Intro; The year was 1953. It was a cool, crisp twenty-ninth of October. Usually, after their chores and homework were done, Kathy, 8, and her brother Jonathan, 15, along with their friend May, 11, and her cousin Adam, 13, all went to Joe’s Arcade, the local hangout of Leaport, North Carolina. Instead, they all decided to meet at the end of their dead end street, Farrow Avenue, and go for a walk through the woods. They were all bored since the arcade was too crowded and supper wasn’t ready yet. Their town was a small town, so there wasn’t any other places to go besides the woods. Plus, the old, burned O’Leary house was out there.

Although everyone in Leaport knew it was there, they also knew to stay away. A raging fire, which started suspiciously back in the 1930’s, burned the O’Leary house. The O’Leary’s mysteriously disappeared that night, too. Nobody saw them leave and there wasn’t any trace that they perished in the fire when the firefighters got there. Yet, the townsfolk still say that the O’Leary’s were lost in the fire and that their spirits still haunt the house, seeking revenge on those who started the fire. The townspeople also say that you can hear their moans and piercing screams in the night. Although the dilapidated house was boarded up shortly after the fire, the townspeople wanted to knock it down completely because they claimed that it housed ghosts. But the mayor refused to do it because the house was considered a historical landmark, being as it was part of the Underground Railroad. Jonathan learned this in school, and just thought it made it all the more chilling.

The children were always told to stay away from the house and also the lake that was in front of it. But they were all so curious to at least see the house, especially Adam, who had a thing for ghosts. Kathy, being the youngest, wasn’t so sure she wanted to go. But after much debate and a promise of a warm chocolate chip cookie, Kathy decided to go. Although it was only a 15 minute walk from their street to the lake and the old O’Leary house, it felt like a lifetime with the maze of trees in the woods. Some of the trees had posters on them, and one read LOST DOG PLEASE FIND. 

As they made their way through the woods, it started to grow dark. The sky turned from a bright blue to a deep orange and red, and May took this as a sign to head back. She didn’t say anything to the others, though, for fear that she would be branded a scaredy-cat. Kathy, who was only 8, didn’t seem scared, so why should she! They were making good time and they were just coming to the clearing in the woods. The children could see the house, just over the lake, when they heard a terrifying sound. The kind of sound that could scare even the deepest sleeper out of slumber. It was the howl of some horrifying creature, or maybe it was a scream from some undead spirit! Could it be from one of the O’Leary’s? All the children screamed and ran! They ran every which way, but didn’t realize that they had got split-up. And then the creature howled again...

Kathy ran as fast as she could toward her house when she tripped over her shoelace, but when no one helped her up she realized that she was alone. She tied her shoe and stood up looking around to scared to move, even though the loud howling noises were gone. She walked back into the forest. " Your so dumb your so dumb they probably got out already" she whispered to herself and took a deep breath."Okay" she whispered "You can do this you can do this!" Then she stopped took another deep breath and continued walking. When she reached the lost dog sign, she didn't want to go any further. Kathy stood there, feeling really stupid, so she called their names.

"Adam? May? Jonathan? May? Adam? Jona..." her voice trailed off. She slumped down at the tree, curled up into a ball, and had a long cry. Not the kind of cry you have when your dog dies, or the happy cry "tears of joy" no not those. Not even the kind of cry you have when you break an arm, the kind of cry you have when you call your brother's, name no answer, the kind of cry when you call your friend's and cousin's name, no answer. The kind of cry you have when you lose someone very special. The kind of cry you have when you slump down next to a tree and cry.

Kathy fell asleep and woke up the next morning to a very familiar face "Are you ok Kathy?" It was May! "Ya I'm fine, but how did you find me?" Kathy wondered "Well I got separated from John and Adam, and I came back into the woods when it got dark and I was surprised to find you here!" May replied "Do you know where the boys are?" Kathy asked "No, but I was thinking about going back to the house to see if they were there." May said as she helped Kathy up "I was thinking about going back to the house to, but I was worried about you guys." Kathy lied she didn't think of that, why was she being so stupid? May took her hand and they walked to Kathy's house. They knocked on the door but no one answered, so Kathy turned the doorknob and was surprised when the door opened, inside there were cobwebs and dust everywhere. May and Kathy stood there in disbelief as the wind blew by and leafs formed a tornado. 

After a while they stepped inside the house and the leafs formed another tornado around them. At first they didn't notice it, but as the leafs got higher because of the wind, Kathy got stuck inside the leafs as if they were play ring-around-the-rosey. "May! Help!" Kathy screamed so loudly that got it May's attention. She jumped into the leaf tornado and closed her eyes and felt smooth skin on her hands and heard a voice "Hey that's me!" May opened her eyes and saw that it was Kathy's face! Kathy laughed. May pulled her hands away from Kathy's face and said sorry. May pulled her long blond hair behind her ears. That's what May does when she was embarrassed and Kathy knows that "It's fine" Kathy said.

The leaf tornado had died down. Kathy's short brown hair had leafs stuck to it but May seemed to keep her hair perfect at all times, so it was sitting peacefully on her chest and her necklace was in the same place none of her fancy clothes seemed to have gotten messed up "Your such a pretty pink princess May! Princess little miss perfect!" Kathy giggled. May seemed to have enough trouble for one day so she decided to leave "Where are you going?" Kathy asked "We should go back to the woods to look for the boys, they could be hurt, lost, scared and hungry." May replied "I don't want to go back into the forest!" Kathy groaned and hung her head. The way you hang your head when you don't get ice cream before dinner or when your ten and your parents make you eat eleven more bites of broccoli.

"I don't either" May argued "But we have to find the boys!" When she said that she hung her head and groaned a really obnoxious groan. Kathy laughed and took Mays hand as they walked out of the house as if to forget that it was Kathy's.

The sun was already starting to set and Kathy and May hadn't found the boys. YET, that's the word you say to prove your not going to give up hope;

"Nobody found our dog. YET"

"I don't understand my homework. YET" YET.