Chapter 1 Happy Death Day Stan was very late for dinner He began to run The shortest way home was through Hilltop Cemetery I promised I would be on time Stan thought He ran up one hill and down another He would be at least 30 minutes late Stan could see his house in the distance He crossed a grave site tripped and fell down hard Stan pushed himself up In front of his face was an old gravestone It said 6
RANDALL FORTIN Stan stood and brushed some dirt from his jeans Then he looked closer at the gravestone Randall Fortin had died on September 24 That’s today Stan thought One hundred years ago Exactly Happy birthday Stan said with a laugh I mean happy death day Then he started walking down the hill toward home How dare you laugh at me cried a scratchy voice Stan stopped walking The voice sounded old and mean It gave him a chill There was no one in sight But the voice had been close by Who’s there Stan asked The voice spoke again Stay off of my grave Wyman I’m not Wyman Stan said I’m Stan Summer He turned around still looking 7
for the person who was speaking But Stan didn’t see anyone Stan pointed to a group of gravestones about fty yards away The Wyman graves are over there he said And that’s where you Wymans should stay the voice said Stop bothering us You don’t belong over here I’m not bothering anyone Stan said He waved his hand toward his house I live right over there You stomped on my grave the voice said I fell Stan said He took a step back Was he speaking to Randall Fortin I didn’t mean to stomp on your grave I tripped over something I was late We’re all late the voice said You have no reason to be over here Go back to the Wymans And stay there Stan was scared but he laughed Why would he stay by the Wymans He decided 8
to walk over to the Wyman graves and take a look He was already late for dinner A few more minutes wouldn’t matter Stan circled around an overgrown area of bushes and weeds There were no gravestones there The Wyman family plot was about the size of one of Stan’s sixth grade classrooms at school It had a low rusted iron fence Stan stepped through the open gate Tall thick trees surrounded the site There were about two dozen Wyman gravestones Most were big blocks of granite A few were much smaller Stan could tell from the birth and death dates that the smaller ones were for children The gravestones were cracked Lichen and moss covered some of them In the center of the plot stood a taller monument It listed several Wyman family members All had been dead for more than a hundred years 9
