Harbour at Halloween… a ghost story by Lemur24

After moving house for Dad’s job, I had been told a few strange legends about the harbour. I, David, am naturally curious about these tales and about Dad’s late-night job: I try anything to get him to take me. I fetch his battered blue and white sailor’s coat from the old days; his sailor’s hat — from the old days too; and his dusty old lamp, hoping for a response which is more than, “Thank you. Please help your mother.”

Every year, my curiosity increased and, on this certain Halloween, I couldn’t wait a single day longer to find out. I wasn’t concentrating on anything at school: I was getting things like 0/20 on my spellings and 0/100 on my times tables test; I didn’t get any break or lunch because I had to catch up on my work. I was concentrating so badly, nothing I even said made sense.

Begging my mum non-stop all day, I waited until I was finally allowed to go trick-or-treating. I knew my dad was working so I raced to the harbour. I didn’t quite know where he worked but I was pretty sure it was the harbour. Running as fast my legs could carry me, I ran until it was in my view. I was beginning to consider turning to go back home but I decided I wouldn’t. Nearing the harbour, I silently tip-toed because I didn’t want to be seen. I saw a man. It was my dad…

My brain was yelling,
“Go back! Go back!” as my panic grew but I stood up to my fear and took another step. It must have been too loud as Dad sharply swivelled around. He whispered,
“David! Wrong Choice!” as he seized me by the arm. No matter how much I squirmed, I couldn’t get free.

My dad whistled a tune I recognised and a ship emerged. I could just make out the two words, “DARK APPOLLO’. As soon as it had appeared, I could tell it was haunted: a green substance leaked from the stern; no driver; eerie noises. The harbour was covered in slime as it touched it.
“You’ll have to come on board son,” my dad whispered.
Shutting my eyes tightly, I hoped that it was a dream. I couldn’t believe how bad it had got in a day.

As I awoke an hour later, I guessed it was a dream. Where I was sleeping felt exactly like my soft, comfy bed. Cautiously, I opened one eye, then the other. Although I was on my bed, I was obviously not in my room. Out of the window, I caught a glimpse of sand and plenty of water. Hoping it wasn’t the ship, I ventured closer to the window and, in the process, got stuck. As I turned around, I noticed a chain tying my wrists together. Climbing out onto the top deck, I noticed I was drowning. Knowing I had to get down, I knew I was not prepared.

Staring downwards, I looked for the hatch; it was locked. The tangled chains grabbed at me but I expertly dodged them. Seeing a beautiful glow, I swam, remembering to stay aware of my surroundings. Quickly, I snatched the key but a chain caught me. All the chains swung me around as if playing catch. They accidentally threw me overboard. I seized my chance. Swiftly, I swam to the lower deck, opened it and jumped inside. The trap-door clicked shut — I was safe.

Hoping it still worked, I checked my watch. It hadn’t even been a minute! I knew it worked as it was ticking away. I had had enough for today, I thought, so I decided to go to sleep for the second time on this awful boat.

A few hours later, I awoke. On the foot end of my bed, I noticed a book. It was the book of legends my father had given me. My hand grabbed it, Carefully, I flicked through the legends until I read, “DARK APPOLLO LEGEND”. Scanning through it, I read the part, ‘How to destroy the boat’.

Twenty minutes later, I had a new plan.

I put a life-jacket on so that I could survive. (As you may have suspected, I couldn’t swim.) Carefully, I read the ‘destroying the boat’ part again and followed every action. It worked. Slowly but surely, I floated up. As I did it, I recognised my mistake…

My mistake was that I had freed the souls; I knew I would be killed. As I arrived home, I saw a sign out of the corner of my eye. It read ‘DESERTED HOUSE FOR SALE’. My family had died…

I went to the police station to find out what had happened to my family. I saw a WANTED poster. It said, ‘Smuggling children onto a boat, CAPTAIN PETE EDWARDS’. It wasn’t my dad but as I noticed that, I wondered how he knew my name. Next to it was a MISSING poster. It said, ‘For our beloved David’. They had all missed me.

****

Although it seemed like only 50 seconds to him, fifty years later, on Halloween, David died with a headache and, at the foot of his bed, was the book of legends his father had given him…