Footsteps

Holding my breath, I opened the gate to the graveyard, walked in and then closed the gate behind me.  It was very dark, and I couldn't see very clearly but I was on high alert. The pavement was covered in puddles and raindrops dripped from the trees. From behind, I heard someone creak open the same rusted, wrought iron gate I had just walked through 2 minutes earlier. I stopped; the footsteps stopped too. I turned around to look. At first I thought it might be my best friend Quint but there was no one to be seen…Maybe it was a bad idea to cut across the graveyard this late.

I knew from that very moment; I had been ambushed but I didn't know who it was. Scared out of my wits, I jumped behind a tall statue of an angel made of stone to hide. Rows upon rows of moss-laden gravestones stood tall and surrounded me. The moon was full, and the clouds moved in front of it. The moonlight shone through the clouds. I could see mist rising from the wet grass, which made it look like the gravestones and statues were floating. The air was damp and the wind carried the scent of rotting leaves. Not knowing where to go next, I looked all around me for something to protect myself with but the only thing that I had was my empty lunchbox and a plastic fork. This was not the time to fight. An empty lunchbox and a plastic fork were not going to help me out of this one. My only option left was to run.  

Cautiously, I peered out from behind the angel statue. I wanted to find out who was following me. Would I be able to outrun the mysterious footsteps? It was difficult to see anything. I had cut-through the graveyard hundreds of times so I knew it well. All of a sudden, I heard the footsteps coming closer towards me. I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and a cold shiver ran down my back. Was there a ghost was behind me? My heart beat faster. 

‘Antony!’ said a voice creepily. 

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Everything felt like it was in slow motion and my vision was blurry but that didn't stop me running from the ghost - or at least I thought it was a ghost. There was no time to think. I reached the other side of the graveyard, opened the gate, swung it shut behind me and sprinted to my front door across the street. I could see that Mum had just got home too. She was unlocking the front door when I ran towards her shouting,    

‘MUM THERE IS A GHOST. IT KNOWS MY NAME.  IT'S FOLLOWING ME!’ 

My mum turned around, looked at me and laughed. I was confused. Had she not heard me properly? Why would she laugh at a time like this? She pointed behind me. I turned around. I saw a ghost coming closer but it wasn't frightening. In fact, it was a familiar looking figure. 

'Quint? Is that you?'

Turns out that it was my best friend Quint dressed in a ghost costume. He was on his way out for trick or treating and he wanted to see if I wanted to go with him. I don't much like Halloween. I find it weird knocking on strangers’ doors asking for treats, but my best friend wanted to go, and Mum said that I could, so I did. After all, he went to the trouble of making a costume so said I would go...as long as we didn't go through the graveyard again. 

Well I guess it all worked out in the end. I thought I was going to be somebody’s graveyard lunch special, but it turns out that it was only my friend who likes dressing up for Halloween and I can respect that.