Sally shivered and clutched Dana’s arm. Ever since Sally moved into this old house, storms spooked her. The wind tossing the leaves, the tree’s finger–like branches waving, and the eerie darkness was enough alone to scare her. But with the power out, she felt even worse.  

“I can’t see a thing!” Sally fumbled with her flashlight. She was glad Dana was sleeping over that night.  

RATTA--TAP! RATTA--TAP! 

“What was that?” Sally shrieked. 

“I bet it’s your brother trying to freak you out,” Dana said. 

Sally knew that was a possibility. Jason often teased her and said that ghosts love to haunt old houses like this one.  

RATTA--TAP! RATTA--TAP! 

“Jason!” Sally called. 

“What?” Jason emerged from the room next to Sally’s.  

“Stop it!” 

Jason stared at her.  “Stop what?” 

“You know what! It’s bad enough the power went out. You don’t need to make it worse by making those noises.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.  “I’ve been playing my Gameboy.”  Jason placed his hands on his hips proudly and boasted, “I’m up to level 13. They’re no match for me!” 

“Great.” Sally said. Could he ever be serious?  “Well then who’s doing it?”

“Maybe it’s a ghost,” Jason teased. “The lights are out. There’s a storm outside. It’s perfect.” 

Sally walked away and rolled her eyes. She knew he was teasing her, but she still wondered. Maybe it is a ghost.  What else would make a noise like that? 

“Do you think we’ll hear it again?” Dana asked as they set up their sleeping bags.  

“I hope not.” Sally sat down and clutched the flashlight tightly. 

RATTA–TAP! RATTA–TAP! 

The girls stared at each other. 

 “C’mon, let’s go,” Dana whispered. 

“Where are we going?” 

“We’re going to find out what that noise is,” Dana declared. 

“Are you nuts?” 

Sally grumbled and followed her friend down the hallway. She could hear the roll of the thunder outside. 

CRACK–A–BOOM!  

Sally yelped and grabbed Dana’s arm. She would much rather be hiding under the safety of her own blanket. As they tiptoed through the hall, the tapping became faint. . . 

Ratta–tap. Ratta–tap.  

“We’re moving away from it,” Sally said, “not that I have a problem with that.” 

Laughing, Dana shook her head.  “Ok, let’s backtrack.” 

They went back down the hallway and stopped at the room next to Sally’s.  

RATTA–TAP! RATTA–TAP! 

“That’s Jason’s room,” Sally said angrily, “He swore he wasn’t doing this!” 

Sally burst open the door. “Caught you!” 

But instead of finding Jason making the noises, Sally found him on his bed still playing his Gameboy. Her entrance made Jason jump.  Bouncing off the mattress, he nearly fell. 

“You scared me half to death! What are you doing in here?” Jason demanded.  

“The noise . . . I thought . . . oh never mind,” Sally said. This is crazy, she thought walking back to her room with Dana close behind. 

RATTA–TAP! RATTA–TAP! 

“It’s coming from over there,” Sally pointed through the darkness. She shined her flashlight across the room at the window.  

“Do you think someone’s doing this outside?” Dana asked. 

RATTA–TAP! RATTA–TAP! 

Sally slowly crept to the window. She scanned the backyard with the flashlight for anything unusual. She craned her neck to see Jason’s window. It was tricky since his window was so close to hers.  

That’s when something charged at Sally’s window.  

RATTA–TAP! RATTA–TAP! 

Sally screamed and jumped back. The tree outside was waving wildly in the wind. “Look at this!” Sally pointed outside her window. Dana and Sally watched as another gust of wind pushed the branches towards the window.  

RATTA–TAP! RATTA–TAP! 

“A tree?” Dana asked in astonishment. “We’ve been spooked by a tree?”  

As if on cue, the lights came back on. But then just as quickly, they flickered on and off.  

Sally and Dana screamed running towards the  bedroom door. Sally didn’t see Jason standing in the doorway until—BANG—she ran right into him. 

 Jason laughed, his fingers still on the light switch. 

“Jason!” 

“I’m sorry, Sal. I couldn’t resist.” 

Sally wanted to stay mad at him, but couldn’t. As much of a pain as Jason was, he wasn’t all bad. He had a wild sense of humor.  Maybe that’s just what she needed to defeat the “ghosts” of that old house. 

The End