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Chapter 1 You should ve seen your face! cried Jack, rolling on the floor with laughter. Laugh all you want man, this isn t funny, said his best friend Kevin, egg streaking down his face. Come on Kev it s just a joke. Boys, do you want some lunch? Kevin s mum asked out of nowhere. Can I have a shower first? Kevin called back. Just now the two boys had come back from another day at school, to hang out at Kevin s house. A bit later, Jack had secretly raided the fridge to take a dozen or so eggs, before playing hide and seek. Kevin didn t have great reactions, so just as he opened the door to the kitchen. Splat! His face got covered with egg. Yum, fish and chips, exclaimed Jack. My favourite! A monstrous fish, with a bucket load of chips stood towering before him. Do you want some salt? Jack asked Kevin. Yes, the chips are so tasteless As Kevin put a chip into his mouth, a malicious grin spread on Jack s face, whilst a look of disgust was on the other s. He spat out the chip, stood up and exclaimed, I ve had enough! He stormed up to his room, cursing Jack in the process. Kevin logged onto his computer, browsed something on the internet, clicked the send button and laughed an incomprehensible laugh... 1
The next day, he woke up still in his pyjamas, pounded down the stairs two at a time, opened the mail box and got out a package the size of one s hand wrapped in acid green foil. He greedily tore the paper off, like a kid at Christmas and found a joke kit bearing the title: your friends will remember this for the rest of their lives! Oh, they will, agreed Kevin. They will. That afternoon, when Kevin and Jack were walking back home from school Kevin stopped and took a small box out of his satchel; the joke kit. In it was a furry toy spider, with eight ugly eyes and a fat abdomen. He gently placed the hideous creature on Jack s shoulder; however Jack didn t budge, thus Kevin asked him, What s that on your shoulder? Jack casually picked up the decoy, dropped it and continued walking unperturbed. Suddenly Kevin noticed the spider s legs twitch; then its pincers click, and its creepy eight eyes turn blood red! Jack look, it s alive! Jack turned and surveyed the arachnid. It s as dead as my great-grandmother. In fact it did lie still on the craggy pavement. But...but it moved, I swear! Yeah, right, said Jack sarcastically. Come on Kev, let s go home. Kevin looked back but the thing was nowhere in sight. Then they both began marching back home; though Kevin did so reluctantly. 2
The day after, Kevin decided to try another trick but this time at school. During the English lesson which was taught by a loud, bulky man named Mr. Grant, Kevin took out a see-through plastic sticker with a few dark lines that when placed on a glass surface was meant to represent a glass crack. As if on cue Mr. Grant s phone buzzed and he excused himself outside to pick it up. Taking advantage of the moment, Kevin ran to the window, gently placing the sticker on the pane. Satisfied that the adhesive was in place he ran back to his chair and started working out a particularly tricky exercise. Suddenly everyone heard the crescendo of the glass shattering, showering the fragments all over the floor! Unfortunately, Mr. Grant, also hearing the disturbance, ran back to the classroom and when he saw what had happened he demanded to know who had done it! Immediately all eyes fell on Kevin who innocently said, What? That night, after a horrible detention spent writing lines, Kevin lay awake thinking about the incident of that morning. How is that possible, he muttered to himself. Windows don t shatter by themselves and spiders certainly do not come alive! I m going to try one more trick tomorrow, but that s it! And with that thought he fell asleep. The following morning, before breakfast, Kevin dressed and rummaged underneath his bed for his set. He dramatically took out a novelty plaster with a nail that when put on a finger was supposed to look as if you ve had an injury. He meant to scare his mum, for he knew that she freaked out whenever he hurt himself. 3
As he was descending the stairs, a sharp pain struck him in his index finger. He glanced down and to his utmost horror saw the rusty nail penetrating his finger, drilling a hole straight through the joint, dripping blood, staining the fluffy carpet his mum had bought in the shop across the street... 4
Chapter 2 The next few hours passed like a blur. Kevin s mum screeched all the way to the hospital. Then the doctor; a man named Mr. Green examined Kevin s fresh wound, whilst putting on a bandage that had a medical scent to it. And finally coming back to the scene of the crime. After the voyage, Kevin staggered upstairs with a mission to throw out the cursed kit that was meant to scare his mates, but instead ended up tormenting him. He found the wooden box and just as he was going to tear it apart, the kit turned sizzling hot. Hot enough to make Kevin drop it. What the! he cried out loud. Quickly improvising, he took out a mallet, which he normally used for woodwork, with a thought to smash that dratted thing to pieces. Exactly as he was about to bring the hammer down, the box jerked away, leaving him startled, looking at the paranormal activity. Before he could gather his strength back, the kit s bottom opened, showering the floor with toys like cards, dice, a rope as well as many others, before it smoothly glided out the window. But Kevin, quick too darted after it, launching himself into the air with his arms extended like a professional goalie, missing it by inches, then landing on the floor with a thud! He pulled himself up by the window ledge and looked down, however the box was nowhere in sight. That night the boy couldn t fall asleep, no matter how hard he tried. Every minute seemed like an eternity and every half an hour he would sit up his mind buzzing with questions. Finally at one o clock, when he 5
couldn t take it anymore, Kevin went to his computer, googled the phrase: haunted prank kit and waited a bit for the pages to load. The first few pages of results didn t show anything, but at the eleventh Kevin found a nineteenth century article about the shocking mystery that wove its way into this world. The local Herald, 14 th April 1866 Police constables in Winston are baffled by the extraordinary claims of the villagers. I ve never seen anything quite like it, says Mr. Smith, aged 48. One minute I m sipping my tea, the next this weird box comes flying in one window and out the other! Mr. Thompson, aged 35, claims to have witnessed a black spider as well as a plaster, sticking out of the magical case when it flew into his house too. The man who had originally seen the wooden box is currently at the local psychiatric ward at St. Elmo Street following his insist that when he had visited the graveyard he had seen the box levitate out of an old Captain s crypt, which then zoomed out between the man s legs. The police force immediately inspected the tomb, however nothing out of the ordinary was found except for a mystical phrase: Moja klątwa przyjdzie w roku dwa tysiące szesnaście. Żeby zamknąć ją ponownie, trzeba te rzeczy włożyć do drewnianego pojemnika w pełni księżyca. Nobody has yet deciphered the foreign language the riddle is written in. Journalist: Mr. Nicholls 6
Chapter 3 Kevin couldn t continue the search that night for his eyelids closed by themselves. However the next day, as soon as he got up the boy typed in the phrase into a translator. The screen displayed the confounding conundrum in English. My curse will befall thee in the year two thousand and sixteen. To cease it, one must return the things to their wooden box when the full moon rises... Kevin slowly digested the riddle. After a few minutes he came to the conclusion that to end it once and for all, he must get all the jokes and put them back into the horrid kit under the full moon that illuminated the sky tomorrow! He grabbed his phone and dialled his friend s number, Can you come, quickly? An hour later Jack stood in front of Kevin s house dressed in a pair of jeans and a dark, monotonic hoodie making him look like a classic thief. You know we re not going to be stealing anything, said Kevin. Jack just shrugged and asked, so what is it that you want to do? Has it got to do with that? He was pointing at Kevin s injured, bandaged hand. Well, err, not really, Kevin said. Jack raised an eyebrow. Fine, fine it is. But I know what to do, he added seeing the look on his friend s face. Then he launched himself into a detailed explanation of what had happened to the box, where did it come from and of the dead captain s message. Jack stood up, eagerly asking. So what are we waiting for? Whoa, whoa, it s not that simple, Kevin cut him off. It s true, I did prepare a net to catch that flying box, and I do have all of the jokes prepared. 7
I feel a but coming up, Jack interrupted. His friend continued, But I, err, left the bloody plaster at the hospital. You what! Don t worry! It s in a zip lock bag on the doctor s desk. We can just pop in, grab it and scram. But you said we aren t stealing anything! Kevin stood up getting his jacket, well, I might ve skipped one minor detail. Like always, sighed Jack, following him out the house. After a rather short ride on the local bus, Kevin and Jack stopped at the hospital which was one of the most magnificent in the whole country. Granite plates covered the building, dark blue windows peppered the walls and a tremendous fountain dominated the entrance hall. We re looking for Dr. Green s office, Kevin asked the receptionist. First corridor, second door to the left, replied the lady, puzzled at seeing two boys looking for the doctor. The two friends hurried along to find the door bearing a golden plaque: Dr. Green. Jack slowly opened the door, peeping to see whether there was anybody inside. When satisfied, he signalled for Kevin to come join him and they both entered the office. Beakers and test tubes of every colour lined the shelves, a stained lab coat hung from a hook on the wall, multiple pieces of paper with undecipherable handwriting were scattered on the desk and amongst them rested Kevin s bloody plaster, carefully preserved in its plastic bag. Ugh, croaked Jack. That s a lot of red! I know, but y... A loud bang cut him off. The boys quickly hid the bag behind their backs. They slowly turned their heads and to their horror someone was standing in the doorway: Dr. Green! 8
Hello young lads, his voice sounded cheerful at first but then turned serious. I know what you re up to! Their faces turned pale. Y...yes? stammered Jack. You must ve come to ask me for how long do you need to keep the bandage on. Correct? Yeah, err, that s right, replied Kevin, relieved. Well, I suppose for maybe another fortnight? Yes, yes, for a fortnight. Thank you doctor, they chorused, heading for the door. You re welcome boys, replied the man, grinning to himself for no apparent reason... 9
Chapter 4 The following day the duo decided to meet in front of Kevin s house (again) at 10 o clock. Two hours before midnight. Why do I have to come? asked Jack, annoyed at Kevin s idea. Because you re my best friend, replied the other, hauling a bag with the jokes as well as a large net. Besides we still have to find and capture that ruthless wooden box, otherwise it won t work. But how do we find it? Well that s why I ve brought this net. Methinks we ll find it when we put all the things outside at midnight, however we have to do it alone, explained Kevin. Now hold this net, or my arms will drop off. Jack muttered a word that his mum didn t know he knew, then grabbed the long pole and scampered after Kevin who felt something nagging him, although he couldn t quite put his finger on it, at the time. Finally they came to an empty field. An owl hooted lonelily, a frog was croaking in some corner and a few crickets were buzzing. Other than that it was quiet. The two boys laid the tricks carefully on a bed of straw, so as not to wet them, and prepared the net. For in ten minutes the witching hour began and all hell would break loose. As they were about to find out. The minutes passed by ever so slowly in silence for there wasn t much to say. Then at last, at the stroke of midnight the box came flying above their heads, circling around them like a hungry vulture waiting for its prey. Suddenly a loud swoosh filled the air as Jack swung the tremendous net capturing the ferocious beast in its wake. The boy lowered the net gently for Kevin, who began throwing all the things 10
frantically into its belly. In came the plaster, a packet of cards, a die along with many others. As soon as he had finished his task, the boy clasped the thing shut, hoping that it would disappear forever but it didn t do that. Instead an orb of white light started forming, emerging from the box, seeming to engulf everything and everyone around it. As quickly as it had come, it diminished. The next event that happened stunned both friends. As if on replay, an acid green paper that came out of nowhere wrapped itself around the parcel. Exactly the same that Kevin had teared those few days ago! Then, as if by magic, four hairy, green tendrils erupted from the ground, curling themselves around the package. The kit seemed unwilling to go, but the power of the plants was too great. The shoots dragged it down, opening a massive hole behind them. The box was being buried in the soil, like a man drowning, deep, deep into the bowels of the earth, where such a cursed relic belonged. The friends stared wide-eyed at the spectacle before them, which had only left a patch of black grass. Nothing else. Then after a few moments of silence, Kevin rejoiced, We did it! We did? exclaimed Jack, still not believing what he had seen. Of course! We ve saved the town. Probably the whole world! Well, what do we do now? Now, said Kevin thoughtfully. We go home. However on the way back he still felt something troubling him... 11
Chapter 5 The day after their wondrous feat, the boys threw a party at Kevin s house. Man, I d do anything just to eat this, said Jack, munching happily on a pepperoni pizza. I already feel good about saving the world, but this just tops it off Yeah, the other said, waving a marshmallow. Mum is slightly puzzled at why we re having a party, but hey. When the party finished, Kevin bid Jack a farewell, turned back and started doing the never ending task of cleaning up. Finally when he finished, Kevin went up to bed and thought about the events of the previous day once more. Soon he drifted off to sleep, but not for long; an hour later he woke up due to an abrupt sound. Suddenly something long and furry tickled him on the shoulder. He glanced down and screamed. Screamed the most horrible, high-pitched scream you can imagine! Now he knew what kept bugging him last night. He had forgotten the most malicious, hideous thing out there. The spider! 12