John Shieldsmith is a horror writer near Austin, Texas. He's been a full-time ghostwriter for 14 years, helping companies big and small tell their stories. Now, he's telling his own.
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Dear Diary,
The weird little tapping sounds came from above my room again. I asked Calvin if they were mice. He told me mice are for castles stupid. Do we live in a castle? He said it’s the sound of the Gamizzmizz. That’s what he calls it. He said when he was little it was his monster. It’d tap on the ceiling above his room at first. Then when he got used to the tapping he said it started making scratching sounds instead so that he’d stay scared. He said it likes to do that. Change what it’s doing to keep you scared.
He said the scratching sounds got so bad one time that he had to call mommy and daddy into his room. I asked why I don’t remember it. He says I wasn’t born yet. Stupid. And then he said the scratching kept happening and happening and one day little pieces of snow got on his face and his pillow. I asked him how snow got inside and he said it doesn’t and that I don’t know anything. And then he said mommy and daddy told him that was just pieces of the paint from the ceiling and to stop picking at it from his bunk bed.
He’s the stupid one and doesn’t know anything. The Gamizzmizz isn’t real and he’s a jerk.
____
Dear Diary,
The funny door to the attic in the ceiling is acting up. That’s what mommy said. It is acting up. I heard daddy say it’s a piece of shirt which doesn’t make sense. He didn’t have time to fix it the right way, that’s what my mom said, so he just put a really big piece of wood in the handles on the sides of the funny ceiling door. Now it doesn’t open. It just stays closed. It reminds me of a castle door with the big wooden bar. Calvin said we don’t live in a castle but it looks like it now. Now he is stupid.
Mommy didn’t like that daddy didn’t fix the ceiling door the right way but I told daddy I liked the piece of wood because it looked strong. Strong enough to keep the Gamizzmizz away. Not that it’s real. Calvin is a big liar.
____
Dear Diary,
It was a no good rotten awful night. I woke up in the dark and there was this scratching sound above my room. It sounded like mice but then I remembered Calvin and the Gamizzmizz and what a big jerk they both are. Only one of them is real but if the Gamizzmizz was real it would be a jerk too. I screamed for mommy and daddy and nobody came for a real long time.
When my mommy finally came in she told me to calm down and go to sleep but I couldn’t stop crying. I told her about the scratching above my room. She stayed with me in bed for a bit but the scratching never came back. I told her to hurry and check Calvin’s room to see if he had snuck into the attic to make the sounds. She didn’t believe me and just stayed in my bed and wouldn’t let me go check for him either.
And the scratching never came back. Stupid Calvin. I have to go to school now and I’m tired and this isn’t fair. I know it was Calvin up there. He is the Gamizzmizz and he is a jerk.
____
Dear Diary,
At school today I asked my friend Stephanie if she had scratching above her room. She said she doesn’t have an attic but she has a crawling space. I told her that sounds funny but she shook her head and said it isn’t. She said it’s really scary and dark and full of spiders and the floor is dirt. Like the outside? I asked her that. She said yes like the outside but only it’s inside. I haven’t seen it but I don’t like it either.
When I got home I tried looking for any doors that go under our house but I couldn’t find any. I tried picking up the carpet in the living room too in case there’s dirt under there. Then I got in trouble because Calvin said I was being an idiot and I told him he’s an idiot and stupid and a liar and mommy heard me and now I’m stuck in my room.
I keep looking at the ceiling for scratch marks but it’s just plain and flat and white. I don’t have a bunk bed either so I know it can’t get scratched from this side. Not like Calvin’s room where his bed is close to the ceiling. And daddy still has the big piece of wood in the attic door so I am safe.
Calvin is such a jerk.
____
Dear Diary,
I just woke up to the scratching sound again. It’s louder now. Really loud. I hope Calvin can hear it over his room. But he probably can’t because I bet it’s him doing it.
I can’t sleep now. I can’t sleep later. I am going to stay up all night and then in the morning I am going to ask him about the Gamizzmizz some more. He’s a liar but I want to see what he makes up and if it makes sense or doesn’t. I will be like a spider and make a web and catch him in it and then I will prove he is a liar.
____
Dear Diary,
At breakfast I asked Calvin more about the Gamizzmizz. He smiled and asked why and if I heard it last night. I wouldn’t tell him anything but I feel like he could tell I heard the scratches last night. And now I wonder if he heard them too.
But I asked him more questions like what the Gamizzmizz looks like and what it does. He said nobody knows what it looks like because anyone who is brave enough to go in the attic when it’s there never comes out. All the scratches and clicks are its claws and it makes all its sounds until the person is all gone and there is nothing left.
When I went to school I asked Stephanie about her crawling space some more. Her eyes got big and she got really scared when she talked about it. I asked her if she ever hears weird sounds coming out of it. She said she does sometimes. I asked if they sound like clicks or scratches or taps. She said they sound like big loud thumps and groaning sounds like the house is yawning or like when her dad stands up after sitting on the couch for a long time.
I was hoping she heard the same thing because then that would mean Calvin is lying about the Gamizzmizz. Or he would tell me it just means there are two of them and it must have friends.
He’s a liar.
____
Dear Diary,
Last night I heard the scratching sounds again and they were moving around. It sounded like they were circling around my room like a shark does in the movies or a bird does when it flies over something that died or is dying. I called for my parents again and this time my daddy came and he told me he had to work in the morning and I had my own work in the morning and we all need to sleep. I told him to be quiet and listen. He told me not to talk to him that way and said I needed to sleep.
When he left he closed my door and then the scratching came back. I was too scared to open my door because the Gamizzmizz might hear me. But I know if I opened my door and went to Calvin’s room his bed would be empty and he’d be in the attic like an idiot. I’m going to confront him at breakfast.
Oh I learned the word confront at school today and really like it. It sounds so grown up. Confront.
____
Dear Diary,
I confronted Calvin at breakfast and he was so mean. The moment I sat on my side of the table with my cereal he smiled really big. I didn’t have to say anything for him to smile he just smiled. Then he asked if I slept well. I lied and told him I did and asked if he slept well. If I were brave I’d go up in the attic and scratch on his ceiling for once. But then I think of the Gamizzmizz and the claws and the sounds and me being all gone.
I wish the Gamizzmizz was real so I could tell Calvin to be brave and go up there.
____
Dear Diary,
At school I asked Stephanie about the Gamizzmizz and she told me the name was funny. I said it was funny until you knew about the scratches and the claws. The more I talked about it the more she nodded her head up and down and told me she thinks maybe she has heard of it actually. I didn’t like that at all because Calvin is a liar and if Stephanie thinks it might be real then maybe Calvin isn’t lying. And if he isn’t lying about this then what else has he told me that I didn’t believe?
The last time I asked him about the Gamizzmizz he told me it does more than scratch. He said it can even make voices just like your mommy or daddy and then it will say mean things. I asked him why it would do that and he told me it does that to keep you scared. He said when scratches stop being scary it makes your parents scary and then everyone else you know. I asked him what if it runs out of things to keep you scared and he just started laughing at me.
I need to confront Calvin again and ask him more questions. But I don’t like learning more about the Gamizzmizz because it just gets scarier and scarier. But I need to ask him all these questions. Like a spider with her web. I need to catch him in his stupid lies or while he’s sneaking into the attic like the big idiot he is.
That is what mommy said about a man on the TV. He lies a lot and he is going to get caught in his lies. And that is what I will do. Because Calvin lies all the time.
____
Dear Diary,
I have a plan.
____
Dear Diary,
Mommy left for a work trip today. She is flying up in the sky right now. It’s me and daddy and Calvin and my plan. I feel like the spider that lived in our bathroom for a long time until Calvin smashed her because he’s a jerk.
But I have a plan just like a spider has a plan with her web. And Calvin is dumb like a fly and he will get stuck just like a fly. I will prove to everyone that Gamizzmizz isn’t real and Calvin is a liar.
Also my daddy said he might be fixing the attic door soon so it stops falling open. I am nervous because when it is fixed it will be easier for the Gamizzmizz to push the door open and get out. But it isn’t real and Calvin is a liar.
____
Dear Diary,
I woke up with pieces of snow on my face and my pillow. I can’t write well right now because I keep crying and because I think some of the snow got in my eyes or something maybe. I screamed for my daddy and he came in and told me to hurry and get dressed for school and asked why I was upset. I showed him the snow and told him about the ceiling snow and the scratches. He looked up at the ceiling and yelled at me for making all those scratches on my ceiling. I looked up at my ceiling and saw how bad the scratches were and cried worse.
I told him Calvin did it but he said why would he do that and told me I need to stop trying to get attention. I asked him how I would reach my ceiling and he said I shouldn’t be playing on ladders. And that I specially shouldn’t play on ladders when nobody is around and in the middle of the night. I told him Calvin is the one playing with ladders and he said lying isn’t nice and I am not being good.
I hate Calvin and I am so upset with everyone right now. Everyone except mommy because she’s on an airplane. But I’m also upset with her because she isn’t here.
I wish the Gamizzmizz would come down from the attic and make its scratches and sounds and make them all gone.
____
Dear Diary,
The spider got the fly.
Today when my daddy was fixing the attic, Calvin went up there to play around. He told me to come up and play with him and smiled that mean smile he does at breakfast all the time. I told him I don’t want to and he asked if I was scared of the Gamizzmizz. I told him I’m scared of how much he stinks and then my daddy told me to be nice to my brother because he didn’t hear Calvin being mean to me.
Calvin went up in the attic first and he was messing around with boxes. He told daddy he found some box he wanted to open so daddy took a break from the attic door before he even started and went up there with him.
But when my daddy finally opened the attic and Calvin went up there to play around I had to do something. I know Calvin is a liar but what if the Gamizzmizz is real and it gets me? What if it gets mommy when she gets home?
Just to be safe I climbed up the ladder. Daddy had left the big board kind of in one of the handles so I pushed it through the other one to make sure the door was shut. Really shut.
It is almost dinner time and then it is bed time and that is when the Gamizzmizz likes to make the sounds. When they are both up there in the attic my daddy will see that Calvin is a liar and he is the one making the sounds. Or Gamizzmizz won’t make any sounds tonight because it is Calvin and he won’t want to make the sounds when my daddy is right there watching.
It is a perfect plan.
____
Dear Diary,
The Gamizzmizz is really scary right now. It is scratching and clawing and thumping and making all kinds of noises and I am so scared. I wish my mommy was here. Then she could hear it and see that I never made anything up. That I didn’t get the ladder and climb up and make the scratches on the ceiling or make all the sounds. None of it was me.
____
Dear Diary,
The Gamizzmizz is still making weird sounds. It sounds really angry and is running all over the house. I hope daddy is okay.
I am going to have cereal and see if it calms down after breakfast. I never hear it this late so maybe it will get quiet after I eat. If that doesn’t work I might go play in the backyard. Maybe it is still up because it can hear me and I am usually at school during this time. But it’s the weekend which is my favorite time.
____
Dear Diary,
Mommy called at dinner time and asked how we were all doing. She also said she was surprised I answered daddy’s phone. I told her he was fixing the attic door. She asked if Calvin was behaving and I said no and smiled because he couldn’t tell her if he was being good or bad. But he is always being bad.
I want to check on daddy but I am afraid to take the board out. What if the Gamizzmizz is real and I let it out?
It can’t be real. Because if it is real then it is up there with daddy and I don’t like that at all.
It is getting quieter so maybe the Gamizzmizz is getting tired. I’m tired too. I hope it lets me sleep tonight.
____
Dear Diary,
The Gamizzmizz let me sleep almost all night. I woke up one time and it almost sounded like my daddy’s voice but I know it wasn’t because he was saying really mean things through the ceiling. I couldn’t tell what he was saying because it was all muffled and hard to understand but I know it wasn’t him because he wouldn’t say anything that mean to me. And if I am wrong and Calvin is right then it is the Gamizzmizz making my daddy’s voice just like Calvin said it would do.
I am going to have some cereal now. I miss bacon and eggs on Sunday but I don’t know how to make them and my parents say I can’t play with the stove. They also said not to play with ladders and that kept me and mommy safe so maybe I could make bacon and eggs later if I feel brave. But I am not brave that is why the attic is closed.
____
Dear Diary,
The school keeps calling daddy’s phone and I am afraid to pick it up. Just like I am afraid to take the wood out of the attic door even though the Gamizzmizz is quiet now. It will be okay when mommy comes home. It’s already Thursday and she said she will be back Friday and that is tomorrow.
I hope Calvin gets in so much trouble when mommy gets home. I can’t wait to see the look on his stupid face.
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