Mommio: The Return Of Ligeia

After writing a collaborative Poe-like mystery story (The Purloined Silverware) I decided that the kids should try out this group writing process without me. They ended up doing a really nice job- but it was very hard for me to hand over the work and walk away- listening to them argue for two days and not giving any input was rough!  So, we read Poe's Ligeia first.  It as basically about a man whose second dead wife becomes possessed by the ghost of his first dead wife.  You can read it here.  He makes this horrifying discovery at the very end of the story:

Shrinking from my touch, she let fall from her head, unloosened, the ghastly cerements which had confined it, and there streamed forth, into the rushing atmosphere of the chamber, huge masses of long and dishevelled hair; it was blacker than the raven wings of the midnight! And now slowly opened the eyes of the figure which stood before me. “Here then, at least,” I shrieked aloud, “can I never — can I never be mistaken — these are the full, and the black, and the wild eyes — of my lost love — of the lady — of the LADY LIGEIA.”

The assignment I gave the kids was to write a sequel to the story. Their version turned out to be quite a thriller.  Enjoy!

The Return Of Ligeia
By The Jones Kids

    At around midnight I took off the tarp and I was staring stunned into Ligeia's dark eyes. I ran to the door and it was surprisingly locked. I jumped out the window and climbed down a long vine and landed in the front yard.  Suddenly Ligeia came at me with a dagger. I picked up the sharpest stick that I could find and threatened to hit her with it. She immediately tried to cut my hand off with her small dagger. She succeeded in cutting though half of my sweaty thumb. My thumb was bleeding a lot! I ran right passed her in fear.
     "Why in the world did you cut off my thumb?", I asked  in shock.
     I was surprised that she did not reply. All she did was stare at me with a creepy look. I ran to the end of my castle and hid behind the biggest tree that I could see. I found a huge branch sitting on the ground. I picked it up and used my tiny, tiny knife to carve it. I made it into a very sharp double sided spear. Ligeia came up to me and held her dagger to my back. I was extremely terrified and frightened. I knocked the dagger right out of her hand and then charged at her head with my spear. She easily dodged me and my big spear got stuck in the tree that was next to me. Because I lost my weapon I had to use my hands and feet to fight. I tried to kick her in the stomach, but I only succeeded to trip her. I ran as fast as I could and climbed up some vines and then suddenly Ligeia grabbed me and took me up to the scary tower, at the top of the castle. I was very scared because she had my spear that was stuck in the big tree. She was trying to hit with the spear, so I ran around the house and whenever I stopped to catch my breath she tried to attack me with the weapon. Suddenly she cut off the rest of my broken , sweaty thumb. I was so dizzy from running around the house, so I hit the the castle wall and passed out. When I woke up I was in this big, gross and strange mental institution. I called the doctor and asked him where I was and how I got there.
     " You have been sleeping here for four days, having dreams. Also, you are in a mental hospital in California.", replied the doctor.
      " Where is my wife and how is she?"
      " You have been talking about your dead wife, Rowena in your sleep."
      " Where is Ligeia?"
      " There is no one named Ligeia in this state."
      I fell back asleep, relieved that Ligeia never existed.

The End