I stood in the middle of the new exhibit, Pine’s soulshine glowing in my chest. The zig-zagging hall was dim and empty, but I could hear other guests somewhere close by. They must’ve all gone ahead. As I took my first few steps into the dark, a projector spread flickering firelight across the wall, and …
“What I’m about to tell you will be hard to hear.” I recited my confession in the bathroom mirror, trying to imagine Mom’s point of view. In this party dress, with this sad, sorry face, how many years would I ground me? “But I want to start off by saying, I’m okay.” I glanced down …
Last night was too weird to be real. But when I woke up on the couch in the barn with scratches on my legs, greasy skin, and grass in my hair, I knew I’d been through something. I sat up, sore all over, and closed my gummy eyes to search for Pine’s soulshine. Just to …
I sat in my black dress with ruffly cap sleeves, surrounded by sympathy cards and flowers, waiting for Mom to get home from the funeral. I’d had this dream before. And this part, the beginning, was the only part of the nightmare that actually happened in real life. This was the day Mom went to …
I’d made it all the way to Dinosaur Valley. But now, after squeezing under the barbed wire fence that marked the border of the state park, I was having second thoughts about venturing out to meet up with the Black Ghost on my own. Nobody. Just us. Not safe. What was that supposed to mean? …
On my way to the lit-up barn, I crossed a meadow twinkling with lightning bugs, a sleeping bag under one arm and a backpack over my shoulder. You wouldn’t know it looking at my flip flops, athletic shorts, and tank top. But I was psyched up for a secret mission. Tonight, I was going into …
Grandpa used to sing this Lightnin’ Hopkins song called Black Ghost Blues. In it, Lightnin’ is haunted at night by a shadow he calls the Black Ghost, and the entire song is him begging the Ghost to go back where it came from so he can finally get some sleep. As a little kid, I …
The summer I lived on the ranch, Grandpa found newborn mice in the wall. When he’d pulled apart the insulation and uncovered a writhing ball of sealed eyelids, wormy tails, and thin, naked skin, full-body NOPE hit me so hard that I ran out of the barn. Uncovering that nest was about the most disgusting …
“My mother told me to hang out here while she’s working.” Dixon’s voice echoed down the hall and clear to the back of the lab. It sounded like he’d been stopped at the door. “She sent me with keycards.” “We’re busy.” Dr. Jacobs sounded ready to tan his oh-so-special hide. “Now get.” Meanwhile, Nuke sat …
There was no telling how long I’d been soaring circles over miles of evergreen forest and thrashing gray ocean. But it wasn’t until I noticed a long-necked dinosaur towering over the treetops that I realized this couldn’t be real. But it wasn’t a dream, either. More like a memory. Suddenly, over the roar of the …