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Saturday, December 5, 2009

The hungry toy thief

Deena Motherwell was convinced that ghosts were stealing her toys. She could come to no other conclusion. Her house was haunted by a mischievious thief.
"How do you know it's ghosts?" asked her brother, Corbin, as he stuffed his football gear into his backpack.
"Because if it's not ghosts, it's you," Deena said, her arms folded with conviction.
"I haven't touched anything of yours. What would I want with stupid dolls, anyway?"
"So you believe me then?"
"I don't believe in ghosts!"
"How do you know if you've never seen one before?"
"Neither have you," Corbin sneered and slung his backpack over his shoulder.
"Yeah, well I will tonight," she retorted. "I'm gonna stay awake and catch that tricksy ghost in the act. I'll make sure it doesn't steal another of my toys ever again."
That night Deena sat up in her bed with her favourite teddy bear, Bob, beside her. With her bedclothes wrapped around her shoulders she nibbled on nuts and crackers with one hand and held a torch in the other, sweeping the bright beam across the room whenever she heard a creak or crack. But as the hours ticked by she saw nothing, only the silent darkness of her room. Deena tried to stay awake but her eyes became heavy with tiredness and her head kept slumping to the side. Before she knew it she was asleep.
When she woke the next morning she was horrified to discover Bob was missing.
"It's taken him," she cried as she burst into Corbin's room. "That pesky ghost has taken Bob."
Corbin stared at her from over his duvet with a sly smile on his face.
"What are you smirking at? It's not funny, unless you took him," she said.
Corbin held up his hands. "I never touched that stinky bear."
"Then it's that ghost. I stayed up all night, waiting for it and it never appeared. It must have waited until I fell asleep and then snatched poor Bob right out from under my nose."
Corbin climbed out of bed. "Let's examine the evidence shall we," he said and walked out of his room and into Deena's.
"Look here," he said pointing to a trail of crumbs leading from her bed out of her room.
"The ghost must have stolen my snacks too," exclaimed Deena.
"So we have a hungry toy thief," Corbin said. "Let's follow the tracks."
Deena followed the trail of cracker crumbs down the stairs, along the hallway to the cupboard under the stairs where they came to an end.
Deena gulped and hid behind her brother. "It must be in there," she quivered. "The ghost."
Corbin reached a hand out and turned the handle. "Be careful, Corbin. It might get mad."
Corbin chuckled and pulled open the door. A pile of brushes, a dustpan and the hose of her mother's vaccuum cleaner tumbled out of the cupboard. Deena jumped back in fright. Corbin stepped inside. A moment later Deena saw her two dolls, her mechanical dog, Rufus, and her bear Bob, flung from within the cupboard.
"Bob," Deena cried as she hugged her beloved bear."So that's where that ghost was hiding all my toys."
Corbin pulled his mobile phone from his back pocket and showed the screen to Deena.
"Watch this," he laughed.
Deena watched the grainy, dim video clip that Corbin played, and suddenly gasped.
"That's me," she said. "And I have Bob in my hand."
"And your crackers in the other."
"When was this?"
"Last night, dopey. You woke me up in the middle of the night. When I opened my door there you were walking across the landing and down the stairs dropping crackers on the floor. You were completely out of it. I don't think you were awake."
"Where am I going?"
"Downstairs. To the cupboard."
Deena watched as she walked down the hallway, her arms at her side, her eyes closed, and opened the cupboard under the stairs.
"YOU put Bob in the cupboard," said Corbin. "You are the ghost you're looking for."

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