The Scariest Ghost on Linden Street
Dez has the perfect costume. Nobody is scared of it. Yet.
Dez wants to be the scariest ghost on Linden Street. The cat goes back to sleep, Dad offers him toast, and his baby sister laughs. Perhaps his costume needs one more try in the dark.
An Again, Please originalAges 3–5English
The Scariest Ghost on Linden Street
Dez has the perfect costume. Nobody is scared of it. Yet.
Dez wanted to be the scariest ghost on Linden Street. In the costume shop, Dad held up a pumpkin with legs. “Too smiley,” said Dez. He chose a white sheet with two black eyeholes. “This one will make everybody jump.”
At home, Dez practised on Pudding. He crept up to the radiator with the sheet over his head. “BOO!” Pudding opened one eye. Pudding closed it again. Dez pushed the sheet back. “Perhaps he didn’t hear.”
The next morning, Dez tried a louder boo. Dad was buttering toast. Dez stretched out his arms and crept into the kitchen. “BOOOOO!” Dad didn’t even turn round. “Morning, ghost. Toast?”
Dez pulled the sheet right down over his face. He peered through the eyeholes. Now his baby sister wouldn’t know it was him. He leaned towards Rae’s high chair. “BOO!” Rae laughed so hard her spoon fell on the floor.
Dez took off the sheet and sat on the stairs. “It doesn’t work,” he told Dad. “Not even Rae jumped.” Dad sat beside him. “Well, you haven’t tried it in the dark.” Dez looked down the hall. He could try once more.
That evening, the hall light was off. Dez crept out with his sheet trailing behind him. Then he pulled it over his head. “Boo,” he whispered. At the end of the hall, something white was waiting. Dez peered through the eyeholes. It had two black eyes.
“AAAAAAAH!” Dez jumped. The other ghost jumped too. Pudding shot down the hall with his tail puffed up like a brush. Dad switched on the light.
There was the mirror. And there was Dez. He pulled off the sheet. His heart was still going boom boom boom. “You made me jump!” said Dad. “Me too,” said Dez. He looked at himself and began to grin. “My costume works.”
On Halloween night, Dez wanted to wear the ghost again. “But can you make the eyeholes bigger?” he asked Dad. Dad fetched the scissors. Snip, snip. “I need to see who I’m scaring,” said Dez. “In case it’s me.”
Down Linden Street went Dez, with Dad and Rae close behind. “Boo,” he said at the next house. A small dog ducked under the sofa. Dez peered through his bigger eyeholes. “Did you see that, Dad?”
