Short Stories for Kids

FATHER IN THE DRAWER
By Bunny Ann Gapi as told to Nino Mark Sablan

It was just a week after the burial of my father and although I was missing him so much, I was also being paranoid. I knew my father has a couple of unfinished business back when he was still alive. I was so sure he felt disappointed when he realized that his time was up even if he still had a lot of unchecked boxes on his list.

What if he was so troubled that he decided to show himself to us? What if he chose me of all people to finish what he failed to do back when he was still alive?

I was thinking of so many things that night that I effortlessly fell asleep and forgot all about my father.

But it was during my sleep that my father made his presence known.

In my dream, I had just taken a bath and was wrapped in a thick bright towel. I got another one and dried my hair with it. When I opened a drawer to get some underwear, I saw my father’s head there – pale, dry and with big popping eyes looking at me. The unexpected content surprised me that I pushed the drawer away from me screaming in fear.

And then I woke up. The dream scared me so much that I lay there paralyzed with fear. I wanted water but was afraid I’d see my father’s head inside the ref. I wanted to urinate but I was scared of what could happened inside the comfort room.

After another week, I finally summoned enough courage to open my drawer to get some underwear. Actually, I tricked my younger brother to doing it for me. When I took a peek, I realized that my father’s head wasn’t there to scare me. Instead, lying there amongst my lingerie was a broken padlock. I took it out, wondering what it was doing there when I recognized it as the padlock to my father’s mausoleum. Later, we learned that bored teenagers had broken inside my father’s resting place to smoke cigarettes, drink beer and do a little private partying.

My father didn’t care about his unfinished business anymore. He just wanted some peace. The intruders were bothering him and I guess it was his way of telling me to buy him a new and better padlock.

And so I bought one, smiling because not only was my father going to finally rest in peace. I also knew that one of those nights, some smokers or alcoholics out there would be very surprised when they open their drawers.

Short Stories for Kids

THE STRANGER IN THE BEDROOM

By Leah Constance M. Castano

Rizaline stretched her arms and yawned. She had just stepped out of the bathroom after taking a quick and refreshing shower. She went to the other side of her bedroom and made sure the windows were only slightly shut to let the evening breeze in. Now she was ready to sleep.

She padded over to her bed which was pushed against one corner of her bedroom. Switching off her bedside lamp, Rizaline slid beneath the cool, beckoning sheets. The darkness felt oddly comforting. She turned to face the wall and settled comfortably on her side. She gave a deep sigh and was soon fast asleep.

She was in the state of semi--wakefulness. Sleep warred with consciousness and Rizaline fought the latter. She snuggled deeper into her pillow, refusing to be awakened.

“Rizaline.” It was her mother’s voice. Hazily she wondered why her mother was waking her already. Surely it wasn’t morning yet?

“Rizaline…” She could feel her mother’s breath at the back of her neck as she whispered her name. But no, something wasn’t quite right. Her eyes snapped open, her senses more alert. No, it wasn’t her mother’s voice – it was deeper and hoarse, like a supernatural creature!

She didn’t dare turn around because she instinctively knew there was someone lying beside her on her bed-- someone who wasn’t human. She could feel it dangerously close lying alongside her body, its breath fanning her nape. She lay there stiff as a board, agonizing, until unable to resist it, she shifted a little and sneaked a peek behind her. It was a man’s form in a color that was blacker than black. She couldn’t see its face but could feel it was something terrifying.

The creature started to pant against her skin and a tingling started at the back of her head. Heat went down her neck and flowed down her spine to her legs. She couldn’t move her arms and legs! She tried to scream but nothing came out. Her skin prickled with awareness of whatever it was that was beside her. She was so afraid that it would attack her. At the corner of her eye, she saw a black hand slowly reaching down to touch her face. She flinched, expecting the hand to touch her at any moment.

Desparately, she closed her eyes and silently prayed Psalm 91, the prayer for protection in time of danger. ”.. For Thou O Lord, art my refuge. Since you, too, have established the Most High as your shelter, no harm shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your tent. For He gives His angels orders regarding you, to protect wherever you go…”

As Rizaline recited the prayer, she could feel the heat slowly ebb down to her feet until it was no more. Her heartbeat started to slow down to normal rate and she found that she could start wiggling her toes.

Cautiously, she opened her eyes and as she expected, her room was pitch black. She held her breath and slowly turned around. There was no sign of black figure. The space next to her bed was empty. She gazed at the rest of her room – nothing. She sobbed in relief and lay on her back, thanking God for making the creature go away. She reached for the lamp switch and soon her room was flooded in a warm, orange light.

She gazed at the ceiling, replaying the events on her mind. It was the first time something like that had ever happened to her. She knew it wasn’t a nightmare because she was fully awake. And she knew for certain that if she asked her mother in the morning if she had entered her room the night before, she would answer no.

She looked at her alarm clock and it read 11pm – six hours to go before she had to get up for work. She didn’t think she could go back to sleep. One thing was sure though, she’d never want to have another encounter with that creature in her bedroom again.

Short Stories for Kids

FETCH
By Nino Mark M. Sablan

When my friend Jasmine was four years old, she didn’t talk a lot. She didn’t waste her time indulging in long conversations with her parents or chatting with her classmates or neighbors. Mostly she stayed by herself, all alone. The maid though would occasionally spot Jasmine talking or giggling happily whenever she was alone.

One cold October night, Jasmine and her Ate Ria drank their warm milk, kissed their parents goodnight and sped off to the room they shared together. After exchanging stories, they drifted off to sleep. In the middle of the night, a loud noise alerted Jasmine’s older sister to an unusual activity in their room. Ria then saw her little sister’s bed start shaking as if it had a life of its own. From a slight shake, the movement began to grow stronger and stronger. After a while the door swung open. Thinking it was her parents. Ria turned expectantly toward the door but find no one there. Suddenly, Jasmine’s bed started inching toward the door, as if someone was dragging it. A terrified Ria wanted to jump out and drag her sister away from the bed but she couldn’t move. It was as if her limbs had turned to lead. She was afraid, so dreadfully afraid.

And so he prayed to drive away her fears, reciting the Hail May out loud. She prayed hard, asking God to stop the bed and her sister from going out of the room. She closed her eyes and prayed and prayed when she heard a growl! “Tumigil ka diyan, ‘wag ka’ng makialam!” It said.

Eyes opened wide, she turned to the sound coming from the door to find the source of the voice. It was a red hairy dwarf with pointed shoes and pointed hat. When their eyes met, he suddenly scratched his head and left.

Suddenly Ria found she could move again. She got up hurriedly and rushed to her sister’s bed to check on her.

The next morning, Jsmine confessed to her elder sister that she knew the dwarf. He had approached and befriended her, she said she felt drawn to the different world he lived in. She was curious. The dwarf, she said, had invited her to go with him to their kingdom and she agreed. When she got there, the dwarves offered her “grain” to eat which she refused, saying she was full. After that visit, her friend would constantly pester Jasmine to go back with him to their kingdom. She always declined, saying she had a lot of things to do.

Ria figured that the dwarf must have gotten angry at Jasmine’s refusal to leave the world she inhabited. And since Jasmine made it seem as if she would go with him, the dwarf expected a lot back from her.

After the bedroom incident, Jasmine stopped promising and misleading dwarves.

After a couple of days, she stopped talking to them. After some time, the dwarves stopped showing themselves to Jasmine.

Short Stories for Kids

DRIVING

By Janet L. Rodriguez

My friend, Ben love driving, in fact, he would gladly agree to drive all the way to Baguio for an errand for his mom or sometimes, to simply go and drive up to the land of the Pines to buy his mother fresh flowers and fruits.

It was why, one boring Saturday, I was not shy to ask him whether he would like to accompany me to Baguio to visit some of the famous ukay-ukay shops there. “I’ll pay for the gas ‘tol, ano, go?” I asked him. “No problem, ikaw pa?” he said automatically like I knew he would.

So off we went, happy and \feeling so great, we were on the top of the world- add to that, we really bundled up well with lots of Lay’s potato chips. Chips-ahoy, Toblerone, Choc Nut, chicharon, peanuts, etc, etc. and lots of fruit juices, Chuckie drinks and mineral water. “ Hindi kaya sumakit naman and tyan natin sa daan nyan,” he teased me about my supplies. “Well if you don’t want to eat, fine,” I joked. “Sosolohin ko na lang ‘to.” “Maimpatso ka sana,” he continued teasing. And we laughed crazy hyenas.

So it went we’re having a good time, the time of our lives in fact. We were carefree and so happy that not even the bad traffic dimmed or joy. Once during the trip, we even chanced upon travelers whose car overheated and I offered some of my mineral water stack to help their unprepared-for-travel car. “Ang bobo naman. Alam na ngang magba-byahe ng malayo, ‘di pa handa,” Ben, a great mechanic as well as driver, whispered to me when the driver of car-the dad, one would guess- thanked us ever so profusely. “Okay lang po, “I told him, trying to shush his mountain of ‘thank you’s’. “Sige po, okay na yata. Una na kami.”

Ben rushed to our own car off we again went. The traffic and good Samaritan deed delayed our trip so it was nearing dusk when we reached the climb that was Kennon Road. As usual, Ben was a cool customer and it was no sweat even when darkness colored the roads and the sky. Whistling, he even munched on a cookie while his head swayed to the rhythm of Linkin Park blasting from the radio. I was half-asleep by then though.

As we reached a curve, the traffic slowed. Our car was hanging precariously on an incline so we had a good view of what was happening in front of us. “Okay ka lang?” I asked Ben, pertaining to the tilted car. He looked at me like I had insulted him. “ I know how to drive, “ he boasted. So I busied myself with the sights outside the side of my car window wanting to be fully awake to give Ben good company. All I saw at first were cars and mere inches of dirt road before the dead drop of nothingness. And then I saw a man… a very, very big man.

“Um.. yung mama o..,” I started to speak to Ben, but I didn’t get to finish what I was going to say because my eyes took over all my senses. In the dusk, I saw a man sitting on top a huge stone beside the road. He was a few cars in front of us and from my vantage point, he seemed very large, very hairy, too, his hair was uncut to reach past his neck. But aside from his size and hairiness, what struck me most was the lack of clothing needed to protect him from the cold… and what was he doing sitting there? “ Nakikita mo?” I asked Ben who nodded. “What could he be doing there?” He said as our car crawled slowly to where he was situated.

When we reached the area where the car would be directly in front of where he was sitting, I felt the hair on my arm and neck stand. Oh no, oh no. “Ben, Ben, nakikita mo ba.. oh no!” I clutched the lock of the car hard.. for self-preservation. “Hindi siya tao,” I murmured silently, feeling like I was going crazy. I bunched my body near the driver’s side because “the man” was nearer my door. And the man was no man. He was all hair and, sitting down, he was bigger than the car. All one could see were two holes that jutted out from his face. Eyes that looked like they were swimming in fresh blood. Ben was so quiet, it doubled my fear. He should be brave! The only thing that probably kept us sane at that moment was the fact that the traffic kept moving, if slowly. As we passed “the man” and turned another curve, I felt myself hyperventilating. “Ben, hindi ako makahinga.” And then, suddenly Ben’s car conked out. Heat rose from the hood. “Whatta!” He mouthed, his voice edged with apprehension. Fear.

He guided the car a little to the side and unwillingly, unlocked his car door, went out and checked what was wrong. Scared, I followed him out. “There’s nothing I could see wrong ,” he said. “Pwede mong i-start kung pwede na?” He asked me to go to the driver’s seat. “What?” My brain refused. “Okay,” I answered. I had no choice. When I ripped the car door open, a gush of wind slapped my face. Somebody was there, I thought. I ran back to Ben and hurried myself to his side. “Look, we could go together and check together, right? I’ll sit beside you in the passenger seat while you bring the car back to life. Isara mo na yung hood. Okay na yan.”

So that was that. He agreed. We were again sitting side by side, silent for a change, while he tried the ignition. It roared to life miraculously, as if heat had not come out of the hood just a minute ago. “Ang weird,” were the only words Ben could utter at frist. “Ben, natatakot ako,” I returned. “Alam mo, parang meron lang nanloko sa makina. Well-condition kotse ko eh,” he explained. “Di kaya yung nadaanan natin…? “Let’s not talk about it,” I said quietly. “Have you thought of the possibility na…,” he started. “… na ano?” I asked, not liking the conversation. “Hindi kaya pinatigil tayo para sumakay siya sa kotse?” I could have killed Ben that moment… When he mouthed the words, I felt cold fear slither to my every pore. I felt pinpricks of dread. I wanted to close my eyes but feared I would sharpen my other senses and feel a presence. But there was a presence, I thought. I felt it. I wanted to jump out the window, shout to the other cars, turn on the car light to check the back. The back… “Ben, the back…”

Like a badly choreographed move, Ben and I simultaneously looked at the back mirror to check. And it was there. The man! The being! He was inside the car! His bloody eyes looking back at us.

I didn’t know how we got to the nearest civilized spot to dump the car and rush outside but it was a crazy drive from the time we saw the creature to the time we jumped out of the car. We rested at a gas station for a while, talked to the gas attendants, explained what had happened. We were only “forced” to go back when one gas boy jested. “Marami na’ng ganyang istorya. Isipin nyo na lang na wine-welcome kayo dito sa Baguio.”

Oh, but what a welcome. It was one unforgettable trip to Baguio for me and Ben. After that, we still returned to the City of Pines. But we usually go at early light and always with a group. We refuse to make any stops on the road and I’ve stopped looking outside my window when passing Kennon.

Short Stories for Kids

THE BROWN CREATURE

By Allen Dominic Quintes

Retreat are a time to rest tired bodies and soothe weary souls. But what if the retreat house you are staying in is being occupied by an unknown creature? Would you still be able to rest? The following is a true story of a group of college students and their unforgettable retreat.

After a day of lectures, group of dynamics and sharing the student on a retreat headed to their rooms to sleep. The sleeping quarters were located in a single storey building just outside the main function hall. Inside, rooms faced each other with a short hallway in the middle. In one end of the hallway was an exit that lead to a patch of a land with various plants and treed. Tin-tin, along with four other girls, was assigned to a room near this exit.

The walls of the rooms did not extend to the ceiling so there was a small gap on top of the walls where a slender individual could fit through. The five girls imagined one of their male classmates slipping through the gap while they were sleeping or simply peering over it while they were getting dressed. The girls brush off the thought and hoped that the holy atmosphere of the retreat would prevent the boys from doing such naughty deeds.

As ordered, the girls prayed the rosary before going to bed. Since there were five of them, they decided to lead the mysteries alternately. Tin-tin started by reciting the Apostles Creed. When she was in the middle of praying the Our Father, after the line “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” she suddenly froze and stopped reciting. Only after one of the girls tapped her on the shoulder did Tin-tin manage to continue.

It took the girls over an hour to finish reciting the five mysteries. Feeling quite unsettled after their weird experience and unable to explain what had happened, the girls decided to put their beds together and sleep side by side.

The girls were just nodding off to Dreamland when just after a few hours later, they heard a loud noise. Someone or something was banging the wall from the outside. With their backs turned to the source of the noise, the girls were too scared to turn around and check what it was. After a few seconds there came another noise. This time, it was a dragging sound, as if someone or something was climbing up the walls.

The girls decided to face the source of the noise together. At the count of three they turned around. What they saw terrifies them until now. There on the corner of the top wall, sat a small brown creature with long hair running through its back. But before they could decipher its face, the figure leapt from the walls to the floor creating as loud thud. The sound is unmistakably of flesh hitting hard wood.

The five girls immediately jumped out of their beds and hurried toward the door to the hall. They were met by their other classmates who had heard the loud noise and thought that one of them had fallen from the bed. When the frightened young ladies told them what had happened, none of the other student believed them. To make sure one of their male classmates went inside the room to check if the creature was still there.

There were no signs of the creature inside the room but there were several telltale signs. The window, which the girls swore they closed before they went to sleep, was wide open. The clothes rack situated at the foot of the bed was swinging as if someone had hit it. But the signs that sent shivers down the girls’ spine were the strands of long brown hair left on the floor.

Short Stories for Kids

ThE HuSbAnD StOrE

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City , where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates and it says “You may visit the store ONLY ONCE”!

There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch … you may choose any man
from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband…

On the first floor the sign on the door reads:
"Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord. "
The second floor sign reads:
"Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids."
The third floor sign reads:
"Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking."
"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads:
"Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework."
"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads:
"Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak."
She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:
"Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!"
(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!) Thanks for reading..

Lesson:

Remember "Greed" is one of the seven deadly sins. You have to learn to be grateful for what you have to get more. When you are ungrateful you end up with nothing…

Short Stories for Kids

THE TIDY DRAWER

One Saturday morning Abby's Mum came upstairs to see Abby in her bedroom. There was so much mess on the floor she could only poke her head around the door. Abby sat in the middle of it all reading a book. "What a tip," Mum said. "You need to have a clear up in here." “Why?" Abby asked. "Why?" Mum repeated. "Because things get broken or lost when they're all willy-nilly like this. Come on, have a tidy up now." "But I'm very busy," Abby argued, "and it's boring on my own. Can't you help me?" "No I can't, I'm busy too. But I'll give you extra pocket money if you do a good job".

When Mum came back later all the toys and clothes and books had disappeared. "I'm impressed," said Mum. "But I'll inspect it properly later." "It was easy," said Abby. "Can I have my extra pocket money now?" "All right. Get it out of my change purse. It's in the kitchen tidy drawer."

In the kitchen Abby went over to the dresser and pulled open the tidy drawer. She hunted for the purse. "Any luck?" Mum asked. Abby shook her head. "It must be lurking at the bottom," Mum said. "Let's have a proper look." She pulled the drawer out and carried it over to the table. Abby kneeled up on a chair to look inside. There were lots of boring things like staplers and string but there were lots of interesting things as well. "What's this?" Abby asked, holding up a plastic bottle full of red liquid. Mum laughed. "Fake blood, from a Hallowe'en party years ago. Your Dad and I took you to that, dressed up as a baby vampire. You were really scary." "I don't remember that."

Abby carried on looking through the drawer. She found some vampire teeth, white face paint, plastic witchy nails and hair gel. Mum pulled out a glittery hair band. It had springs with wobbly balls on the top that flashed disco colours. She put it on her head while she carried on looking through the drawer. Abby found some sparkly hair elastics to match the hair band. She made her Mum put lots of little bunches all over her head so she looked really silly. "I remember this," Abby said as she pulled out a plastic bag. "This is from my pirate party." Inside there was a black, false moustache and some big gold earrings. She peeled the sticky backing off the false moustache and stuck it on Mum's top lip then found a paint brush in the drawer and painted a fierce red scar down her cheek using the fake blood. Mum clipped on the pirate earrings. "Come here," Mum said and smeared white face paint all over Abby's face. She dribbled the fake blood so it looked as if it was coming out of Abby's eyes and mouth. She put gel all over Abby's hair and made it stand up into weird, pointy shapes. Abby put in the vampire teeth and slipped on the witchy fingers. She made scary noises at Wow-Wow the cat. He ignored her and carried on washing himself on the seat next to her. "Wotch thish?" Abby asked, holding up a flat rubbery thing. It was hard to speak through the vampire teeth. "It's a whoopee cushion," Mum said. "You blow it up and sit on it. It makes rude noises." She blew it up and gave it to Abby.

Suddenly there was a knock at the back door. A voice called out. "Hello, it's only me. I've let myself in." It was their nosy neighbor, Mrs Hislop. She was always interfering and complaining. Mrs Hislop entered the kitchen. Her mouth dropped open. "We're jush wooking for the change pursh," Abby explained. "Yes, well, " Mrs Hislop said, "I just wanted a word about your fence. Some of it's blown down on my side."

At that moment Abby sat on the whoopee cushion and let out an enormous, rude noise. Wow-Wow jumped off his seat and ran away. "Well!" said Mrs. Hislop and hurried from the room and out of the house.

When the door banged shut Abby and Mum burst out laughing until Mum's moustache hung on by a whisker and Abby's vampire teeth dropped out. Abby came to sit on her Mum's knee. "It's fun doing this together," she said. "Maybe. But we still haven't found the change purse." They both looked at the enormous heap of things spread over the kitchen table. "Well, you know things will get lost, or broken, when they're all willy nilly," Abby said. "You cheeky monkey!" Mum laughed. "But what shall I do with it all?" "I know, it's easy," Abby said and began to scoop everything off the table into her arms. She dumped it all back in the kitchen drawer. Mum looked at her suspiciously. "Let's go and inspect your bedroom shall we."

Abby followed her upstairs and into her bedroom. Wow-Wow was sitting in front of her fish tank looking hungrily at the goldfish. He dashed under the bed when he saw Mum and Abby. Mum kneeled down and lifted the bed cover to get him out. Underneath were heaps of Abby's toys, books, tapes, clothes and shoes, empty plastic cups and wrappers and a half-eaten sandwich on a plate. "Abby! What's all this?" "It's my tidy drawer," Abby said. She wrapped her arms around her Mum and gave her a kiss. "Let's sort this one out together now."