Haunted States of America: Curse of the Dead-Eyed Doll
grumbled spooning up a much smaller portion of his breakfast Al had thought his brother and dad might ease up on him a bit once he became a teenager But after turning thirteen over three months ago he realized that wasn’t going to happen Your history paper Dad began Is it finished No Mrs Crowley changed the due date to Friday HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA
Al replied She forgot we’ve got that field trip today I’ll work on it tonight after school no sweat Marco brought his empty dish to the sink He drank the last of his orange juice and rinsed the glass out Field trip Marco asked Where are you guys going Al shrugged Some fort museum or something Marco nodded and smirked The Fort East Martello Museum he said We went there when I was a kid too Al snorted then mumbled You’re sixteen years old not thirty Marco ignored him Al asked Is it any good Marco shrugged It’s okay I guess They have a little bit of everything there A bunch of Civil War antiques and some guy’s art he made out of junk Well that sounds great Al said failing to muster up excitement Actually Al didn’t care where they were going The museum could be filled with pencil shavings for all he cared He was just happy to get out of school for a good chunk of the day Oh there’s one other thing Marco said leaning leaning against the kitchen counter They’ve got this CURSE OF THE DEAD-EYED DOLL
weird-looking doll there It’s supposed to be haunted or cursed Cursed Yeah Marco replied They make a pretty big deal about it I bet it’s the only reason people go there That’s absurd their dad said waving his hand at Marco Complete nonsense Al couldn’t help but smile He liked seeing his dad get worked up You don’t believe in that stuff Dad Al asked Ghosts and haunted toys That’s for the movies he responded finishing his toast The idiots who believe in that stuff are as empty-headed as those dolls Al couldn’t agree more There were tons of TV shows about people running around in the dark looking for ghosts Those shows seemed totally fake to him yet they were pretty popular among his friends at school Guess they’re idiots too Al thought According to my dad at least Like I said Marco replied They’ve got a little bit of everything After stealing one more handful of cereal from the box still sitting on the table Al grabbed his backpack and skateboard HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA
Have a good time at the doll museum Dad said waving Al over for a hug Al let his dad wrap his arms around him and clap him on the back Thanks Dad he said his voice muffled by the hug And as soon as you get home tonight History paper Al said I know I know A little before 9 30 a m a school bus packed with sixty eighth-graders pulled into the parking lot of the Fort East Martello Museum Al studied the brick building as the bus slowed down in front of it Next to him Al’s friend Selma peered over his shoulder Al’s family had passed the fort countless times driving driving on Highway A1A but he’d never paid much attention to it There was an old bell in front of the building along with a giant black boat anchor that was partially buried buried in the rocks Next to the sidewalk leading into the museum was a flagpole with an American flag hoisted to the top A sign to the right of the building announced what the eighth-grade students of Gulf View Middle School could expect inside CURSE OF THE DEAD-EYED DOLL
