The Skeleton: A New Mexico Ghost Story

Retold by S.E. Schlosser

The boy had been out looking for work all day with no luck. When night fell, he was far from home. He decided to spend the night in an empty, rundown house. The minute he laid down he fell into a sound sleep. The boy was awakened quite suddenly by a thump on the roof. With a pounding heart, he sat up and lit a candle. A voice called out, “I’m falling down!”

The boy scrambled out of the way just as a skeletal arm came crashing to the floor. The voice shouted again, “I’m falling down!” and another arm landed beside the first. The a leg, the chest, and a second leg. Before he could count to ten, a complete skeleton was standing in front of him, grinning madly.

The boy lifted his chin and grinned back, determined not to show his fear. The skeleton was delighted by the boy’s spirit and said, “You have courage, son. Are you brace enough not wrestle me?”

The boy was terrified, but he did not dare to refuse this strange apparition. The skeleton and the boy wrestled back and forth, up and down the room. Remembering a trick his older brother had taught him, he twisted suddenly and threw the skeleton onto the ground.

“You’ve won!” The skeleton said, “Such courage deserves a reward. Come, I will give you my treasure.”

The boy was startled. What kind of treasure could an old skeleton have?

“Pick me up and carry me in your back to the next room,” said the skeleton. “Remember to take your candle.” The boy picked up the skeleton and put it on his back. The he retrieved his candle from the corner of the room and carried the skeleton into the next room. As they passed through the doorway, the skeleton blew out the candle.

“Now, stop that,” he said annoyed. The skeleton cackled madly. The boy lit the candle again, and the skeleton blew it out. “I’m going to drop you,” the boy threatened. He lit the dangle again, and again the skeleton blew it out.