But she was alone. The streets were dark and empty. Only the wind and the wavering face kept her company.
Finally, Iris saw a teenaged girl up ahead, waiting at a bus stop.
Help!
called Iris. Please help me.
The girl was turned away from Iris, watching for the bus. But when she heard the cries for help she turned. Then Iris screamed louder.
The other girl had no face. Where her eyes and nose and mouth should have been was a pale white surface, smooth as an egg.
Iris watched as the face glided toward the girl, who bent down and reached out. The papery face, like a tame bird, gently came to rest in the girl’s hand. Iris watched in complete disbelief.
The face, still in the girl’s hands, moved its lips. Thank you for finding it,
it said to Iris. I lost it in the wind.
The girl pushed the face onto her head, but now it was more horrible. The face had attached itself to the girl upside-down. Her eyes were blinking on her chin, her mouth was near her hair. The girl laughed.
Oh dear,
she said. I’ll just have to adjust it —
Then she stopped. The upside-down eyes fixed Iris with a cold stare.
No,
said the girl. "I don’t think so. I think, instead, I’d rather have your face. It’s so pretty."
WHAT THEY FOUND IN THE ALLEY
Cars from the nearby streets have gone silent. There are no chirping birds. No rumbling planes overhead. No humming of machinery or workers’ voices from inside the warehouse. It feels wrong to him. He realizes he can’t even hear his feet scraping against the ground.
Chip can’t even hear himself breathing. He feels like he’s inside a giant aquarium.
As he trots along, the silence and the darkness grow deeper and deeper.
When he reaches the end of the alley, Chip feels different. But he doesn’t have time to think about it. He hears the bell ringing outside the school, and he knows that he needs to get to class!
He runs to his science class and plops down in his assigned seat. He made it just in time!
During class, Chip is quiet and listens to the teacher, which is something he does not do every day.
After class, the teacher, Mr. Salah, asks Chip to stay behind for a minute. Chip stands obediently as Mr. Salah returns to his desk.
Chip,
says Mr. Salah, are you feeling okay this morning?
Yes,
says Chip.
Is everything all right at home?
asks Mr. Salah gently.
Yes,
says Chip.
Mr. Salah smiles. It seems as if something may be bothering you, Chip. You’re normally not this quiet in class, you know.
Mr. Salah tries to make it sound like a joke.
Sorry,
says Chip.
Nothing to be sorry for, Chip,
says Mr. Salah. Some days we don’t feel like ourselves. It happens to everyone. Sometimes we get up on the wrong side of the bed. Or we change our routine.
Chip looks up at the teacher. Mr. Salah is a bit startled. The boy’s eyes look dark and empty.
The alley,
says Chip.
Mr. Salah is confused. Alley?
I took a short cut through the alley.
I see,
says the teacher. Do you always go through the alley?
Chip shakes his head slowly. Then he says, I found something there.
Mr. Salah leans forward. Oh? What did you find?
The boy lowers his eyes and remains silent. The teacher sits back in his chair and waits. Chip won’t talk.
All right, Chip,
he says. You can go. But let me know if there’s anything you need help with.
Okay,
says Chip. He picks up the books on his desk, opens the door, and then walks out.
As the door closes behind Chip, Mr. Salah shakes his head. He is puzzled by the boy’s odd behavior. He walks over to the classroom windows and gazes across the school parking lot toward the huge, sprawling warehouses. If he stares hard enough, Mr. Salah can just make out the entrance to the alley.
He’s heard strange stories about that alley, but there’s no way they could be true. The biggest rumor is that the alley has a portal to an alien realm, but not everyone is picked to enter the portal.
Once the last school bus has left, Mr. Salah grabs his own backpack and walks toward the alley.
The look in Chip’s eyes has been bothering him all day. Mr. Salah is also bothered by what the boy said. What did he find in the alley?
The teacher hesitates at the entrance to the alley. It is quiet, and the shadows creep up the walls as the sun slides lower in the sky. Mr. Salah checks his watch. He is going to time how long it takes to walk through the