Showing results for "Fiction's Present" in Growing Up & Facts of Life

When 12-year-old Adam and his Mom buy an old wardrobe at a local furniture store, an old woman begins to yell at them. She claims that the wardrobe belongs to her, and that they have no right to have it. The store owner shoos away the old woman and apologizes, explaining that "The Witch" has been causing problems and shouting curses at people in the neighborhood for years. Everything seems fine until later that day. When the movers are delivering the wardrobe to Adam's apartment, its door suddenly swings open and The Witch falls out of it—dead!

The game is on at the International TWIST competition! Finalists from around the world have gathered to match wits at the competition's remote lake camp in Ontario, Canada. One night the lead player, Reza Amari, tells a spooky campfire story about a monster and a man who disappears, leaving behind only a set of shrinking footprints in the mud. All the campers love the creepy story and are still talking about it the next morning—until they find out that Reza has vanished! Now it's up to Lola Evans and Mateo Rivera investigate. What happened to Reza?

In search of some summertime spending money, a young boy and his friend agree to paint a neighbor's garage. The neighbor allows the boys to come into her house for drinks and bathroom breaks. There's just one rule: don't let her high-energy, low-obedience puppy, Yorgy, out of the house. Unfortunately, that's exactly what they do!

In 11 Birthdays, Amanda and her best friend, Leo, stopped speaking to each other for a year. What happened when they started talking again led to the adventure of a lifetime. Now they haven't spoken for another year - and the result is even more bizarre. This time it's not just about them. Their friend's little sister, Grace, has fallen into a strange frozen state on her tenth birthday. Amanda and Leo quickly realize that Angelina D'Angelo - the mysterious old woman behind all of the magical happenings in Willow Falls - is involved.

After a lifetime of fighting creatures of black magic, twelve-year-old Serwa Boateng has just learned a devastating secret: she herself is half vampire! Now not only is she dealing with vampire puberty, she's on the run from the organization of Slayers she trained her whole life to join. Serwa's only ally is her aunt Boahinmaa, an obayifo who urges Serwa to embrace her vampire side. Boahinmaa and her underlings are on the hunt for the Midnight Drum, from which they hope to free Serwa's grandmother.

For most kids, catching fireflies is a fun summer activity. For twelve-year-old Serwa Boateng, it's a matter of life and death. That's because Serwa knows that some fireflies are really adze, shapeshifting vampires from the forests of Southeastern Ghana. Adze prey on the blood of innocents, possessing their minds and turning them into hulking monsters, and for generations, slayers like Serwa and her parents have protected an unknowing public from their threats.

Pahua Moua has a bit of a reputation for being a weirdo. A lonely 11-year-old Hmong girl with the unique ability to see spirits, she spends her summer days babysitting her little brother and playing with her best friend, a cat spirit no one else can see. One day Pahua accidentally untethers an angry spirit from the haunted bridge in her neighborhood - whoops. When her brother suddenly falls sick and can't be awoken, Pahua fears that the bridge spirit has stolen his soul.

In The Perfect Present, Billie is bursting with excitement. It is Christmas tomorrow! She knows her presents must be hidden somewhere. A bit of peeking won’t hurt, will it?

O. Henry wrote many stories, but this, the story of two "ultimate gifts", is his most famous.