The Mysterious Rooms in the Haunted House

A CHOICE-FILLED ADVENTURE STORY

THE MYSTERIOUS ROOMS IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE Written by Students of MS. PADGEN-SOUCY’S 5TH GRADE CLASS at MITCHELL ELEMENTARY

FIRST EDITION PRINTED AND BOUND AT 826MICHIGAN

Copyright © 2021 by 826michigan and Blotch Books.

All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch, and the authors.

The views expressed in this book are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of 826michigan. We believe in the power of youth voice and are thrilled that you picked up this book. No part of this book may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher, except for small excerpts for the purposes of review or scholarly study.

By purchasing this book, you are helping 826michigan continue to offer free student programs. For more information, please visit: 826michigan.org

You are on a broken-down planet in a forest.

While exploring the forest, you see a haunted house.

You walk up on the porch of the house and the door swings open.

You walk inside and there is a huge sink that turns into an ice rink! There are a bunch of proskateboard aliens using the rink.

You see there is a basement and an attic. You can either go downstairs to explore the basement, or you can go upstairs to see what is in the attic.

If you decide to go to the basement, turn to page 2.

If you decide to go to the attic, turn to page 3.

1

You walk into the giant basement. It’s hot in one part and cold in another. It smells like bad cheese.

There is a missing wall and you see a giant rat the size of house with Swiss cheese. The rat is sleeping because it just had a feast on some tasty cheese.

You feel scared and shocked and it feels like the rat is staring at you.

There is a chest that looks like cheese with a lock in front of the rat. The lock is made of cheese.

You have to get to it without the rat waking up because he will chase you out of the basement!

You see a chunk of cheddar cheese on a table and you throw the cheese to get the rat to move. You hit the rat’s nose and it wakes up.

There’s a tiny hole in the Swiss cheese and you can see a sparkle from the key. You also see a key on the rat’s collar.

If you decide to look in the Swiss cheese, turn to page 4.

If you decide to take the key from the rat’s collar, turn to page 5.

2

The attic is locked and you have to find our way out. You find a skeleton in the attic. You then find a cat when looking for a way out. The cat leads you to a vent that might be your way out of the locked attic. The vent is almost big enough for a child to fit in, but can you fit through? You can fit in as the cat begins to go through the vent.

The vent leads you to a small room and the floor seems odd. The floor is booby trapped, which drops you into another small room. You find a few windows in the room and you have to choose which one to break through, but you are claustrophobic in the attic, so you decide to take the cat as an emotional support animal. You can have the cat lead you to freedom. You see a fake room after you break through the window and you realize you haven’t escaped. You also see a magical forest, but before your eyes the cat grows double the size of you.

If you decide to ride the cat to escape, turn to page 6.

If you decide to run away from the cat into the forest. turn to page 7.

3

You decide to go for the Swiss cheese, but you notice that there are some nibbles in it. You look in the cheese and notice that there aren’t any more sparkles! The rat ate the key! You feel nervous and shocked, and you hear the rat breathing behind you! You slowly turn around and start stepping backwards, but you bump into the chest and trip!

You throw the cheese to distract the rat from eating the chest. You have to wait for the rat to poop out the key, but that could take a while—maybe even a whole day! You decide to explore the basement and find a cabinet with a bedroom that’s too small for the rat to climb in, so you decide to stay there where you’ll be safe. The next morning, you find the rat poop. The tip of the key is stuck in the poop, but the end is sticking out. The key looks like a rat’s head with cheese. You try to grab the key, but the poop is rock solid. You find a hammer in a drawer in the bedroom and use this to break out the key.

The chest is made out of solid steel that just looks like cheese, so you can’t break it open—but there’s three pieces of cheese inside! The cheese is shaped like a gem and is cheddar. Two of the pieces are cheddar and one is a real gem! If you pick the right cheese, it could be worth millions of dollars! This money would work at the bank to be exchanged with the planet’s money. If you choose the wrong cheese gem, you will be solidified. You could select one of the cheese gems, or you could bring the cheese gems to the rat to see which one he picks.

If you decide to select a cheese gem, write your own ending.

If you decide to bring the cheese gem to the rat,

write your own ending.

4

(start again at page 1)

You throw the cheese that had the other key and the rat follows. You go behind the rat and try to cut the collar. It falls on the floor and you grab the small, yellow key. The rat is on the other side of the room with the cheese and now you can try to open the chest with the key. You have to hurry because the rat is already halfway through the cheese! You quickly decide to try and take the chest and open the door to the room with an exit ladder.

The rat finishes the cheese. He turns around and starts chasing you! You pick up the heavy chest and run with it. You run to the door that leads to the room with the exit ladder. The ladder is very old. There is also a tiny hole that you can somehow crawl out of. The chest can barely fit through the hole.

If you decide to climb the ladder, write your own ending.

If you decide to crawl through the hole, write your own ending.

5

(start again at page 1)

As you crash into the door on the big cat, the walls were screens and you were being watched by someone the entire time. You get off the cat, then touch the screens, and realize that you’ve been under surveilence the whole time and the individual begins to laugh in an evil tone. You use the cat to get out of the room. You find a little shed and realize that the voice sounds familar. You discover that there are stairs in the shed room. You discover that the voice we hear is a tape recording of a voice and you don’t know who they are.

While running with our cat you crash into the actual walls and they begin to break down and you begin to see the outside world. You feel a sense of relief that you aren’t being watched anymore. You decide to keep the cat and make your escape to freedom. You soon get lost in a forest that seems to be never ending and you are unsure of where to go next.

You walk forward and suddenly everything goes black and you wake up to our mom explaining the dream.

She says, “Oh we need to take you to Dr. Smith immediately.”

If you decide to go see the doctor, write your own ending.

If you decide to relax at home,, write your own ending.

6

(start again at page 1)

When you run into the forest you get caught by the owner of the house and put into a prison cell.

The owner of the house is a witch and she puts you in a cage. It is a magic cage that floats. The witch wants you to drink a potion. You are floating in it and trying to get out, but you hit the side because it is invisible. You find the key in a piece of bread that the witch gives you.

You have the key to the cage, but you still can’t see the lock. The witch brings two purple potions in, one that makes you fall asleep and one that reveals the cage. The witch gives you the potion to fall asleep, but you switch it with the potion to reveal the cage. The witch drinks the sleeping potion, and it puts her to sleep for an hour. You take the potion, which tastes like grape soda, that reveals the lock.

If you decide to search around the witch for a way out,

write your own ending.

If you decide to explore the house more, write your own ending.

7

(start again at page 1)

inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

Our writing and tutoring programs uphold a culture of creativity and imagination and support students in establishing strong habits of mind. Through publication and community engagement, we provide students with an authentic and enthusiastic audience for their writing.

Our programs provide an energizing creative outlet for students and meaningful volunteer opportunities for community members. We believe that with one-onone attention from caring adults, students improve their academic performance, develop a sense of belonging, and discover the unique value of their voices.

We also believe that the more fun a student has, and the more directly we speak to a student’s interests, the more we can help students find the fun in learning.

That’s why our programs are more than just extra homework. All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their individual voice.

ONLINE LEARNING LAB In the spring of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly transitioned all of our programs online. Our priority is to ensure the safety of our community, while continuing to offer engaging, high-quality opportunities to students. Each of our main programs—Schoolwork Support, Workshops, Field Trips, and In-school Projects—has been reimagined for the virtual space as part of our new Online Learning Lab. For the 2020–21 school year, our programs will remain virtual.

When is it safe to return to our in-person programs, we plan to continue to offer virtual program opportunities as well!

SCHOOLWORK SUPPORT The program formerly-known as tutoring has been given an updated name, but the same great foundations remain. We organize trained volunteer tutors to work with students one-on-one with their homework after school. Schoolwork Support is available for all subjects, for students ages 8–18. Generally, we offer this program at three locations: at our Liberty Street Lab in Ann Arbor, at the Michigan Avenue Branch of the Ypsilanti District Library, and at our Winder Street Lab in Detroit’s Eastern Market, though in-person programs are on pause this year. We have added a Virtual Schoolwork Support program. Students are paired with two tutors to work on assignments for school and writing projects of their choosing.

WORKSHOPS We offer a number of free workshops taught by professional artists, writers, and our talented volunteers. From comic books to screenplays, bookmaking to radio, our wide variety of workshops are perfect for writers of all ages and interests.

One of the most popular workshops we offer is our weekly Wee-bots program for elementary-aged writers.

IN-SCHOOL PROJECTS Our trained volunteers go into local public schools every day to support teachers with their classroom writing assignments. Based on the teacher’s curriculum, assignments range from writing tales to crafting college essays to exploring poetry.

In addition, we hold regular Writers Clubs, in which small groups of students are able to work on a writing project over the course of a semester, culminating in a publication. We also partner with schools to hold Family Writing Labs: laughterfilled events in which families to come together and participate in an evening of engaging writing activities and community connection.

FIELD TRIPS Always full of surprises and theatrics (and usually a visit from our crotchety editor, Dr. Blotch), our Field Trip program is an experiential writing extravaganza. We welcome teachers to bring their classes in for field trips during the school day.

Students join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff to help solve a problem through writing—whether that is Dr. Blotch’s insomnia, our looming story deadline, a mystery in need of solving, or one of the many others we encounter. Our field trips always end in a finished publication of original writing that students take home. Often the field trip writing is connected to a second leg of the students’ journey, whether a trip to a museum, library, or local record label, thanks to our many incredible community partners.

OUR STORES Our Robot Supply Co. stores are one-stop shops for robots, robot owners, and enthusiasts alike. They are designed to inspire creativity and bring awareness of our programs to the community. When it is safe to do so again, come visit the Ann Arbor Robot Supply Co. at 115 East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor and the Detroit Robot Supply Co. at 1351 Winder Street in Eastern Market in Detroit. In the meantime, please visit the Robot Supply Co. at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our stores directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!

WRITING IS

A way to figure things out by ourselves

We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking)

A way to help us connect to our world

We study the writing we want to do so we can try it We learn how to change our writing for genre, audience, and purpose

A way to help us learn who we are and who we will become

We work with a group of writers who help and support each other

A way for us to use our power to make changes and build a better world

www.826michigan.org

826 National was inspired to take a stand on issues of inclusion and diversity in light of the many events that spotlighted social and racial injustices throughout the country. We as educators, volunteers, and caring adults need to be aware of the wide range of issues our students face on a day-to-day basis. We need to support these young people as they navigate through and try to make sense of the world and their own identities.

We need the support and the feedback from our community to ensure 826 is living up to these standards.

Through our inclusion statement, our internal diversity and inclusion group, cultural competency resources provided to staff and volunteers, and partnerships with other organizations, we are always working towards being a more inclusive and supportive organization.

We at 826 have the privilege of working with the next generation of scholars, teachers, doctors, artists, lawyers, and writers. It's our job to make sure they are able to take their own stands.

As an organization committed to encouraging youth in their creative expression, personal growth, and academic success, 826 National and its chapters recognize the importance of diversity at all levels and in all aspects of our work. In order to build and maintain the safe, supportive 826 environment in which great leaps in learning happen, we commit ourselves to inclusion: we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, military service, or disability.

The 826 National network is committed to encouraging youth to express themselves and to use the written word to effectively do so. We encourage our students to write, take chances, make decisions, and finish what they start.

And 826 strives to do this in an environment free from discrimination and exclusion.

by Gerald Richards, CEO

826michigan inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

Find out more at 826michigan.org!