Escape from the Roller Ghoster

by Andres Miedoso

  Suddenly, all I could see were ghosts! They were everywhere.

  They were playing games, eating food, and riding rides! But what really made me mad was how they were cutting the lines.

  AND THEY DIDN’T EVEN HAVE VIP PASSES!

  “Hey, that’s not cool,” I said. “We can’t let those ghosts get away with this!”

  “I need your help, Desmond,” said Mr. Bizarro. “If these ghosts keep making human visitors wait in line, then people are going to stop coming. I’ll have to shut Bizarro Zone down.”

  “Well, we can’t let that happen,” Desmond said. “I have a plan.”

  Of course he did!

  CHAPTER EIGHT WE HAVE A WINNER

  I knew I hated Desmond’s plan as soon as we reached the Roller Ghoster. But if it meant saving Bizarro Zone, I’d do just about anything.

  We charged to the front of the line and flashed our VIP bracelets.

  Most of the cars were empty.

  At least, they looked empty.

  The ride started with a jolt, and we headed straight up the first hill.

  Without warning, Desmond made an announcement.

  “Okay, fellow riders. We know you’re here, so show yourselves.”

  The ghosts appeared right in front of our eyes. They were in every single seat—talk about a Roller Ghoster!

  Then Desmond took his plan to the next level by saying, “I challenge all of you to a Bizarro contest. The winners get the amusement park. The losers leave forever.

  Do you accept?”

  The ghosts nodded.

  “Okay,” said Desmond. “The first challenge is to ride the entire Roller Ghoster with your hands in the air starting now!”

  Desmond and I raised our hands and got ready to scream. No matter how twisty the loops or how steep the drops, we had to keep our hands high in the air. And you know what? After I stopped being scared, the ride was really, really fun!

  The ghosts, on the other hand, were all fraidy-cats. They had to hold on tight.

  When the ride stopped, Desmond and I realized we had won!

  Now all we had to do was keep on winning, because next up were the park games.

  “Okay,” Desmond told the crowd of ghosts, “whoever has the most stuffed animals at the end of this challenge wins!”

  And it was on!

  We played the Fishbowl Toss first. Desmond was the only one to get a Ping-Pong ball into the fishbowl. He won a giant stuffed goldfish.

  Then we played the Hotshot basketball game, but it wasn’t very fair. The ghost next to me had arms so long that all it had to do was reach out and drop the ball into the basket.

  The ghost won easily and got a stuffed candy cane.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Desmond told me. “We have a lot more games to play.”

  The Water Blaster Blast Off was next. I’ve always loved this game. I got in position, and a few seconds later, we heard “Ready, set, blast!”

  I aimed my water blaster straight at the alien’s mouth and watched as my rocket ship climbed higher and higher. The first one to reach Mars would win. And guess what? I won!

  Plus, I got a huge stuffed alien.

  The next game was Bottle Crash. The first person or ghost to knock down the stack of bottles with a baseball would win. Desmond threw a pitch and barely missed the bottles.

  Then it was the ghost’s turn. Apparently, things aren’t exactly fair when you play against ghosts.

  Instead of using the baseball, the sneaky ghost shot a fireball that hit the stack of bottles and turned them all to ash!

  “That’s against the rules!” I cried.

  But it didn’t matter. The ghost took its adorable stuffed teddy bear and gave it a big hug.

  This went on for a while because there were so many games at Bizarro Zone. When we reached the last game, the score was tied.

  Desmond stepped up to the Test Your Strength stage. For this game, each player took a turn hitting a target with a hammer to make a heavy puck go up a high tower. The highest anyone could reach was 100. If you hit it, a bell rang. But nobody ever rang the bell. It’s impossible. The bell at the top of the tower looked like it had never been touched.

  Desmond flexed his muscles, picked up the hammer, and slammed it down. The metal puck climbed to 60!

  I jumped and cheered until a giant ghost stepped out from the crowd. It grabbed the hammer, which looked tiny in the ghost’s hands. Then the ghost pounded the target, and the puck shot all the way up to 99.

  Whoa.

  The strong ghost handed me the hammer. “Your turn, human,” it said with a smile.

  It was up to me. Either I reached 100 on the Test Your Strength game, or kids would have to say good-bye to Bizarro Zone forever.

  “This is for kids everywhere!” I screamed, feeling a surge of strength in my body.

  Then I slammed the hammer down so hard that I flew right out of my shoes!

  The puck raced up the tower in a blur. I had no idea how high it had gone until we heard the bell at the top clang loudly.

  I couldn’t believe it. I hit 100! And I won a huge unicorn.

  Desmond tackled me into a pile of our stuffed animals, and all we could do was laugh. The ghosts had to leave Bizarro Zone forever, and there would never be long lines at our theme park again!

  But when the ghosts surrounded us, we made a new discovery: Ghosts are sore losers!

  CHAPTER NINE TUNNEL OF LOVE

  All those ghosts looked mad.

  “H-here,” I said, trying to give away one of my stuffed animals. But they didn’t want it. They wanted us!

  We did what anyone would do in that situation. We ran! And they chased us.

  Now, if you’ve never been chased across an amusement park by ghosts, keep it that way!

  They were fast, and they were everywhere! Soon we had nowhere else to turn except one of the scariest rides at the park: the Tunnel of Love.

  Okay, it’s not a scary ride. It’s a gross ride unless you like all that lovey-dovey stuff.

  Yuck!

  Our only hope was that ghosts felt the same way about the ride as we did. This was the last place I would ever look for myself, believe me!

  Desmond and I ran to the front of the line. The same teenager who’d brought us the VIP bracelets was working.

  “Sorry, guys,” he said. “This ride is for grown-ups only.”

  “But we are VIPs,” Desmond reminded him as we jumped into a heart-shaped boat.

  “And we’re being chased by ghosts!” I added.

  Before he could stop us, the boat pulled away.

  Desmond and I were taken to a dark room filled with baby angels, birds chirping, and hearts decorating everything. Yes, it was yucky, but it was also safe.

  Then we saw other couples holding hands in their boats.

  Suddenly the Tunnel of Love became the Tunnel of Blech!

  We needed to get out of there fast! Desmond spotted an exit, and we made a run for it.

  The door creaked open, but the coast was clear.

  That was when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  But it wasn’t a ghost. It was the teenage park worker.

  “That’s it,” he said angrily. “The two of you are banned from Bizarro Zone. Forever!”

  “What!” I cried. “You can’t do that!”

  “We’re VIPs,” Desmond added.

  The park worker just shook his head. “That doesn’t mean you can break the rules,” he said. “It’s not fair to everyone else.”

  Just then the ghosts floated in and said, “That’s right! These tiny humans have to follow the rules.”

  Well, when the park worker saw the ghosts, he ran away screaming.

  I didn’t feel like running anymore. Actually, I felt kind of sad and mad at the same time. We were banned from the world’s best amusement park… just like we banned the ghosts.

  Desmond looked like he felt the same way. “Andres, you know how we’re feeling right now? Well, that’s probably how the ghosts
feel.”

  “But they broke the rules,” I said. “They were cutting the lines.”

  “We broke the rules too,” Desmond said.

  He was right. It wasn’t fair to kick the ghosts out. But what could we do?

  Then Desmond got a look in his eyes and turned to face the glowing crowd. “Ghost friends, I have a plan that will make everyone happy.”

  CHAPTER TEN SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!

  Desmond’s idea was simple. Bizarro Zone would stay open late just for the ghosts! After all, people need to sleep at night, but ghosts can visit the park whenever!

  So when the human crowds leave, the ghost crowds can come in!

  We went on opening night, and it was amazing. Now that people aren’t there, the ghosts don’t have to be invisible anymore. And let me tell you that they had the time of their lives!

  Mr. Bizarro even allows the ghosts to sleep in the haunted house all day if they want.

  Of course, they sometimes wake up early and scare the riders, but that’s what you get when you go on the haunted house ride. I mean, you can never have too many ghosts in there!

  And guess what? Desmond’s idea worked. The lines at Bizarro Zone are much shorter, and people can ride a lot more rides. Who knew that a day at Bizarro Zone could be even more fun than it was before?!

  Oh, and Mr. Bizarro was so happy with how everything turned out that he said we could come back whenever we wanted. He even let us keep our VIP bracelets!

  I know, I know. You’re wondering if Desmond ever got the chance to eat the Bizarro Biggie Sundae. Well, he did.

  And you know what? He totally finished the whole thing!

  More from this Series

  Beware the Werewolf

  Book 12

  The Vampire Ate My…

  Book 13

  The Haunted House Next…

  Book 1

  Ghosts Don't Ride Bikes,…

  Book 2

  Surf's Up, Creepy Stuff!

  Book 3

  Night of the Zombie…

  Book 4

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR

  Andres Miedoso is still afraid of everything as a grown-up, even after all his adventures with Desmond Cole. He lives in New York City with his family, and he remains very close friends with Desmond but returns to Kersville only when he’s needed.

  Victor Rivas was born and raised in Vigo, Spain, and he lives outside of Barcelona. He has been a freelance illustrator for thirty years, illustrating children’s and teen books, concept art for multimedia and animation, and comics.

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Andres-Miedoso

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Victor-Rivas

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

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  First Little Simon hardcover edition July 2020

  Copyright © 2020 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Also available in a Little Simon paperback edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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  Designed by Steve Scott

  Jacket design by Steve Scott

  Jacket illustrations by Victor Rivas

  Jacket illustrations copyright © 2020 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Miedoso, Andres, author. | Rivas, Victor, illustrator.

  Title: Escape from the Roller Ghoster / by Andres Miedoso ; illustrated by Victor Rivas.

  Description: First Little Simon paperback edition. | New York : Little Simon, 2020.

  Series: Desmond Cole ghost patrol ; 11 | Audience: Ages 5–9. | Audience: Grades K–1.

  Summary: Desmond and Andres try to enjoy their day at the local theme park while being pursued by ghosts.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2019055176 | ISBN 9781534464902 (paperback) |

  ISBN 9781534464919 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534464926 (eBook)

  Subjects: CYAC: Amusement parks—Fiction. | Ghosts—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction. | Hispanic Americans—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.M518 Es 2020 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019055176