Phil and the Ghost of Camp Ch-Yo-Ca by John Luke Robertson Page B

Wander off and disappear. Stay up really late. They were on the verge of sending him home. But Zodie told them not to   —that he’d really try harder to get through to the rebellious kid.
    “One night, while everybody was asleep, a fire started in cabin six. Zodie got all the kids out of the cabin   —or so he thought.”
    John Luke sticks a branch in the fire to move some of the red-hot logs around. The flames seem to go higher as he speaks again.
    “With the cabin blazing in front of them, Zodie Simscounts all the kids standing by him and realizes one is missing. He knows exactly who it is. So without even thinking, he darts back into the burning cabin.”
    John Luke pauses and stares at you. Then, in a slow, sad tone, he says, “Zodie Sims is never seen again. Neither is Parker.”
    “Well, that’s not the happiest story I’ve ever heard.”
    “Ever since that fateful night, people have reported seeing Zodie Sims around the camp. Not haunting them, but looking for Parker. But the kid is nowhere to be found. The cycle never ends. Zodie keeps searching for Parker, trying to save him, but he never turns up.”
    “So Zodie Sims is sorta like Casper the friendly ghost.”
    “Yes,” John Luke says. “He’s not a malicious ghost.”
    “You’ve had some good fellowship with him, have you?” You have to smile.
    “Zodie Sims is real,” John Luke says in a serious voice that breaks into a laugh. “That’s what I try to tell everybody, anyway. The kids love the story. There’s a Zodie Sims Road around here. He shows up there all the time.”
    “I think if I died, I’d give up trying to find out where this bratty little kid happened to be,” you say. “There’d be bigger fish to fry in the afterlife. I’d like to ask God a lot of questions.”
    “Zodie Sims is stuck here, don’t you see? Since he can’t find resolution on what happened to Parker   —did he live or did he die?   —Zodie Sims can’t move on.”
    “So what did happen to Parker?”
    “That’s a good question. One that’s fun to talk and speculate about.”
    “I bet Parker wasn’t even in the cabin.”
    John Luke scratches his head. “A lot of kids who come to camp here think the same thing.”
    The wind blows the fire sideways, and you both get a mouthful of smoke.
    “Maybe we’ll see him tonight,” you say in an eerie voice.
    When you finally decide to go back to the cabin for bed, you discover something strange. Not only strange but a bit unsettling.
    All the mattresses from the bunk beds   —and there are about fifteen of them lined up in the cabin   —are piled on top of each other on one side of the room. The beds have been moved together to allow the mattresses to be stacked like this.
    “What happened here?” you ask.
    “I don’t know.”
    “It wasn’t like this when we put our stuff in here.”
    John Luke nods. He looks a bit pale.
    You let out a sigh. Something’s definitely wrong.

    Do you rearrange the furniture and get into your bunk beds? Go here .
    Do you decide to sleep in another cabin? Go here .

WALKING WITH JOHN LUKE

    “ARE YOU SCARED, JOHN LUKE?” you ask your grandson as you enter the woods.
    “No, sir.”
    “Good. There’s no reason to be.”
    The screaming seems to have stopped for now, but a howl rings out, and it’s not very far away from you.
    “There’s nothing to be frightened of,” you say again. “Someone’s probably playing a   —”
    There’s the howl again, interrupting you. It sounds closer.
    Both of you stop.
    “We should stay together, okay?” you remind him.
    “Okay.”
    You take a few more steps before you hear it again. The joker must be nearby   —unless this is actually a wolf.
    “That was freaky,” John Luke says.
    “It’s fine. Someone’s just messin’ with   —”
    Then you hear something falling in the woods   —lots of things, like rain is pouring down ahead of you   —but sticks and branches are falling, not rain.
    The menacing howl