All Grown Up

Timmy and Orville lived in the town of Hatfield, somewhere in the Appalachians. They were both eleven years old, lived across the street from each other, and did everything together. Nearby was an old abandoned mill where they sometimes went exploring after dinner, although their parents forbade it. The place hadn't been in use for over a hundred and fifty years and the timbers were rotting and it was overrun with weeds and strange creatures whose eyes gleamed in their flashlights. Timmy and Orville would dare each other to climb up and knock things over, and also played hide and seek. No one else frequented the place or seemed to know it was there. So it was not a problem that evening when they snuck a cigarette from Orville's father and some matches to light it with. They hurried excitedly to their hideout and went inside to have a 'smoke'. This would make them feel all grown up, they were sure.

Timmy took the cigarette and a match and lit it, puffing carefully at the tip. At his first breath of it he began to cough uncontrollably. Orville got jealous and took a 'hit' himself, with the same results. So there they were, all grown up and coughing like they had just inhaled dirty jello. In fact, they coughed so hard and loud that they awoke the skeleton ghost that lived in the cellar. The ghostly skull looked around angrily, and then realized where the disturbance was coming from. Children! He (the ghost) disliked children intensely. Kids were thoughtless and rude and dirty, in his opinion. H bared his fangs, growled low, and slowly began to stalk the noisy intruders.

In the dim twilight, Timmy saw it first, floating in midair: a bleached-bone skeleton with eye sockets that glowed a dull red, and patches of skin like parchment stretched over parts of its wasted body. Timmy shrieked and ran towards the door, dropping the cigarette on the floor. Orville turned and looked, saw the ghastly apparition and followed on Timmy's heels. They ran in terror without looking back until they were home. Both vowed to never go there again.