There was a small abandoned house in the forest. Many years ago, there lived a small family. Every day something unusual happened in this house: dishes fell down and, lights turned off, different things made noise. The family was frightened and moved to another place.

One autumn day a little girl Ana was gathering mushrooms in the forest. She was listening to birds singing and leaves rustling under her feet. Suddenly Ana understood that she got lost and was about to cry. Then she saw the light in the window of a house not far from her. Ana entered the house, lit a fire in the fireplace and went asleep.

At midnight the girl woke up because of a noise outside the living room. It sounded like a clank of metal. She heard the sounds of footsteps. In a moment right in front of her she saw an old woman. She looked terrible. Her hair was messy and grey. Her eyes were red. Her clothes were dirty.

“My little lady”, said the woman and laughed loudly.

“You have to go with me.“ Ana wanted to punch her, but the woman disappeared to the other part of the house. The girl was really scared. So, she started to run out of the house. Suddenly, the woman appeared in front of her.

Ana woke up and she thought that it was only 

a bad dream, but she realized that she was tied to the bed. She began to panic. Fortunately, she saw a knife next to her on the bedside table. She tried to reach for it, but the knife fell. She heard footsteps. The old woman was coming back. Ana quickly kicked the knife under the bed.

 The woman flew through the wall and only now did Ana realize that the old woman was a ghost.

As soon as she flew away, the girl took the knife and tried to cut the rope. She managed to do it and she tried to escape from the old house. 

 Suddenly, the old woman stood in her way and told her: “Don’t try to escape. It is impossible”. Ana was confused.

 Then she asked her how exactly she became a ghost, and what she was doing in the old house. The old woman took a deep breath and answered: “My name is Lisa William Jacob Smith. I have lived here for 156 years now, waiting for my dead husband to come over and meet me again. 

I trapped you in this old house because I need a kid to make me happy. I miss my husband so much.

 Ana couldn’t believe what she just heard. She was frightened because she was lost far away from her family and trapped in an old, creepy, scary house with a ghost. The woman continued: “His name was Bruno, Seniadre, Jacob Smith. He was killed in a car accident a lot of years ago. Thinking of him makes me sad. That’s why we don’t talk about Bruno. I wish I could see him again”. 

Ana was going to help her if she could!! Ana told her “I think I know why you are sad and lonely!!’’

‘’He might never come back and I am very sorry about it but ….. by being sad all the time you are not helping yourself “. The ghost was sad at first but she gradually realized that the girl was right.

Day by day was better. They were talking a lot. The girl was on good relation with the ghost. They spent a lot of time together. One day Ana had an idea. She wanted to summon the ghost of her dead husband. At the beginning the ghost wasn’t sure that it was a good idea. But after 2 weeks the ghost changed her mind. They started thinking about the best day to meet her dead husband.

They decided that the next night would be appropriate. The best day to awoke the ghost will be with a full moon and of course at midnight. Ana went up the nearest hill. It was late, very dark and it struck 12 o’clock at midnight. Ana was very excited that tonight Lisa the ghost will see her husband, Bruno. They started to do a ritual to call Bruno, Lisa’s husband. When they were calling his name suddenly something strange happened.

Lisa and Ana were shocked by what they saw. They didn’t know what to say because the man in front of them was a centaur, he had no teeth and legs. His face was very pale and covered in blood. This was 

the first time Lisa had seen her husband whom she hadn’t seen in all these years. ‘’Why did you summon me?’’ asked the man. Just as Lisa was about to say something, Bruno disappeared. 

‘’Bruno!! Where did you go? Come back, please! 

I miss you so much, I’m waiting for this day for a long time!’’ shouted Lisa. She started to cry and Ana tried to calm her down. Suddenly, Ana noticed that there was a piece of paper on the ground. 

‘’Look Lisa! There is a paper over there. Maybe this is a message from Bruno!’’ said Anna. Lisa took the paper and opened it. She couldn’t believe what she read.

Ana quickly hid the paper before Lisa saw it. She was sure that the centaur wasn’t Lisa's husband because he would never do that to Lisa. Ana walked a few steps away from Lisa and read the letter again. The letter said that Bruno had moved on. In the letter Bruno told Lisa to move on too rather than just scare people and cry after him. Ana was sad for Lisa but she did what she had to.

Ana looked at Lisa and read the letter for her. 

A few tears fell from Lisa’s eyes but she nodded and then she just disappeared.  Ana walked back to the forest. She was still lost so she tried to scream for help. A few days later police found her.

She tried to explain what had happened but nobody believed her. Two weeks later, when Ana was in a shower, she suddenly saw a weird text in the mirror. It said “Thank you for your help<3”. Ana was happy :).

This story is written and illustrated by students from

Bilopillia specialized school 1, Bilopillia, Ukraine

Základní škola, Kroměříž, Komenského nám. 440, 

Czech Republic

12th Primary school Heraklio Attikis, Greece

Zespół Szkół - Szkoła Podstawowa w Lubowidzu, Lubowidz, Poland

Fahir İlkel Ortaokulu, Esenyurt, Turkey

Tevaniemen koulu, Ikaalinen, Finland