Story Club members have incredible imaginations that run super spooky, which is just how I like it.

Today, I'm so excited to feature two new authors from Taproot School.

When teacher Michelle Taylor told me that her

students are awesome, creative, and love a great tale of terror, I told her to bring their

voices to our community. It is with great excitement that I am sharing the first two stories

from Taproot School today. The first tale is written and read by Langston.

It's called The Midnight Aviary.

The time was midnight, the witching hour.

Owls gathered, crow's caught, and I was lost.

This is the tale of the midnight aviary.

I searched and searched until I came upon an abandoned aviary.

The weird thing was I've never seen it before. Was I imagining?

I entered hoping for shelter. The door closed behind me and locked itself.

I wandered and came across a man. His body was covered in a black robe. His face was shrouded by a mask that looked like a crow's face,

and he was eating an owl, raw, and alive. He seemed to smell me. I ran, and ran, and ran some more,

and got out as the clock struck one.

The aviary sprouted wings as I ran home, but I was just glad I got out.

When I got home, I was surprised to see my pet cuckoo bird, Coco, had grown to the size of a man, a full-grown man. I thought I was dreaming, so I looked out the window to clear my mind, and I couldn't believe what I saw.

Eagle policemen roamed the streets while a nearby owl was teaching baby birds the alphabet.

I wondered if they could understand me, so I asked Coco what happened.

She said that while I was gone, a loud boom went off somewhere nearby, and a strange

gas made all the birds in town intelligent and big at the same time.

...