Third Prize: The Mortins

The Mortins were most definitely vampires. There was no question about it. Anyone who lived on Sunnyside Drive knew that. The way they spoke, with thick accents no one could seem to place, the somber exterior of their large, gothic style house, and most especially the way that bats could always be found perched somewhere on their roof, in their gutters, or on their porch. But the most striking evidence that the unnatural beings that were the Mortins were vampires was the way they arrived in Glendale.

November 5th, 1938
Article from “The Glendale Gazette”

Feat. Incident report from Glendale Police Department( October 30th, 1938)

“If you’ve been past our town’s most beloved cul-de-sac recently, you may have noticed a striking change of scenery. Most people of our great town recognize the house of the late Edna Mortin as a long standing monument in our town. But what you might not know is that police investigators had condemned the building last Saturday. It was discovered that the house was built on faulty foundation, and was starting to sink! That’s right, folks. The house, stood on Sunnyside Drive, had been upright on the ground for over two hundred years was supposed to be taken down the day after, Sunday the 30th. ‘Was?’, you ask? ‘Is the house… still there?’ Why yes, dear readers! If you take a stroll down the block one warm evening, you’ll be surprised to see what has become of the old estate.

Whether it be the work of mysterious do-gooders or not, the grand house was in pristine condition when workers arrived at the house that morning. No one on the street knows what happened, and maybe no one ever will.”

See? Strange. But they were wrong about that last part, though. Nearly everyone this side of Eagle Rock knows what happened. The Mortins happened. That night, while everyone on Sunnyside Drive was fast asleep, they appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. When the neighbors came to investigate the next day, they were surprised to find a family! Two parents, and three children: five-, 10-, and 15,000 years old, and their large black dog, Chu. The Mortins have lived in Glendale ever since then.

Everyone clapped.

“And that’s how my family came to live here,” I said, taking a small bow. “I hope you all learned something, and Happy Halloween!”

By Kyla Culver
Grade 10, Southampton High School