Who’s
Watching?
By Tot Jones
November 12
Dear Hank.
There’s something watching us
at night. The new house is terrific,
but something is going on that
none if us can figure out. It’s a
good thing 1 don’t believe in ghosts
or I’d think we had one. It always
happens at night. Little sounds and
then a feeling that something is
looking at us. Sometimes I’ll be sit
ting in my rocker and all of a sud
den I have goose bumps for no
reason. Spooky. Not that I’m
scared, but I sure wish I knew
what is was.
Well, guess I should have start
ed at the beginning. Dad loves his
new job. and school is O.K. I don't
really know anyone yet, but I’m
going to try out for the soccer
team.
I can't wait until summer when
you come for a visit. You'll love
our new house— it's on stilts, sur
rounded by trees, and hangs over a
ravine. There are sun decks on
three sides, and the ravine end is
all glass.
But back to the spook. We nev
er see anything, only sometimes
stuff gets moved around from one
place to another. When we first
moved in. we found this plastic tub
on the deck with dirty water in it.
We figured the Martins, the former
owners.had a dog and fed him on
the deck. Anyway. Mom cleaned it
up and propped it against the bed
room-deck railing. Two days later
it was on the front deck, and none
of us had touched it!
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you.
There’s a trap door on the deck. I
pulled the lid up, and it opens onto
a slanting beam that goes from the
deck to the ground about twenty-
five feet. We can't figure out who
or what would climb clear up here.
I think the Martins must have had
a cat, too, but Dad said a cat
wouldn’t need a trap door— it would
just squeeze through the railing.
Good point, unless it was a cougar!
(Ha ha! That’s a joke!)
Well, better get to bed. Please
write soon.
David
December 5
Dear Hank,
The plot thickens! Yesterday
we put a Christmas tree out on the
deck. We can see it from all over
the house. Anyway, last night our
spook came and took a whole
bunch of ornaments off and put
them in the plastic tub I told you
about. The funny thing was that
none of the ornaments were bro
ken. The tinsel was scattered all
over, and it couldn’t have blown
off, because there was no wind.
lust who or what would climb
up on our deck to play with the
Christmas tree? Any bright sugges
tions? You have to go through the
house to get onto the deck, so
whatever it was had to come from
the ground. We’re really curious
now, and I have to admit that I still
get goose bumps when I’m sitting
in the rocker at night looking out
side.
Oh, by the way, 1 made the
soccer team. Exams are next week.
Ugh. Did you break your arm or
something? That's a hint—write
soon.)
David
December 15
Dear Hank,
Thanks for your letter. It was
great to hear what you guys have
been up to.
Guess what? The spook likes
bread. Last night I decided if the
spook felt at home, maybe it would
show itself. So I left a few slices of
bread outside and put water in the
tub. Sure enough— this morning the
bread was gone, the water was
dirty, and there were about eight
ornaments floating in it. Wouldn’t
you know it— each morning it's my
job to put the ornaments back on
the tree, because the spook takes
some off every single night.
Whetever it is, it’s smart. Last
Saturday night Dad and I sat up
until one o’clock in the morning
with all the lights out, waiting for
the spook. It never showed up. But
the next morning the ornaments
were in the tub. I'll get to the bot
tom of this somehow.
Well, got to go. Left some more
bread out for the spook and
changed the water. Tell the gang
Happy New Year for me and write
again soon. Merry Christmas!
David
December 25
Dear Hank,
Merry Christmas again! lust
wanted to tell you the mystery has
been solved. I was staring at the
tree two nights ago when the
goose bumps started. One of the
branches seemed to be quivering. I
stopped rocking and stared, and
pretty soon I realized something
was staring back at me. Round,
black eyes. That’s all I could see.
My knees turned to jello, and it
took five minutes for me to slither
out of the rocker and streak into
the den where Mom and Dad were
watching TV: 1 yelled that some
thing was in the Christmas tree,
and we all raced back to the living
room, but the eyes weren’t there
any more. Dad thought 1 was im
agining it, but I knew I'd seen
those eyes.
That night I couldn’t sleep.
About midnight I heard a little
noise like something breaking.
Without turning on any lights, I
got out of bed and crept through
the house. The moon was pretty
bright, and when 1 looked out on
the deck, I saw something moving.
I flipped on the deck lights and
couldn’t believe my eyes. There
were three spooks staring at me.
One was eating a piece of bread by
the tub, another was pulling an or
nament off the tree, and the third
was standing straight up on his
hind legs just looking at me. They
wore masks and had fluffy gray
coats and black rings on their tails.
You guessed it, our spooks are rac
coons!
We must’ve stared at each
other for ten minutes, but they
didn’t run. I went into the kitchen,
got some bread, eased the sliding
door open, and threw it out to
them. They pounced on it, and
while they were eating, I woke up
Mom and Dad. We watched them
for hours.
Dad thinks they’ve been around
here for ages and were just making
sure we’d welcome them before
they let themselves be seen.
Now I really can’t wait for you
to get here and meet my masked
buddies. This was the best Christ
mas ever. How often does Santa
bring you three new friends?
See you in six months!
David
ft
PAGE 10
YOUNG AMERICAN
DECEMBER 1984