graveyard He’d always lived right next to Hilltop Cemetery It seemed like part of his yard The cemetery was lled with tall trees and was very peaceful He’d heard lots of scary stories about the place It was haunted by ghosts for example But none had ever bothered him Stan reached the start of the hill He À ashed his light again This side of the hill was clear so he started to climb The oldest graves in the cemetery were at the top of the slope Halfway up he stopped and looked around The red glow looked strange as he got closer It wasn’t like a regular light It was moving slowly Up and down Almost as if it were dancing Stan’s Journal Sunday December 10 8 48 p m Getting closer to the glow Haven’t reached the top of the hill yet Clear night Cool but no wind 8
Stan kept climbing But as he got near the top he slowed down Something wasn’t right He could feel it The glow had changed It wasn’t nearly as bright now He walked as softly as he could Soon he reached the top of the hill He stayed behind some trees and tried to see down the other side of the slope The glow was coming from a ball of light It was about the size of a van and it looked like a patch of fog Except that it was red and glowing and moving The fog swirled It lifted and seemed to À oat It got a little brighter as it moved along the slope It was at least fty yards away Stan took a step forward to see better He stepped on a fallen branch and it broke with a snap At the sound of the snap the fog lost most of its glow Stan could barely see it 9
now It was much smaller and dimmer It had shrunk to about the size of a basketball Stan held his breath Had the glow heard him Was it trying to hide He watched for several minutes The fog grew bright again It began to expand and move Soon it was bouncing near the bottom of the slope Almost like it was dancing again Slowly and quietly Stan took out his notepad Stan’s Journal Sunday December 10 8 55 p m No fire No electric lights No source for the glow that I can see Strange fog It almost seems alive Will try to get a closer look Stan took one very slow step forward The glow stayed the same So he took another step And another His foot crushed a pine cone with a crack The red fog stopped moving 10
Stan felt a chill Was the fog aware that he was watching What is that thing he wondered He waited a moment Then he took another step The glow became much dimmer and smaller Stan reached into his pocket and grabbed his À ashlight He clicked it on but kept the light beam against his chest He watched for a change in the red glow Nothing happened for several minutes Stan lifted the À ashlight and pointed the beam at the glow Instantly the glow became bigger and much brighter It sped up the slope toward Stan Stan turned to run Something was holding him back The fog had reached out with what looked like a bright red hand The hand grabbed Stan Let go Stan yelled He twisted and jumped He managed to get free 11
