Grave Encounter
By Jake Hooker, Junior Paranormal Investigator

I was playing in the closet with my dog when we found a battered old trunk that looked as if it hadn't been opened in years. As I made my way to the trunk, I tripped and I was out cold.

When I awoke, it was nighttime. I had no idea how long I had been asleep. When I made my way to the closet once more, the thunder crackled and the house turned an eerie white. I opened up the battered old trunk and all I found was some very old toys.

Then the lightining flashed and a little girl appeared. She said " Thank you for my dolly. I couldn't go to sleep without my dolly."

When I looked in the chest again, all I found was a little piece of paper that said, "Died, typhoid epidemic, 1861."

Published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press on February 16, 2004, as part of their young writers' competition. -- According to Lurlene McDaniel, the division's judge and published author, Jake, a fifth grader, wrote of an unnerving visit by the ghost of a long dead child in a tale that showed "imaginative use of mystery." Jake was the winner in his division and is now a published author. Congratulations!