Ach-Boo: Emma Link ’25

 

I could feel him watching me; I could sense his red eyes fixed on me in the dark. 

 

It’s unavoidable; every time I’m sick, he appears. It doesn’t matter if it’s a head cold, the flu, even a cough; if I even think about taking Nyquil, he knows. 

 

As I lay in bed, sweating through my fever, waiting for the Nyquil I foolishly took to kick in, he approaches. He skirts around the bed frame, trying to find the deepest shadows to appear from. Everything goes still when he does. 

 

Unsure of where he is, my blood pressure spikes. I look around wildly, trying to pinpoint his exact location. Finally, the pressure is too much, and a sneeze starts to form. 

 

“Ach-”

 

“Boo!” He leaps out from his hiding spot, his dark, lanky form still partially obscured by the shadows. His characteristic top hat is tilted jauntily on his head, somewhat at odds with his glowing red eyes and pointy teeth. 

 

“Tsk, tsk, you know better than to take medicine, little one.”

 

I didn’t reply, paralyzed with fear, unsure if this was real or a fever induced hallucination. Undeterred, he continued his tirade. 

 

“Medicine is only for those on their deathbeds, and you are far from it. Why, back in my day, we used to tough out injuries way worse than the common cold. Yet, here you are, completely indisposed due to a tiny fever. The generations get weaker and weaker as time goes on.”

 

Finally noticing that I didn’t seem to be internalizing his statements, he paused. 

 

“Child, are you even listening? I am saying you are stronger than this. You don’t need this pathetic -” he glanced at the bottle of medicine on my nightstand “- Nyquil.” 

 

He turned to look at me. I looked at him, trying not to shake. I was unsuccessful. Another sneeze crept its way out. 

 

“Achoo!”

 

He looked offended. “Goodness, the least you could do is cover your mouth when you sneeze. It’s proper manners.”

 

A mumbled “sorry” made its way out of my mouth. It was followed by another sneeze. His face contorted. He reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out his pocket watch.

 

“You have sneezed three times in the past 3 minutes, and you only thought to excuse yourself once, after I admonished you. Truly, what is becoming of the youth today?”

 

Scared to anger him further, I shrunk into my bed even moreso. In doing so, I felt another sneeze well up, but I repressed it best I could. 

 

My best was not enough. The sneeze exploded out of me, and it was a violent one. Spittle went flying everywhere, and it caught him, mid-sentence, in the mouth. Disgust ran across his face, as he reached for a handkerchief and wiped his mouth down. After he had satisfactorily cleaned himself, his gaze once again rested on me. His eyes narrowed, and he drew back his clawed hand, and with a smirk, he said “Now, little one, you will find out what happens to those who cross The Hat Man.” 

 

The Curse of Blackheart: Casey Shiepe ’24

 

It was a bright and sunny day when our 10-man crew first set foot on our beloved ship that we named The Flying Dutchman. Every single one of us knew there was a vast ocean that needed to be explored and we were on a quest to discover all sorts of hidden treasures. It took us weeks before we spotted anything, but eventually we came across a mysterious island. This island was surrounded by jagged rocks and had a dark cave. “Land ho! Starboard side captain!” I said. Our captain was thrilled by this and the ship was soon parked next to the mysterious island. When we walked over to the cave however, we noticed something odd. We saw an old wooden sign outside the cave that said “Home of Blackheart the Punisher. Turn back now!” Naturally, I was concerned by this sign, but our captain insisted there was treasure inside the cave. I tried to tell him not to enter, but he didn’t listen and pretty soon, we all went inside. Suddenly, I heard a faint whisper in an ominous voice that said, “I told you to turn back!” But it was already too late, the whole crew was already deep inside the cave and I was far behind. I did my best to try and catch up, but instead I found myself lost inside the cave. Then, all of a sudden, I tripped over a mysterious box laying on the ground that emitted a dark, terrifying energy that left me feeling uneasy. I was scared to pick it up, but I then heard that same, terrifying voice say “open it.” I didn’t listen to it, but something odd happened: the box opened itself and a forsaken spirit appeared before me. “You didn’t listen to me when I said turn back” it said, “but that’s okay, we needed new crew members anyways.” Suddenly, I looked around and the world around me had turned dark. I didn’t know what was going on, but I hated it. I ran back to The Flying Dutchman concerned about what I had witnessed, realizing that I was the only person still in the cave. Once I got on the ship however, I noticed a golden figure next to a newly discovered treasure chest surrounded by the rest of the crew minus the captain. When I looked back to the cave however, I noticed the forsaken spirit quickly reappear and the crew was trembling with fear. Suddenly, the spirit wrapped itself around the ship and it started moving on its own. Suddenly, we were all stuck on the ship with no escape from the clutches of the spirit. The ominous voice came back “no need to worry, we are about to set sail. Forever!” I looked around and there were suddenly only ghosts on the ship which had also taken a ghostly form. And since that fateful day, the spirit forced one mission onto all of us: add more unfortunate souls to our ghostly crew. 

 

Click Click Click: Katelyn O’Leary ’25

 

It was a beautiful night, the full moon’s reflection shined bright on the waves of the ocean. Cath thought as she walked her dog, Poncho. She should turn back soon and head back to the cabin where her boyfriend Jono is.

Click Click Click

Poncho barked a little ways ahead of Cath, she thinks it’s probably nothing.

Click Click Click 

Or maybe not nothing, what was that clicking sound? Cath thought as she looked around but didn’t see anything. But that’s when Cath felt it. One of her toes was sliced right off and when she looked down, she saw a clam at her feet. And blood, her blood all over the sand and dripping down the clam’s shell. 

She stares at her toes or now lack of. She takes off running or more like quickly hobbling, leaving blood in the sand as she goes. She looks back quickly when she reaches Poncho and now there’s a herd of clams coming after them. Since when do clams jump that fast and that far? She thinks as she and Poncho rush back.

Cath bursts into the cabin breathless but manages to get out “Jono we are leaving!” “Pack all your stuff, come on!” She says as she grabs her duffle bag and towels from the bathroom. The clams are close, she can still hear them she rushes even faster to the car forgoing her shoes and food they packed for the weekend.

Click Click Click

In two minutes all three are in the car. 

“Ow! My foot is in excruciating pain!” Cath says as she presses a towel to where her third toe should be. 

Click Click Click

“And why can I still hear them!” Cath says tears streaming down her face. “It’s ok we are almost out of Maine, and we will be back home in no time!” Jono says, trying to stay positive. Cath moans her whole body now feels like it is on fire. Jono slams on the brakes suddenly. When the car comes to a halt, he sees so many clams in the road. The headlights of the car reflected off their gray shiny shells. One looks to be half covered in, was that blood? Jono was very confused and scared.

“Jono Burken maybe think twice before you steal a pearl from a wereclam.” The wereclam with blood on it said.  Jono realizes that at the beginning of summer for his girlfriend’s birthday he made her a necklace with a pearl he found in Maine, on a beach where they fell in love, he thought it was the perfect gift. “So, if I give you the pearl you and all your weird clam buddies will leave me and my girlfriend alone right?” Jono asked the wereclams. “I think you mean you will leave us and your girlfriend alone forever, right?” The wereclam said in response. Jono turned confused to his girlfriend where now a clam is. The clam shuts its mouth over a beautiful pearl inside. 

Click

 

Unfathomable: Mason Abboud ’26

 

Have you ever felt true fear? Not the sort of thing you feel after turning the last light off in the

house, no. I mean the sort of fear that paralyzes you, seeps into every pore of your being until

you forget your own damn name. The type of fear that traps you in the very moment you felt it

for the rest of your life.

 

I have, just once. I used to live in an apartment, a few towns away from where I am now. There

were some woods behind it, and I used to go for walks back there at night, whenever life made

me unable to find any sleep. Pretty deep in the woods there was a little pond, and a bench. It was

a bit of a walk, but the moonlight peering through the leaves, and the stars reflecting on the

surface of that little pond made it utterly serene.

 

I was sitting there one night, in my little getaway, I don’t know how long, when all of a sudden I

got this feeling. It was an instinct, maybe. Something animalistic inside me telling me something

was very wrong. I looked up from the pond, and that’s the moment I saw it.

 

They say in moments of fear, people have a fight or flight response. I can tell you, that’s bogus.

In a moment of absolute terror, all you can do is freeze. The thing wasn’t an animal, it wasn’t a

plant either. I can’t say for sure it was even alive, at least not in the same way we are. It had no

bark, yet blended into the trees. As I gazed at it, paralyzed, it seemed to be brilliant white and the

most empty black I had ever witnessed. It surely had physicality, yet was ethereal, and

weightless. Formless, and yet concrete. A being of contradictions.

 

And as I gazed at it, it gazed back at me. How I know I could not tell you, for it had no eyes. But

still it stared upon me, understanding all that I was as I failed to comprehend even a single facet

of its being. The fear began to fold in upon itself then, into a strange feeling of elation. That too

folded back into despair, and then to hope, and then fear once again. At last, the sun began to

rise, and I finally blinked for the first time in hours, or perhaps it had been mere minutes. I

couldn’t tell you. But as my eyes fluttered opened again, that unfathomable creature was gone. I never returned to that place, I could never bring myself to. I may have left them, but that pond,

that bench, that creature, they never left me. Sometimes now, when I lie in bed, unable to sleep,

that very same animalistic instinct overtakes me. And I feel wrong in this world. As though

gazing into the unfathomable wrought impropriety upon my very being, my very soul. As though

I saw something no man should ever see.

As I lie in bed, unblinking, I can see the creature, with all its contradictions and all its mystique.

It gazes at me still, after all this time.

And I fear.