A Thanksgiving I'll Never Forget

By: Zachary

My friends and I walked in the dining room and couldn't believe what we saw. We ran to my mom who was busy in the kitchen getting ready for our Thanksgiving dinner.

"Mom! We saw strange things in the dining room. We saw gh…gh…gh…. ghost Pilgrims!"

Mom was standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes. She pushed a lock of hair away from her face and stared at me.

"Mom, please believe me!" I said. "Come see for yourself."

She dried her hands on a towel. "OK, let's go see what the problem is." Mom walked right into the dinning room. My heart raced as I followed, but I didn't need to be afraid. The room was empty! The ghosts were gone!

Mom looked confused and not very happy. She had been busy fixing dinner and didn't have time to waste.

"Zachary, I don't see any ghosts at all. Would you and your friends please go to our neighbor's house and get stuffing mix? I forgot to buy some and no stores are open today."

We were gone about ten minutes when my mom decided to check one more time for ghosts. When we walked in the back door with the stuffing mix we saw mom standing in the kitchen doorway with her mouth wide open. She was looking in the dinning room.

"Oh my! There ARE ghoss Pilgrims! She thought. I am about to pass out. Mom looked at the ghosts but no words would come out of her mouth. She stood there and looked frozen. Finally she turned around and saw me and my friends. "I am so sorry, son. I thought you were telling me a lie."

Very quietly a voice said, "I have something for you. Don't be afraid. You can talk. Yes, we are friendly Ghosts. We've brought some food for the dinner. We live peacefully. We used to be Pilgrims long ago."

"WOW, that is so cool!" said Mom still a bit frightened How kind of you to bring us some food."

"We thought it would be a sign of our friendliness to bring you some food," the pilgrim said.

"Would you like to help us fix dinner?" Mom asked.

"Sure, why not?" the Pilgrim chuckled.

"OK, the feast is going to start in an hour. Can you tell time?' Mom asked the Pilgrim. She didn't think that pilgrims would be familiar with the clock on her kitchen wall.

The Pilgrim replied, "I have a watch."

"You do?" asked mom. "Where did you get it? "

"We traveled through time to get here," smiled the Pilgrim. "It's time to help you with the dinner," said the Pilgrim as he placed some fresh corn on the kitchen counter. "Here is some food for the meal.."

"Thank you," said mom.

"You're very welcome."

Mom led us all into the kitchen. "Let's start making dinner. First we start with the chicken. It needs to cook the longest. Then we'll cook the potatoes and boil the corn. That's all we have to make because everybody else will arrive and bring food.

Mom looked at me and asked me to set the table. "Be sure to set enough places for our historical guests."

My aunt's car pulled into the driveway and into the house came my aunt my uncle and my grandparents.

"They're here!" Mom said. "Ok Let's start eating everybody. I need to tell you all something very special. We have ghosts in our house.

My grandmother nearly fainted.

"Don't worry, they are good people. Look at them. They are friendly."

My family did not care any more and the ghosts quickly made new friends. I will never forget that Thanksgiving day!

THE END

Hi Zachary,

In all the years I have been reading student stories, I have never had a story with a more original idea than yours. Reading the final copy, I felt quite impressed. You did a super job!

Some of the lines you used in your story showed a lot of thought. It really made it seem real when you wrote, "Oh my. There are ghost Pilgrims, and Mom thinks, I am about to pass out!

The mood was set when you wrote, "Very quietly, a voice said. "I have something for you. Don't be afraid."" This is a wonderful way to introduce the speaking ghosts to the story. It made me feel a little bit afraid. I could imagine the apprehension the family must have felt.

I also liked the way you explained the presence of the ghosts, saying that they traveled through time to get there.

Your story is warm, and makes us remember what Thanksgiving is all about. Congratulations on a story well told!

Your Friend,
Lois Szymanski

Patti Weeg
pweeg@comcast.net

May 23, 2004