Shadows dancing on the tent wall,

like dark, mysterious monsters

who will jump out at you any minute!

The flames from the campfire

glow and flicker like fireworks.

While spooky stories are told.

Stories told about ghosts,

werewolves,

witches, and vampires.

Around us,

trees move and start to look like human beings,

their branches swaying in the wind like giant

hands.

Some people dress up as demons and ghosts

to try to frighten their friends.

You hear the screams of terror from the tents

where other frightened children sleep.

Everything becomes scary.

Marshmallows being toasted look like the faces

of an angry ghoul,

the owls hooting become the melancholy call of

a ghost,

stars became glowing bugs,

waiting to land on us and bite us so we will die,

the moon becomes a face that is going to eat me

up!

Suddenly the teacher comes,

“Go to Bed” he shouts.

“All that silly talk will give you nightmares!”

We all scurry into our tents

and jump into our sleeping bags.

We pretend we are all asleep

and the teacher goes into his tent

thinking that he’s calmed everything down.

But suddenly the tent springs to life,

the ghost stories continue.

stories about ghouls, magicians, and skeletons.

I can tell that all my friends are getting scared

by their voices which are like a soft moan.

I feel safe inside my warm, sleeping bag

everyone is getting tired.

I can tell by the expressions on their faces,

Finally, one by one we all fall asleep.

I dream of lovely things like rainbows,

unicorns, fairies, strawberries and ice cream,

puppies and kittens and most of all,

the joy of going home the next day!