The Spirit of The Harvest Moon

"Are we there yet?" asked Jenny to her parents. It had felt like they had been driving for hours.

"Nearly" said her dad. Then the old, beaten up sign that said ' Forest Woods Hotel' came into view. Next came the building. It looks more like a long brown box perched at the foot of the mountain. Jenny and her parents had been coming here for the October break, but Jenny was dreading it.

"Do we really have to go?" moaned Jenny. "It looks haunted."

"Why are you so worried?" said her mum in a pleasant voice. "Its just a happy, friendly holiday hotel, there is nothing to be afraid of,"

The car pulled up in the driveway, the gravel making an eerie noise beneath the tyres, like bones being run over and smashed up. The owners were the Bell family, and Mr Bell came out to greet them, along with his wife, and a boy who looked around Jenny's age, 13. A big furry golden Labrador came up and licked Jenny's hand as she bent down the clap it.

"That's Bravo," said the boy, pointing at the dog. "Oh, don't be standing out here in the cold, you'll catch frostbite," said Mrs Bell as she hurried everyone inside.

As they went inside, they noticed that the place was completely empty. "You are the only visitors we have this October." and he went muttering something under his breath. "Lucky us, then" said Jenny's mum, trying to sound as happy as possible, "we get the whole place to ourselves."

Then Mrs bell showed then to their rooms, Jenny had one to herself next door to her parents. The rooms were dull and colourless, and Jenny could feel an ghostly presence in the air.

~

It was 10pm, and the sky was already dark, and the crickets were cricking. Mr Bell came into the room, and began to shut the windows, and seal them very tightly.

"Why are you doing that?" asked Jenny. "To keep out the s.the cold, Jenny, the cold, we don't want you to be getting cold, now, would we? "I suppose not," she said, and turned around to go to sleep. But Mr Bell's

~

Jenny awoke at the sound of the wind blowing against the window. She curled up and tried to block out the sound but she couldn't. "..Jenny...it's cold ...out side... please..Jenny...let me.in .it's cold.."

Said a voice outside but it wouldn't stop. Jenny was crying now, under the covers, terrified, just wanting it to go to away, but eventually, she cried herself to sleep.

~

The next day, Jenny went to her parents crying, "Can we go home now, please?" she begged. "There's a ghost outside, and we need to go, pleaaaaaaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee?" But it didn't matter how much she pleaded, she couldn't get them to change their minds and go home.

Later, Jenny's parents said they were going hill walking up to the mountain the hotel was on. Jenny was left alone. Bored. BORED. BORED. She was bored (surprise surprise :P) and there was nothing to do. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mr Bell's son (his names Tyler) and Bravo. When Bravo looked up and saw her he bounded over to her, and then sat down beside her, on the grass. Tyler slowly followed and stood beside them.
"You hear a weird voice last night?" said Tyler. His voice was dull and quite spooky. Jenny nodded. "That was the spirit of the harvest moon, you heard," Jenny looked up at him, questionably, so he kept speaking. "Every year, around October, the spirit comes out when the harvest moon is at its brightest, and looks for a new body to take over, once it has done that, the new spirit has to wait until the next harvest moon to take somebody else's body over, so we have to lock up all the windows and doors so it can't get in." Jenny thought that Tyler was making it up, but she also thought that he was telling the truth. Weird, she thought and went off to play with Bravo.

~

That night, as Jenny was trying to get to sleep, she heard the voice again, at her window, calling her. "..Jenny...It's cold ...out side... please...Jenny..Its me..Tyler...let me.in .it's cold.out here.." Jenny was crying hard now. 'The spirit was Tyler, it was him, for sure' she thought, and fell into a deep sleep.

~

The next day, Jenny kept way clear of Tyler, and played with Bravo. He was the only sane part of the family.
At dinner, Tyler came and sat beside Jenny, who was feeding scraps of food to Bravo, who was under the table. "Why didn't you let me in last night, Jenny" asked Tyler. But she just ignored him "Jenny, come on, it was really cold, and the spirit could of got me," said Tyler. "You are the spirit!" shouted Jenny, standing up, and she ran back to her room.

~

The harvest moon stood silently in the pitch-black sky, and Jenny was in her bed, just waiting for Tyler to come and try to get in. The wind started to tap on the windows, then she heard it. The spirit . Tyler. "Jenny...help me.. Please..its cold out here..Jenny..it's me..Tyler.let me...in ...just open.the .window.Jenny..please.." There was a faint barking in the distance outside and she could hear as it came towards the window. Bravo! He was here to save her from Tyler. There were a few vicious barks, and she could hear Tyler's footsteps disappear. Bravo barked again, and Jenny went over to the window to let him in and thank him. He came in and Jenny bent down to him. "Thanks Jenny, it was cold outside."