The Mysteries of Abby Dorfmen

By Melissa Vo and Tanisha Hill

Inspired by Chris Van Allsburg

Twenty years ago a woman named Bernice Kunney received a call from Abby Dorfmen, Introducing herself as Abby Dorfmen. explained that she had written fifteen stories and had drawn many pictures for each one. She'd brought with her just one drawing from each story, to see if Mrs. Kunny liked her work.

Bernice Kunny was fascinated by the drawings. She told she would like to read the stories that went with them as soon as possible. The artist agreed to bring the stories the next morning. She left the fifteen drawings with Mrs. Kunny. But she did not return the next day. Or the day after that. Abby Dorfmen was never heard from again. Over the years, tried to find out that who was and what had happened to her, but she discovered nothing. To this day Abby Dorfmen remains a complete mystery.

Uninvited Guest

Adriana was swimming in her pool when she heard the doorknob turn. She said to herself "hmm I wasn't expecting anybody but who could that be?"

It was Adriana's big brother Drake. Adriana forgot that Drake was supposed to come home from college for summer vacation. Drake got a drink and talked to Adriana for about fifteen minutes. That happened for about two weeks always at 2:45pm.

One Tuesday it was already 3:00pm, Adriana was wondering where Drake was. A few hours later Adriana found out that Drake had died in a car accident a few hours earlier.

A few days after Drake's death Adriana attended Drake's funeral. Adriana was crying so much, she had to leave.

A few weeks after Drake's funeral Drake came for one last visit.

Under The Rug

It was last October, almost Halloween. Mr. Smith's wife had gone missing. About three weeks after his wife was gone there was this strange bump under Mr. Smith's carpet. He threw lamps and chairs at it but nothing happened.

The day after Mr. Smith was sure the bump was gone but eight days later it came back. Mr. Smith had enough of this so he cut open the carpet and sure enough it was Mrs. Smith.

She looked very different and strange too. Mrs. Smith was 35, but she looked like she was 85. Mrs. Smith had white hair, a bloody face, and a missing leg!

A day later, Mr. Smith had gone missing. He was nowhere to be found.

Mr. Linden's library

One Beautiful fall afternoon Dakota was looking for a book in the library she found one on myths and legends which was her favorite topic. Dakota went to check it out before she left she bumped into Mr. Linden at the doorway. He said that the book was cursed and she would die if she even took a peek at a page. Dakota said "No way! That can't be true."

That Night Dakota went into her house and opened the book because she did not believe Mr. Linden. As soon as she opened the book her house was covered in vines. Dakota grew blind because of the thorns poking her eyes. There was no way out of the house and no way in.

Dakota's house was now called THE JUNGLE. One night Dakota laid awake, at the stroke of midnight Dakota laid dead. No one knows what had happened to Dakota, but we know she was dead. She had screamed that night. Dakota's voice growing smaller and smaller. Now every November 8th you could hear the scream of Dakota.

Just Dessert

Once upon a time, there lived a teenager named Amanda who lived with her grandparents. Her grandparents were known throughout the town and even the world. They grew the biggest, most famous pumpkins in the whole state. People came from all over the world to view the strange, gigantic, yet beautiful pumpkins and the strange, old couple that lived on a huge farm where they grew the pumpkins. People thought that they were strange because the old couple believed that the pumpkins had magical powers. The pumpkins were allowed to grow to such a big size because the old couple made each person promise not to carve the pumpkins. They could paint the pumpkins or put them on display but the old couple said "if you ever cut into these pumpkins the magic that allows these pumpkins to grow magically will vanish and will be replaced by an enchanted curse. I do not know what exactly will happen but I know that if even one person breaks their promise, all the people who currently have one of these magical pumpkins will be affected by the enchanted curse."

For years and years no one broke the curse. However, one day the old woman fell very ill and suddenly died. The old man full of grief, died the very next day, leaving the granddaughter who was now 24 to run the old farm and the famous pumpkin patch. But the granddaughter, unlike the old couple, did not believe in magic or enchanted curses. She thought the pumpkin patch would make more money if she allowed the customers to carve the pumpkins and put them on display all around the town and even throughout the world.

So, one night, she decided to test her theory that there was no such thing as magic or enchanted curses. Amanda walked down to the pumpkin patch and grabbed the first pumpkin she saw. It was a medium sized pumpkin. Once she had it, she returned to the house. She crept throughout the dark house, entering into the old creaking kitchen. She opened the draw and retrieved the biggest and sharpest knife she could find. Now with a knife in her hand, taking a deep breath and hoping that there was no curse, she began to press the knife into the pumpkin, thinking of the sweet pumpkin pie she would make. Amanda always wanted to make desserts out of the pumpkins that grew on the patch, but as she began to cut it she found that the pumpkin was too hard to cut through. Amanda blinked her eyes. Was she crazy? She could've sworn that the pumpkin was actually starting to grow bigger. Amanda blinked her eyes again the pumpkin was starting to glow, she tried again this time the pumpkin even bigger, grew legs, jumped off the counter, and ran away.

The 3rd Floor Bedroom

By Melissa Vo & Tanisha Hill

It all began two years ago on April 18th. There lived a family of four. They were the Jerry's. The Jerry's were a rich family. Everything was going fine until one strange day in July. It was hailing in the middle of May. Since it was hailing it was hot instead of cold. Mr. Jerry gave Mrs. Jerry gold earrings because it was her birthday. After it stopped hailing she went for a walk by the river. She never came back Mr. Jerry had told the police. Officer Jon said that Mrs. Jerry could've been murdered or drowned. They believed that she drowned because she was walking by the river.

It has been almost two years since Mrs. Jerry's death. Annie Jerry and Joe Jerry's grandma was going to visit to pray for Mrs. Jerry. Annie heard someone knocking on the door. She opened the door and in came Grandma Dawn. In the morning, the Jerry's went to church to pray for Danielle Jerry. After two days Grandma Jerry had to leave Annie and Joe thanked her for coming. Mr. Jerry had gotten a call that day from Officer Jon, who said that their grandma is a suspect. Mr. Jerry said that was no way to be true and hung up.

It was now almost the 4th of July, the Jerry's received a knock on the door but no one answered it. Annie was playing up stairs with the window. She went downstairs with the window left wide open. Then, somebody that they did not know was now in their kitchen with Grandma Dawn. Grandma Dawn said that this is my friend. Annie said that it was unusual for Grandma Dawn to come at this time of the year in July. Grandma Dawn did not answer back.

Something out of Grandma Dawn's pocket fell out it was Mrs. Jerry's gold earrings. They knew because it had the initials BJ (Bob Jerry) and DD (Danielle Dawn). Grandma Dawn and her friend threatened to kill them if they told anybody. Just then a swarm of pigeons flew by and made Grandma Dawn and her friend fall to the ground when they were gone the police came in and arrested Grandma Dawn and her friend. Officer Jon said "I told you so." Grandma Dawn and her friend received eternity in jail and they admitted that they murdered Danielle Dawn down by the river.

Captain Tory

This all started 10 years ago on a ship called the S.S. Dream. A boy at about age 10 met Captain Tory. He wanted to ride the dream boat to Africa for 1 year. Captain Tory said yes, only if he had his parent's permission. James, the boy told all his friends about the ship going to Africa. They all asked their parents including James. James told Captain Tory that he told all his friends and their parents had said yes. The only thing James did not know is that all the boy's parents had thought that it was all just a game.

Captain Tory swung his lantern three times and slowly the S.S. Dream appeared sailing through the foggy port in the sea. Captain Tory said to James that they would be leaving in two weeks. James left without answering the Captain. James got packed up along with all the boys. Now, the two weeks have past.

It was now time.

They all left in a blink of an eye. It was almost twilight and all the boy's parents were starting to worry. They were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean when the parents called the police. Then, the boat immediately began to sink into the bottom of the ocean. When all the parents heard the news, they knew they should've known to take the question seriously.

But legend has it that every year on the anniversary of the tragedy people can see the ghost of Captain Tory and James waving a dim lantern and boarding the S.S. Dream.