Everybody said the old Bosworth mansion was haunted, so I decided to check it out for myself. On the night of Halloween, I took my best friends, Benson and Jones, and we went down 24 Lincoln Lane into what kids at our school called the "Cast Off". Rumor has it that James Bosworth, the dude who used to live in the Bosworth mansion, along with everyone else on 24 Lincoln street mysteriously disappeared. Rumor also has it that James Bosworth was behind those mysterious disappearances. Benson's cousin's buddy Wilson told Benson that the night that they all disappeared was Mr. Bosworth's 46th wedding anniversary with his wife, who had passed away the previous year. He also said that one of Mr. Bosworth's neighbors was the doctor who couldn't save his wife. That was Bosworth's motive.

As we walked up the narrow, creaky steps up to the mansion, a light turned on inside the house, which was thought to be abandoned. My heart skipped a beat. I looked over at Jones and Benson. Jones had a look of pure terror on his face, which was exactly what I felt. I hoped I didn't have that look on my face. "Finn, we should go." Benson said, looking at me. "We just got here!" I whispered, determined to find out what was going on inside. Benson gulped and nodded, and pushing Jones up in front of him, we continued up the steps toward the apparently not abandoned house.

I opened the giant oak door and felt a rush of warm air. Laughter and music filled the house, just like it would on Christmas day. We stepped into a grand entrance that lead into the great hall. I could hear children running around and adults engaged in a lively conversation about who knows what. Benson, Jones, and I shrugged at each other. As we journeyed father into the house, the noise grew louder and louder. When we eventually reached the source of chatter, all three of us stopped dead in our tracks.

We had walked into an entire dining room of ghosts! Little ghost children running around and playing tag together, teen ghosts sitting around the fire playing games and reading books, adult ghosts sitting around the table eating salad, drinking milk and finishing up their last bites of pie! There were even old ghosts sitting around a television knitting and talking loudly. Everything was exactly how it should be at an amazing feast except that everything was a silvery white shining material! Jones looked like he was going to puke. "How?" He managed to say in a whisper. Benson looked like he had seen a ghost. Oh wait! He had! We all had, and there were about fifty of them, sitting in the dining hall, living room and kitchen acting as if nothing abnormal was going on, just having a party as if they were all still alive and human.

I was the first one to finally move again, and considering that none of them seemed to notice us, I walked around observing the party of ghosts. Jones and Benson followed, not too far behind me. As I was walking around, I noticed a few newspaper clippings sitting on the kitchen counter. Seeing that they were solid, I picked one up and started reading it. The date on the top was November 13, 1923. The headline was  "24 Lincoln Street Residents Disappearance! True Story Uncovered!". I elbowed Jones and Jones elbowed Benson. "Look!" I said, pointing at the headline. This was just what we were looking for! I read the paper out loud, "Extravagant party provided by Mr. James Bosworth was a horrible failure. Bosworth's maid, Saralily Pentol, was cooking her famous dessert pastries when something in the kitchen went horribly wrong. Her oven mitt caught fire and the fire slowly spread throughout the whole first floor. Unfortunately, no one noticed the fire until it was too late. Only one person attending the party survived the horrible accident. This individual was Matilda (Tilly) Hopple, age 23. She has provided us information and has been of great service to us. Please pray for all of the family members of the many who lost their lives. Thank you."

This was exactly what we came here to find! As I finished reading the article, I felt a tap tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a ghost man of about 30 holding out a tray full of cookies out to me. I almost yelled in surprise! The man was dressed as a waiter and had a long mustache. "Would you like one?" He asked in a kind, low voice. I took a cookie with a trembling hand and he offered one to Jones and Benson as well. Benson took one but Jones shook his head. "I'm not hungry." He said. Which is strange because Jones is always hungry. I grabbed the newspaper and shoved it into my pocket. So the ghosts could see us! A grin spread across my face. "As long as we're here, we might as well enjoy ourselves!" I ran up to one of the girls sitting on the ground reading a book and grabbed her hand. As I pulled her onto the dance floor, the band perked up and started playing a jazz song that I had never heard before! Jones and Benson joined me, following my lead and swinging girls onto the dance floor.

I ended up having the night of my life. Jones, Benson and I left with an invitation to come back next year and a bag full of homemade sweets and candy. The funny thing is, we didn't tell anyone about our adventure. They might think that we had gone loony! More importantly though, this was our night and we wanted it to stay that way. It was just easier that way. Now, it's been ten years and I haven't missed a Halloween party at the old Bosworth mansion.


- Abbey Mathews