The eerie woods around Stockanta, Minnesota had always been quiet. But in the clearing stood a crooked cabin no one claimed to live in. It was rumored that if you went there at midnight, said a name belonging to a historical figure, and knocked on the wall three times, the ghost of that historical person would appear in front of you. Everyone said that the rumor was true but no one dared to enter the cabin since everyone in Stockanta were afraid of ghosts and spirits. But many children wanted to visit that mysterious cabin since they thought ghosts and spirits were supercool. And one of those children was a twelve-year-old girl named Haily Salonen.
Hailey Salonen pressed her hand against the cabin’s door. It groaned like an old man, and the smell of pine and smoke spilled out. She closed the door, knocked on the walls three times and then she said with a loud voice:
“Ray Douglas Bradbury, Ray Douglas Bradbury, Ray Douglas Bradbury”. Haily chanted while closing her eyes.
The wooden walls trembled as if the cabin itself had taken a deep breath. The air grew colder, and a thin silver mist curled up from the floorboards. Hailey watched as the mist thickened, rising higher until it gathered into the shape of a tall man with kind eyes behind round glasses. His suit looked woven from starlight and old paper, and when he spoke, his voice rustled like turning pages.
“Woooow, coooool!” Hailey exclaimed in astonishment.
“Good evening Hailey Salonen,” the ghost said gently. ”You’ve called me from a long way off.”
“Are…are…are you the real Ray Douglas Bradbury? Are you the mind behind my favorite dark-fantasy novel “Something Wicked This Way Comes”? Hailey gasped.
The ghost nodded in agreement.
“Yup, that’s me!” the ghost answered. “I'm the mind behind that novel, and I gotta say, it was a lot of fun to write" Something Wicked This Way Comes, and by the way, Mr. Bradbury, I’m Finnish-American, my ancestors from Helsinki originally!” she added, proud of her Scandinavian roots.
Ray Bradbury’s ghost smiled warmly. “That’s wonderful, Hailey! It’s always nice to meet readers from all kinds of backgrounds.”
“You really are the guy who wrote that fabulous dark fantasy-story Something Wicked This Way!” Hailey gasped. “THAT'S AAAAWESOME!!! Mr. Bradbury, I'm workin’ on an essay about you for a school project, mind if I ask you some questions? It would really mean a lot to me”, Hailey asked.
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“Sure thing kiddo!” Ray answered. “Feel free to ask me whatever you want!”.
Hailey stuck her hands in her pocket and picked up a small notebook and pencil.
“Alright Mr. Bradbury, here comes the first question, when were you born and what town is your hometown?"
“I was born in 1922 and my hometown was Waukegan, Illinois, my mother Esther Bradbury was a Swedish immigrant and my father Leonard Spaulding Bradbury was an english immigrant”, I was given the middle name “Douglas” after the famous actor “Douglas Fairbanks”.
Hailey jotted down everything Ray Bradbury just said in her notebook.
“Coooool! What a funny coincidence, my cousins live in Waukegan, Illinois!” Hailey said. “Alright, onto the next question, what inspired you to write “Something Wicked This Way Comes”?.
“I wrote a short story in the 1940s called “The Black Ferris Wheel”, it's about a magical ferris wheel that can alter your age, then I adapted that premise for my 1960s dark fantasy novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, but instead of an age-altering ferris wheel, it's an age-altering carousel, I was also inspired by my huge fascination with carnivals", Ray answered.
Hailey lifted her pencil and jotted down everything Ray Bradbury just said. She had no idea that Ray Bradbury's famous dark fantasy novel was born from a short story he'd written in the 1940's, that's super duper coooool!
“Oh man, I really need to read that short story! The Black Ferris Wheel sounds like my type of short story!”, Hailey exclaimed.
Ray Bradbury made a hand gesture and all of sudden, he'd conjured a copy of The Black Ferris Wheel which he gave to Haily.
“There you go kiddo, I hope you enjoy it!” Ray said with a friendly smile.
“OH MAN, OH MAN, OH MAAAAN!!!!” Haily screamed. “THANK YOU, THANK YOU MR. BRADBURY, I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN AND I'M ALSO YOUR MOST GRATEFUL FAN!!!”
“I hope you'll have a nice time reading it!” Ray said cheerfully.
“I'm gonna read it ten thousand times!" Hailey said and kissed the papers she held in her hands.
“Kid, do you have any more questions in mind?” Bradbury said.
“Have you written any other books that have become as famous as Something Wicked This Way Comes?” Hailey asked.
“Well, I've written the 1953 dystopian novel “Fahrenheit 451”, I've also written the short story collection “Dandelion Wine, Dandelion Wine is set in Green Town, Illinois, Dandelion Wine is set in the summer of 1928 and the small town Green Town was based on my hometown Waukegan by the way”, Ray answered.
Hailey jotted down everything Ray Bradbury just said in her notebook.
“When was Dandelion Wine published?” Hailey asked.
“In 1957” Ray answered. “Green Town, by the way, is also featured in Something Wicked This Way Comes, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway live in Green Town, did you know that Salonen?”.
“‘Course I knew that, but I had no idea that Green Town was featured in Dandelion Wine”, Hailey answered.
Hailey took a deep breath.
“‘Aight, onto the final question, have you always lived in Illinois?”
“No, me and my family lived in Tucson, Arizona during the years 1926 - 1927 and 1932 - 1933, while living in Tucson, I attended Amphi Junior High School and Roskruge Junior High School, me and my family moved to Los Angeles, L. A., in 1934 when I was 14 years old”.
Hailey jotted down everything Ray Bradbury just said in her notebook.
“Now it’s time for a bonus question, do you love reading?”, Haily asked out of curiosity.
Ray laughed.
“I LOVE READING BOOKS!” Ray exclaimed. “In my youth, I read the literary works of Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and the short stories written by good ol’ Edgar Allan Poe, I also loved to read the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, I spent a lot of time in the Carnegie Library located in my hometown”, Ray answered.
Hailey smiled.
“Bradbury, it was a pleasure to meet ya and it was a pleasure to ask ya these questions, now my essay will be the best essay ever written in all of Minnesota, and maybe the best essay written in all of the Midwest!” Hailey said and shook hands with the ghost of Ray Bradbury.
“It was a pleasure to meet you too”, Ray answered. “Good luck with your school project!”
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The next day at school, Hailey walked into her classroom with a spring in her step, clutching her notebook full of all the notes she had taken from her magical midnight encounter. Her classmates leaned over their desks, curious.
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“Hailey, what’s in that notebook?” one of them asked.
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With a wide grin, Hailey began to read aloud, recounting her nighttime adventure in the crooked cabin and the incredible interview with the ghost of Ray Bradbury. She described the shimmering silver mist, his starlit suit, and even the copy of The Black Ferris Wheel he had given her. Every eye in the room widened in amazement.
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When she finished, her teacher, Mrs. Rylee Lindstrom, clapped slowly. “Hailey… that is the most creative, detailed, and impressive essay I have ever read. You didn’t just write about Ray Bradbury, you brought him to life! Well done young lady, I'm so, so proud of you!”
Hailey's best friend, Cara Schneider, leaned over with wide eyes. “Hailey… you didn’t just do your homework, you actually met a ghost! That’s insane! I’m so jealous!”
The other students buzzed with excitement, asking Hailey questions about the encounter and begging to borrow the notes to see the details themselves. Some of them even started daydreaming about visiting the mysterious cabin in Stockanta. Hailey smiled, proud and a little giddy. “I guess some ghosts are cooler than we thought,” she said.
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From that day on, Hailey’s essay became legendary in their school. It wasn’t just an assignment, it was a story that reminded everyone that sometimes, magic really does exist… if you’re brave enough to knock on the right door at midnight74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTAxqZ3cnh
and then Add to home screen.