Hollywood Zenith

" Alright, You asked for it. It is a true story. It happened to one of my friends."

" Every horror story starts with that line; isn\'t it time to retire that phrase?" Mary said, mocking his imagination.

" Laugh all you want; it is from his perspective. I will repeat what he told me that day.

\'When he was a child, he lived on a street with a haunted house. A large and happy family had lived in the house until one night when one of the children was playing with matches. The youngest boy of the family dropped a lit match on his bed but was too scared to call out for help.

What happens next? "

Samuel thought that Peter could have been a better storyteller; the tempo was off, and his delivery could have been better. Peter continued-

"The boy was burned alive under his covers. His parents and two sisters died with him in flames.

One evening during a sleepover, he and his friends took turns trying to scare each other with ghost stories. It was approaching midnight, and, unable to scare each other, they thought it would be fun to go to the haunted house in the dark."

He is making things on the spot.

" They walked through the gate together and up to what remained of the door, still set in its stone doorframe.

The smell of smoke hung in the air, and thin clouds of ash were being blown in the breeze. But then they realized there was no breeze.

Shapes began to form in the clouds of ash, and gray hands reached out from the shapes. As they turned to run, screams rose up out of the ashes. "Help us, we\'re burning!" they cried."

Peter roared to emphasize the last part. It was not working on anyone except Hannah, who was glued to Peter\'s gestures.

"They started to run, thinking that as soon as they were clear of the house they would be safe. But the ash shapes and screams followed them. As they neared my friend\'s home, the smell of burning was almost overwhelming, and as they reached the door, my friend glanced over his shoulder to see a hand reaching for him.

They piled through his front door, slamming it behind them, and ran up the stairs to his room, slamming that door tight, too. None of them expected to sleep, but the fear had exhausted them, and they fell into a deep slumber.

The following day, in the daylight, they were all much braver. During breakfast, they talked about what happened and came to the conclusion their imaginations had taken over. they decided to walk back to the house in the daylight.

My friend opened his front door, and his mouth dropped in a silent scream. There, on the door, were two large round scorches high on the door, like someone had pounded on it with burning hands. Lower down, there were two smaller sets of handprints as if children with burning hands had pushed against it.

Finally, near the bottom of the door was a small set of burnt handprints, as if the youngest little boy had tried in vain to push open the door and get help for his family."

Peter paused as he looked smugly toward the crowd; Hannah\'s face was pale. Mary also had a complicated expression, while Samuel looked calm as a river.

" Even to this day, People tried to remove the burn marks on the ground, but it was all in vain. They had to destroy the whole section just to get rid of it." He concluded with a severe face.

" W-what about your f-friend?" Hannah asked.

" He is fine, but he had to--" Mary smacked him from the side.

" That\'s enough. Hannah, he is only joking; there is no friend. He made the whole thing up." She clarified.

" R-really?"

" Yes. Don\'t be scared because of such a silly story; I will tell you the real scary one." Mary circled back.

" Sister Mary, I don\'t think we should continue," Samuel said as he was worried about Hannah.

" Don\'t worry; it is not that scary." Mary did not have it; she rehearsed a lot for this.

" It goes like this:

A family was camping and left their tent for a day hike. They were a few hours from their campsite when a storm suddenly blew up. They became disoriented in the wind and driving rain. "

She was a much better storyteller; she added some background sounds for realism purposes.

"They tried to trace their steps back to the campsite but became lost in the unfamiliar backcountry. Being experienced hikers, they knew once they were lost, it was best to stay in one place than wander in the woods, so they prepared to settle down and wait for rescue.

Darkness fell, and the family built a fire to keep warm. As they snuggled up against each other and started to drift off to sleep, they heard a noise coming from the trees."

As the tension grew, Hannah moved closer to Samuel for comfort. She unconsciously held Samuel\'s hand.

"

"Who\'s there?" one of the parents called, but there was no answer.

Then they heard the sound again. But once more, when they called out, there was no answer.

"Perhaps it\'s someone who can\'t speak," suggested the daughter.

So her mom called out, "Is there anyone there? Clap once for yes and twice for no."

There was one clap."

Mary also clapped along her story, moving the light source closer to her face as her expression grew weary.

"

"You were right," the parents said to their daughter. "There is someone out there."

"Are you here to rescue us?" shouted the mom.

Clap clap.

"Are you lost like us?"

Clap clap.

"Do you live out here in the woods?"

Clap clap.

"Let me try," said the son. "Are you a boy?"

Clap clap.

"Are you a girl?"

Clap clap.

They all looked at each other, puzzled. "

Mary alternated her gazes from one person to another. It felt like they were in a similar situation, stranded in the wild while listening to stories.

"

Thinking he was being funny, the son asked: "Are you human?"

Clap clap.

Now, the family was scared.

"Are you alone?" called the mom.

Clap clap.

The family huddled together more.

"How many of you are there then?"

Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap "

Hannah gasped; she could not scream, hearing Mary\'s constant clapping. She nuzzled her head in Samuel\'s chest while placing her hands over her ears. This one really got to her.

" Sister, that\'s enough," Samuel shouted, making Mary stop clapping.

" I think we have to stop here. We should head to bed."

Mary and Peter also looked at Hannah\'s condition and decided to agree. Mary felt terrible afterward as she began to console the frightened Hannah.

" I am sorry. I became too excited." It calmed her down a little. They stayed up for a few more minutes before Mary took Hannah to her room. Samuel followed them and stayed until Hannah fell asleep before heading to bed.