The Enchanted Garden.
By Doreen Robinson.
In a quiet street there was a house that was different than all the others, it was large and rundown; it had been empty for many years.
All the windows were boarded up.
The house was surrounded by a garden that was overgrown and wild looking.
In this garden there were the strangest looking stone statues that anyone had ever seen.
There were four legged and two legged ones and some even with three legs, some were as tall as men and some were like little dogs.
Some had two eyes, some had three eyes and there were some with only one eye.
Some had big ears and others had small ears and others had no ears at all.
There were so many different looking ones, too many to describe.
All the children in the neighbourhood liked playing in this garden, their imaginations could run wild and many adventurous games were played out in the garden.
Although the children played in the garden none of them would go into the house they thought it too scary.
One day a new family moved into the street, they had two boys, Peter and David.
Peter and David soon became friends with all the other children and played in the garden.
One day Peter asked one of the other boys why they never went into the house, the boy told him that the house was too scary and that it was supposed to be haunted as some of the neighbours heard strange noises coming from there some nights.
Peter scoffed at this and some of the other children dared Peter and David to spend a night in the house.
At about ten oclock the next Friday night Peter and David, with a torch each, climbed out their bedroom window and ran to the house.
It was a full moon and almost as bright as day.
When they got to the garden they needed their torches to see under the tall trees and overgrown bushes.
They moved around the house until they found a window they could open and climbed through it.
With their torches lighting the way they crept to the front of the house to a window where the moonlight was shining through some cracks in the boards the boys pulled some of the boards off to let more light shine through.
Peter and David sat in the patch of moonlight listening to the creaking of the old house and the sound of night creatures creeping through the house.
An hour or so later Peter woke with a start, he could hear the sound of singing and laughter outside; he thought some of the other children must be out there.
Standing up and looking out the window Peter couldnt believe what he saw, bending down he woke David and told him to have a look.
The two boys stared out at the astonishing sight.
All the stone creatures had come to life and were having a lovely time laughing, dancing and singing.
There were tables of the most delicious looking food and drinks.
The boys moved to the front door and after a struggle managed to open it and ran out and stood watching them.
One of the tall man-like figures, with webbed feet and hands and large furry ears, came up to the boys and invited them to join in.
Later he told the boys that many, many years ago a spell had been put on them and every full moon all the stone figures came to life and had a party.
Peter and David enjoyed themselves until just before sunrise when all the figures went to their places and as the sun came over the horizon they turned back to stone and the tables of the food remains disappeared.
Peter and David ran back to their house and climbed back into their room and into bed.
Just before dropping off to sleep Peter told David not to say anything to the other children about their adventure, as they would think they were lying or crazy.
The next morning when Peter and David joined the other children and told them they had spent the night there they didnt believe them but when Peter took them to the open front door and to where they had pulled the boards off the window and left the torches the others had to believe them.
Peter and David would often on the night of a full moon go and join their new friends in the enchanted garden.
The End.
