Around the Bend: Skellington Day

"Let me in! Let me in!" he said.

"But you're a skellington!" I said. "And I'm scared of you!"

"No need to be afraid!" said Mr. Sterlington. "I just need some help to find something!"

So I opened the window a bit further and in he came. He dropped through the window like a heap of old dog-bones, all tumbled and jumbled, like they fell out of a sack, then he pulled himself together again.

"Mind if I sit down?" he said. "I'm tired after that big climb up to your window."

"No, I don't mind," I said, so he sat on the table where I do my homework.

"You're very brave," he said. "Most little human boys run away and shout for help when they see me."

"My Dad's a braver man than me," I said. "He can sleep all by himself in a tent!"

"That's very brave," said Mr. Sterlington. "I'd like to meet him sometime."

"Would you like to meet him now?" I asked.

"Oh no," said Mr. Sterlington. "I haven't got time. I have to find something."

"What?" I asked.

"Well," said Mr. Sterlington, "it's Sterlington Day tomorrow, and all the skellingtons from a hundred miles in every direction are coming to the big party. We meet every hundred years, and we have to come with all our bones!"

When he said that, I just then noticed that he had a bone missing.

"Is this your bone?" I said.

"Yes indeed," he said. "I've been looking for it for nearly a hundred years. I must have dropped it when I was out walking one night."

I gave Mr. Sterlington his bone and he put it back just below his elbow on his left arm.

"I am very grateful for your help," he said, "and as a thank you, I would like to invite you to the party."

"Thank you," I said. "I would love to come."

So that night, I went with Mr. Sterlington to the party. But before I went, I left a note on my bed, in case Mum popped in to see if I was all right. I didn't want her to be worried about me.

Mr. Sterlington was very clever. He shook himself and turned into a ladder, so I could climb down the side of my house to the lawn. And when we got to the road, he shook himself again and turned into a bicycle made of bones. He made a clattering sound when I rode him. Clickety, clickety, clackety!

Mr. Sterlington steered us along the road until we came to a park. There were big trees all round the sides, and a hedge. On the other side of the hedge was a big cemetery. There were lots and lots of skellingtons coming through the holes in the hedge. There were big skellingtons and little skellingtons, and they were all running and jumping, like they were really happy. I was a bit scared, but I didn't show it. I went with Mr. Sterlington to the middle of the park and sat down. Some of the skellingtons were playing knuckle-bones, with their own knuckles. Some other skellingtons were dancing in a circle until they all fell to pieces, and the game was to see who could pull themselves together first. There were lots of other games going on too, like one where a Sterlington dug a hole and buried one of his bones, then the other skellingtons had to find it, or another game where they were playing bowls with their heads.