DLTK's Holiday Crafts for Kids
The Canterville Ghost
Once upon a time, in a big, old mansion called Canterville Chase, there lived a ghost named Sir Simon. He wore a silver-gray suit and had a pale white face. His eyes were a deep, glowing red, and his long, bony fingers looked like branches from a haunted tree.
One crisp autumn day, an American family, the Otises, moved into Canterville Chase. The family included Mr. and Mrs. Otis, their daughter Virginia, and their mischievous twin boys. The Otis family didn't believe in ghosts, but that was about to change!
As soon as they arrived, the family noticed a strange, dark red stain on the library floor. Mrs. Otis tried to clean it, but the stain wouldn't go away. Every morning, the stain was back! The twins thought it was a game and started to play tricks on the ghost.
One night, as the sky turned dark blue and the stars twinkled like tiny diamonds, Sir Simon decided to scare the Otis family. He put on his ghostly chains, which clinked and clanked like silver bells, and floated down the dark, shadowy hallways. When he reached Mr. Otis's room, he made eerie, wailing noises. But Mr. Otis was not scared. Instead, he offered the ghost some oil to stop his chains from rattling!
The next night, Sir Simon tried again. He appeared in front of the twins, his red eyes glowing like embers in a fire, and let out a spooky moan. The twins just laughed and threw pillows at him. They even set up traps, like a bucket of blue water, to splash on the poor ghost!
One day, Virginia, the Otis's kind daughter, was walking in the garden filled with colorful autumn flowers—orange marigolds, golden chrysanthemums, and deep red dahlias. The leaves on the trees had turned bright shades of red, orange, and yellow, carpeting the ground in a beautiful mosaic. She saw Sir Simon sitting on a bench, looking very sad. Virginia, in her warm brown coat and orange scarf, gently approached him.
"Why are you so unhappy?" she asked.
Sir Simon sighed and told Virginia his sad story. "Many years ago, when I was alive, I did something terrible. In a moment of anger, I hurt my wife, and because of that, I have been haunting this mansion for hundreds of years, feeling guilty and lonely."
Virginia looked at him sternly. "You can't just scare people and expect to feel better, Sir Simon. You have to be honest with yourself about what you did. You can't keep running away from your past by trying to frighten everyone. That's not the way to find peace."
Sir Simon hung his head. "I don't know what else to do," he admitted.
Virginia took his cold, ghostly hand in her warm one. "You need to face what you did and truly feel sorry for it. Only then can you find forgiveness. Trying to scare everyone only makes things worse. It's time to be brave and admit your mistakes."
Sir Simon nodded, his red eyes now filled with tears that looked like tiny, shimmering rainbows. "You're right, Virginia. I've been a coward."
Virginia softened her tone. "It's never too late to change. I promise to pray for you and help you seek forgiveness."
Together, they walked through a secret door into a hidden room, filled with golden light. Virginia spoke kind words and encouraged Sir Simon to be honest with himself. As she spoke, Sir Simon's ghostly figure began to glow with a soft, white light. Finally, he was free! Sir Simon's spirit floated up, surrounded by a warm, golden glow, and disappeared into the sky.
The Otis family no longer had to worry about the ghost. They lived happily in Canterville Chase, with Virginia remembering the special friend she had made and helped find peace through honesty and forgiveness.
