The Dead Hand

by Bob
(Australia)

There is this little village close to a lake. It once had plenty of people living in it. Each day they would go out chopping wood or looking after their crops. But when it got dark, they would quickly run back to their houses and lock the doors.

There were rumors of a ghost of an old man who roamed the lake at night. Everyone believed in this rumor except for a man named Jack who never believed in ghosts.

So one morning, Jack told the people that he would go out to the lake at night to prove to them that there is no ghost.

So when it was dark, Jack grabbed a lantern and went out to the lake. The people sat in their houses and looked out the window to see what would happen.

There were no signs of ghosts. All they saw was Jack walking down the path to the lake.

But when Jack had reached the lake, his lantern went out. The people then heard screams of terror and agony. They saw Jack's arm reaching out as if something was pulling on it. It looked to them that a wrinkly and old hand with no arm connected to it was pulling on Jack's hand. Then Jack was pulled down into the lake.

To this day, Jack was never seen again, nor was his body and all the people fled the village. Leaving it as the abandoned and haunted area.