The Mystery of Woodword Creek
by Shriya 6B

It was a chilly winter night. I and my friends were having a sleepover. Mary,Sarah,and I were having a pillow-fight. Emma was sitting in a corner reading a book. Ugh! I hate books! But Emma loves them. I do not know how anyone can like books! We have been friends since we were in Kindergarten.

Now, we are 16 years! We all have different personalities. I am sporty, Mary is the popular girl, Sarah is the drama queen, and Emma is the bookworm. But we are all adventurous. "Hey guy! Come over here." Emma waved us over to look at something in her book. It was about our town,Woodward Creek's history. "Read this. It's so cool!" When I had read it, my jaw dropped." It says that there is a phantom roaming around in the coal mine in Woodward Creek." "Jessie, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Emma asked me. "It's still 8 o'clock. I think that we can go." "Then what are we waiting for?"

The car ride to the coal mine was not that long. We had come fully prepared. We had flashlights, batteries, and a very long rope. When we peered into the entrance, we saw nothing but pitch black. We lowered into the coal mine using the rope.we turned on our flashlights and started walking deeper into the coal mine. The rays from the flashlight bounced off the walls casting shadows. It made the mine scarier than it already was. We walked through many series of tunnels. The farther we went into the mine, the colder it it got. Even through our thick winter jackets, we still felt a chill.

I thought that I read somewhere that coal mines had lots of entrances and exits.

But so far the only way to get out was the way that we came in from. A chill ran down my spine. I started to get weird thoughts. What of we get lost? What if we see the phantom? What if the phantom hurts us? Or even worse. Then I relaxed a bit. Maybe my friends remember the way back out of the mine." Hey guys, do any of you remember the way out?" They all looked at me with blank faces. It was then that I noticed that they were not looking at me. But behind me. When I turned around, I saw a man that was at least 7 feet tall. He had very broad shoulders. I wanted to run. But I could not. I froze with fear. He stepped into the light and growled. He had rotten yellow teeth that were half broken. He was bald and was wearing tattered clothes. Before I could understand what was going on, Mary took my wrist and pulled me away.