Goosebumps: Alternate

Chapter 2: The Strange Man

The front of my school. The gate's still open so I should be able to come and go as needed. The clouds are still dark, my wonders of rain coming to me. I should've brought an umbrella in case it would pour down rain.

I made my way to the school parking lot, which is nearly empty as most of the school's gone home. I can faintly hear the football team practicing in the distance, though.

I turned towards the dumpster, seeing what looked to be green slime... That slime does not look normal. My mind races with thoughts of alien invasion or zombie drool. What could it be? I muster up the courage to take a closer look...

From taking a closer look at the strange substance, it turns out to be someone's old milkshake. Really, really old milkshake.

I peer over the dumpster, trying not to get so close that I won't smell it, only ending up failing, the stench of spoiled milk assaulting my nose.

It smelled awful, having me almost gag. I had never gotten used to terrible smells, and if the smell didn't deter me, the cockroaches skittering across the dumpster certainly do.

Deciding to call my mother, I took out my phone, dialing her number. The phone rings twice before she picks up.

"Hi, Arielle, did you get my message?" her voice asked. "Be careful on your way home..." I rolled her eyes at her concern. Does she know I'm going to be twelve next year? "You know I don't like you cutting through the woods. But at some point a mother has to let go. Love you!" She hung up.

"Boy, mom needs to stop worrying about me going through the woods," I spoke annoyingly. "I've been going through it since the start of the year," I boasted a little. "I should call Chad, see what he's up to." I dialed my older brother's number.

Within seconds, his voice swept through the phone, right into my ear. "Hi, you've reached Chad, except you also missed Chad. Sorry." Really? "I'm probably busy doing something important." As always. "Or at least something... whatever it is. You could like, leave a message though. It'd be cool. I might call you if I remember."

When he hung up, I let out a heavy sigh. His voicemails always sound lame everytime I try to call him. A lot of the times he busy, busy, busy. All he does is leave this stupid voicemail, the same one, with every message each time when I call him. I doubt he'll remember to call me back.

However, I didn't want to complain, so I gave him a message back. "Chad, it's Arielle. Mom left me a voicemail, saying she won't be home until later on tonight. Can you get Chinese food?" I don't know why I asked for foreign food, but it's my favorite and I don't get to eat it a lot. "Thanks," I continued to message. "Make sure you get this voicemail," I signed off before sending it to my big brother.

Putting my phone away, I saw what looked to be a beat up old car. I wouldn't mind having one, but I'm too young to drive. I wouldn't be able to reach the pedals, either. I have to wait for the right age to drive - age sixteen.

Shifting my bag that is hanging from my shoulders, I entered into the woods, the leaves from the trees giving off small shakes from the breeze, blowing my hair slightly, the grass swaying from one side to the next.

I heard a frog croak from nearby, spotting it. It croaked again before hopping away. Knowing about wild animals, I know better than to try and pet them. I don't want to get bit any wild animal in case they have rabies.

I didn't hear anything else. Nothing. No birds tweeting. I pushed on, swinging my arms in a perfect rhythm. I'm not big on exercising. The only time I do exercise is take a nice walk or ride my bike. But most of the time, I'll hang out inside the house doing chores here and there to earn video games - even though I'm not a big gamer - and to get books of my favorite series.