St. James C.E. Academy, Southam

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…

Tonight’s very scary and mysterious story comes from Eagle5… Be warned!

Curious Harry was 10 years old today on 1^st January, 4:00am 1942. Every year on that date, he would hang around Stone Bridge Harbour gazing into the endless, deep blue ocean. He had done it every year. Why? I’ll tell you why.

Harry didn’t want to go to school because his teachers would just make him feel bad: they would just say,
“Another year wasted Harry! You are so thick!” Then he saw a hidden path. The adventurous boy followed it until he found himself in a small harbour. He looked at his watch — it was 4:00 am. First, the tragic noises came. Now he was ten, he was more used to them: a scream of horror; a bang of pain, a squelch of terror — none of them scared him anymore. Peeking over the harbour wall, the tortured boy watched the still water closely. A mysterious boat emerged. The ship was clearly haunted: torn sails; unstable creaky floorboards; a glowing blue substance spreading by the minute. Harry felt bored of watching the ship from behind the wall so he felt the need to get closer. Closer and close he went until…

The stupid boy fell right into the trap of Indanuary. A faded, ghostly man had gripped him so tight that he could barely breathe. There was only one way to escape: his power! Never had he had to use this power before, but the time had come. This malicious man would no longer be alive — at least that’s what he thought…

Getting ready to unleash his power, Harry realised that, if he waited until he was inside the Indanuary, the whole of it would be destroyed!

The interior of the ghostly ship was dark and gloomy; he was starting to get a little nervous. Above the cramped space was a minute hole; that’s where he’d aim his shot. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go! His fingers tingled, sparks flashed then whoosh! The blue and silver lightning blew out the hole. Harry was free!

Carefully, but quickly, Harry swam to shore. If he hit one more time, the ship would be destroyed once and for all. However, Harry was unaware that the ghost had been trapped there in 1909 by Sir. Robert Davids; everyone thinks that it’s a myth but this proves it’s real.

This time, Harry went from 3. 3, 2, 1! Again, his fingers tingled and sparks flashed, then whoosh! Indanuary was destroyed! For a moment, there was a celebration —until the ghost appeared.
“Ma ha ha ha! You idiot! Fell right into my trap didn’t you boy? I’M FREE!” he claimed.
“What have I done?” shouted Harry. “What have I done?”

One year later

The young boy still lived in horror ever since because, every day, he’d watch the news in the morning and, every time, there would be someone dead. The story would always be, ‘went to bed then they were dead’.  Harry finally decided that he didn’t deserve to live. On the 1^st January 4:00 am he went to Stone Bridge Harbour and, with a dagger in his hand, he killed himself….

(Indanuary is ghost for 1^st January!)