“Hmmm, I pick dare,” squeaked Simmy Saster in her high-pitched voice. Simmy was twelve
years old, medium height, with dirty blonde hair and she loved to dance. Simmy and her friends Moe,
Ginnie Garlow and Cam Celise were at Moe’s house, chillin’ and playing truth or dare.

“Ok,” said Moe Molias, who has curly red hair, lots of freckles, and also dances. “I dare you to stand by the White Lady’s grave for five minutes.” Simmy’s eyes froze with fear. Everyone in the town of Northton knew the tale of the White Lady. She had been killed by her husband and then stuffed into a sinkhole weighed down by cinderblocks behind her house, which was across the street from the
cemetery.

Simmy stuttered. She was easily frightened and hated being alone, especially at night. “Um,
um, well, I actually have to go, it’s getting late,” Simmy replied, hoping they would believe her.

“Chicken, chicken, Simmy’s a chicken!” chanted the group of Moe, Ginnie and Cam.

“You guys, you know I’m really scared,” said Simmy, trying to sound as promising as ever. Moe,
Cam and Ginnie huddled together. Ginnie was a little taller than Simmy; she was tan, and loved music,
especially Metro Station while Cam was medium height, thirteen and loved swimming.

“Guys, maybe we should all go with her, but we just watch from across the street,” suggested
Cam.

“Ok, that’s fine. Whatever,” replied Ginnie in her laid-back tone.

“It’s fine with me,” Moe supposed.

They all turned around to explain the news to Simmy. “Simmy, “Moe started, “We have a
compromise.” She couldn’t help but laugh at his word choice because Moe wasn’t the sharpest tool in
the shed. “We have decided to come with you for your dare, but you must stay by the White Lady’s
grave by yourself, while we stand across the street. Deal?” Moe put his hand out.

Simmy pondered for a few seconds and then finally shook his hand. “Fine, but if you guys ditch
me, we’re not friends anymore.”

The group had already started walking and replied, “Yeah, sure, whatever you say.”

The walk to the cemetery was only two minutes. As the group made their way to the
destination, the night fell. It got a lot darker and very quiet. A gust of wind sent shivers down Simmy’s
spine. In her head she thought, “Oh no. What if the White Lady comes? What if everyone leaves and I
can’t find my way back?” While she pondered this, Northton Cemetery came into view. It was
pretty big. It probably held at least 2,000 graves. Before Simmy knew it, everyone except her had
stopped walking.

“Well, this is it. We will be here and come get you after five minutes,” Cam announced
reassuringly.

Simmy knew she couldn’t back down now. “Ok, I hope I make it out alive,” Simmy whispered
under her breath. She slowly began making her way towards the grave. She had heard stories of people
seeing the White Lady who were sometimes attacked. Sooner than expected, she was in front of the
gravestone. It was the biggest in the cemetery. Her heart sank as she read the inscription…..



Here lies the dead body of Mrs. Maria Otoved 1880 – 1913
At the bottom of the grave someone scribbled, “White lady”.

While reading, Simmy felt something cold on her back, almost like a hand. She quickly spun
around with fright. There was nothing in sight. She started panicking. Simmy tried to calm herself down and glanced at her watch. “Three more minutes and I’m out of here!” Just when she thought she was safe, she felt two cold hands on her back. She did a 360 quickly but still saw nothing. She was stumped. Simmy thought for sure she would see the famous White Lady. As she waited for two minutes to pass, a light bulb went off in her head. She thought of a devious plan to scare her friends. Her plan was so good she knew nothing could go wrong. Soon, Simmy was interrupted from her thoughts by Moe’s voice.

“Hey, Simmy, it’s been five minutes, you can…” Before Moe could finish, Simmy thought fast
and began her plan.

“AHHHH!” she shrieked in her high-pitched voice. “AHHH!” she screamed again.
Simmy ran as fast as she could to her friends. By the time she reached her friends she was out of breath.

“What happened, why were you screaming?” questioned Ginnie.

In little gasps, Simmy spat out a lie. “I saw,” she gasped, “the White,” breath, “Lady,” breath, “and she,” breath, “almost attacked me,” Simmy finally finished, almost collapsing.

None of her friends knew how to react. They just looked at her and then back at the cemetery,
searching for the ghost.

“Oh My God! Are you all right?” Ginnie questioned worriedly.

“Not really. I don’t feel so good,” Simmy replied, weaving around, pretending to be dizzy.

Moe couldn’t believe this. “You are such a liar. You think you can trick us,” he said smartly.

“No, I swear. I saw this white figure wearing a long gown and she was coming towards me,” Simmy said confidently.

“But we kept an eye on you the whole time,” Cam said, trying to make a point.

“Shoot. How could they already know,” thought Simmy. “Um, well, you probably couldn’t see the White Lady because it was a faint glow and it’s dark out,” Simmy replied. The group didn’t seem to buy it, except for Ginnie, who believes anything people say. “Fine, if you guys don’t believe me then go stand at the grave for ten minutes. I’m sure she’ll come back,” Simmy finished.

“Ok, fine, but we’re only doing this to prove you wrong,” Moe and Cam said in unison.

“Trust me, you will see her. I swear,” Simmy said with a mischievous grin. The group crept up to the grave slowly. As soon as they reached it, Simmy snuck away to her house to gather her flashlight. Once at her house, which was right next to Moe’s, she grabbed her flashlight and quietly snuck back to the cemetery. The night had gotten even darker since they first arrived. Her friends were still there, sitting in front of the grave, waiting for something to happen.

“Perfect,” Simmy thought, “they won’t be able to see me.” Swiftly, Simmy ran through the graveyard unnoticed. She was only fifty feet away from them, hidden behind someone’s gravestone. “I’m going to get them soooo bad,” she thought, knowing exactly how to scare them.

The first thing Simmy did was turn on her flashlight. The light shot up into the sky, too high to look like a figure. Before anyone could notice, she put her hand over it to lower the light. Simmy thought no one had seen the light yet, when she heard a scream. It was Ginnie, who had a problem screaming for no reason.

“AHHH, the White Lady! Run!!” shrieked Ginnie.
Before Ginnie could start sprinting, Moe grabbed her arm and whispered, “If that was the White Lady she would be moving. Besides that looks like the light of a flashlight.”

“Shoot,” Simmy thought as she faintly heard Moe speaking. “This is the worst plan ever. What
should I do?” She had to think fast because she could hear some footsteps coming closer and didn’t want to be remembered for being the worst prankster. Without even thinking, she started moving the flashlight and speaking how she thought a ghost would.

“Stoooppp. Dooonn’tt coommmee annny clossserrr,” whispered Simmy pretending to be the White Lady.

“Aw, come on, we know it’s you Simmy,” exclaimed Moe.

“Noooo, ittt issss nottt. I ammmm thhheee Whitee Ladddy and I willlll killlll youuuu theee
sammee waaay I dieddd. Now GO,” screamed Simmy. She thought it wouldn’t work and they would
figure out who this “White Lady” really was, but instead of footsteps coming near her she heard them
getting fainter and fainter. Simmy could hear the loud, distant screams of Ginnie and some small
shouts from Cam and Moe.

“Help, help, ghost!” they shouted. Simmy couldn’t believe they fell for it. She couldn’t help but
laugh at the trick she pulled off. After a few minutes, she realized she had been mean, and decided to
go retrieve her friends, when suddenly she felt a breeze. The wind had died down so Simmy became
very curious. She slowly crept out of the cemetery when she stopped abruptly. This time she definitely
felt cold hands touching her back. She spun around as fast as Usain Bolt but this time she saw a white glow. The body looked like a woman and she was wearing a long gown.

“Oh, no,” thought Simmy. “This must be the real White Lady.” “Hi,” Simmy said curiously, not
expecting an answer.

Instead of answering, the White Lady lunged at her and tried to grab her. “AHHHH. GET AWAY!” screamed Simmy, louder than the roar of a lion. She started sprinting out of the graveyard towards her running friends. Just when she thought she was safe, Simmy tripped over a small
gravestone. “Oh, no. She’s going to get me,” Simmy thought, referring to the ghostly figure creeping
towards her. Simmy scrambled to stand up but her leg was cut from a sharp rock and her body wouldn’t
respond. In her head, she thought, “I’m a goner.” She had to do something. Blink! A lightbulb went off
in her head again. Simmy wasn’t positive this would work, but it was worth a try. She grabbed the
nearest stick and hurled it right towards the ghost woman’s stomach. At first nothing happened, but
then the figure slowly disappeared.

“That was a close one,” thought Simmy and limped away to her house. “One thing I learned
today was not to trick someone and not to pretend to be a ghost!” Simmy sighed.