7
Г
Could she not tell the difference between me
and the doll?
Then, something happened.
The doll exploded, and the pieces of bamboo
flew into Bethany.
Blood splattered everywhere. Bethany
screamed, trying to throw it away. But the
doll was stuck to her.
Finally, Bethany vanished, and a paper doll
stood there.
I passed out.
you
When I woke up, I was in my bed.
My parents, brother, Chad, and my friends
were in the room. They all looked relieved.
“Riley, you’re awake!”
“You scared us so much! Why would you go on a diet?”
“Don’t ever do that again!”
I looked at them, confused. Seeing that they
were back to normal, tears streamed down
my face.
They got worried and asked if I was okay.
I shook my head and asked, “What about
Did he help you?”
They looked at each other.
Chad touched my forehead. “Maybe we should take her to the hospital.”
I slapped his hand away. “I’m not sick!”
“I just want to know what happened to Bethany? Where’s that old man?”
My brother gave me a weird look. “Why are
you so worried about Bethany?
“She died a long time ago. She’s been dead!”
I was shocked. “What?”
She was just using voodoo magic to turn
everyone against me! How could she be
dead?
My dad sighed. “Bethany has been dead for a while.”
“She couldn’t handle the pressure. She lost it, murdered Carol and Bob.
“Before the cops could get her, she killed herself.
My mom said, “Honey, are you okay?”
“What are you talking about?”
I frowned and explained about the old man.
Mom rolled her eyes. “We never told your
anything like that!
“You watch too many scary movies. You’re
always making things up.”
Was I just dreaming?
To find out, I made Chad take me to the
funeral home.
It looked abandoned.
Chad said, “They were getting ready to tear
this down.”
Before he could finish, I said, “Take me to
their graves!”
Chad took me to the cemetery.
He said, “I thought you didn’t have any
“Someone’s been here.‘
There was a paper doll kneeling there, like it
was asking for forgiveness.
My heart pounded.
I knew that my memories were real.
My family’s memories had been changed!
Who could do that?
The old man.
Then, an old caretaker walked over.
It was the old man!
Г
I walked over to him, and he smiled.
“You’re safe now.”
“I had to hit you with that truck. I was helping you!”
“You can forget all of this.”
“I did what I had to do. If it’s meant to be, we’ll meet again!”
I took a deep breath and said, “Thank you.”
I was crying.
www
Chad thought the caretaker had said
something mean and started to get angry.
く
I was crying.
Chad thought the caretaker had said
something mean and started to get angry.
I pulled him away and said, “Do you believe that some people are just meant to be lucky?”
Chad nodded. “Of course! To me, you’ve always been lucky.
I smiled, and looked out the window, happier
than I’d ever been.
Whether I was lucky or not, I was going to
make the most of my life.
