In The Hall Of The Mountain King (on temporary hold)

10-25-1926

Dear Diary,

Hello again! I know it's been so long since I've last written (my mom's been worried that something's wrong with me since I haven't picked you up for a few weeks) but actually, everything is quite alright. Me and Nicholas are starting to get along quite fine now. I eat lunch with him everyday, and he tells fascnating stories about his life in America and how his parents are coping with the unexpected move to Norway. He's not allowed to tell anymore legends, since after conferences a student told their mother about the mammoth story and she freaked and told the teacher that if Nicholas kept telling those scary legends, the mom would withdraw her girl from class, so no more scary stories that caused me to think and ponder the true meaning of its words. Even though Nicholas isn't allowed to tell the class any scary stories, he tells me a bunch and recommends a lot of differents novels to borrow from his cottage up in the hills (about a twenty minute walk from school). Yesterday, he brought me a collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories, just in time for halloween! They interested me so much: The pendumlem, and my two personal favorites: The tell tale heart and the raven. The tell tale heart is a scary story about how a man who is scared of his neighbors evil blue eye, and murders him becuase he thinks his eye is causing him evil and disturbs him deeply. One night, he stealthily murders the man, chops him up, and hides him under the floor boards in his chamber. The police come to ask him about the man, since some neighbors called to complain about a shriek, but the man denied it, saying it was him that shrieked in his dream and the evil eye man was on vacation. The whole time the man chats to the police, he claims that he hears the hellish drumming of the dead man's heart from underneath the floorboard...

Yes, it is a bit scary, once you think about (especially how he severed the corpse so brutally) but it showed how the man felt such remorse guilt over killing the man, and blaming it on the dull heart beats of the dead man. I've started growing used to these scary stories, so they don't scare me as much anymore, but mother REALLY doesn't like Edgar Allen Poe. She claims he was really popular when she was a child because of his deeply misfortunate past, but his books disturbed her so much that she didn't want Poe's stories to rub off me, and she DIDN'T want me to talk to Nicholas anymore, but too bad mom. He's my only friend, and he wants to loan me a book about the Yeti and the true story of Halloween tomorrow!

Also, I'm extremely jealous of his piercing on his left ear. That's another reason mother and father claims I should stay away from him. And to think he pierced it himself! How daring!

                                                                        Sebastan Zachariassen