5. The Skeleton

5 THE SKELETON The double doors flew open, knocking Sam to the floor. Then they slammed shut again. He was still trapped inside the school. "Ouch!" Sam yelled. Everyone knows you can't get hurt in a dream, so this must be real! He needed to escape! The school was coming to life all around him!

Sam ran into his classroom. He threw his hands against the large window. He was hoping to see someone, anyone, who could help him. All he saw was the giant oak tree blowing in the wind. But it wasn't windy. Sam saw other trees and none of those trees were blowing. And the leaves on the ground weren't whooshing around at all. The only thing moving was that tree! Could the tree be alive? Sam thought.

SMASH!! The glass window shattered. Sam fell to the floor as one of the tree's long, twisted branches came crashing through. It wrapped around Sam's leg. Sam began hitting the branch. Whack! Whack! Whack! Finally, the branch's grip loosened. Sam was able to crawl away. Behind him, he heard the branch scraping across the floor like fingernails on a chalkboard. The tree was reaching for him, trying to pull him back.

He pushed his way through fallen desks. He stumbled back into the hallway. Pieces of glass crunched beneath his feet. Then— CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! All the locker doors were slamming open and shut at once. All the classroom doors were doing the same thing. But worst of all was what Sam saw next: A figure stood at the end of the hallway. It had a body like a skeleton. Lights flashed and doors clanged. But the figure didn't move. It just stood there, perfectly still, staring at Sam.