Halloween - 24 sweetly creepy Short Storis from the ASTRO-Universe (eBook)

Martin Wintersberger, Manuela Wieninger (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
145 Seiten
Astro Entertainment (Verlag)
978-3-99119-063-9 (ISBN)

Infos

Are you ready for an exciting Halloween adventure on the Lunar Station? This book contains 24 spine-tingling stories full of secrets, ghosts and unexpected encounters. Join Astro, Claire and their friends as they explore invisible figures, ancient catacombs and mysterious machines. Whether it's the brave Ozelot traveling through space or Erik being suddenly surprised by a floating lantern, each story will take you closer to the edge of the moon and make your heart beat faster. But beware: sometimes the greatest mysteries lurk where you least expect them... Get ready for the spookiest time of the year!

Martin Wintersberger, the 'Rocket Man', combines his love of space with a mission: to inspire children through his books to become independent and self-thinking adults. His colourful tales of interstellar adventures motivate young readers to develop their curiosity and creativity. Martin hopes that his stories will encourage children to explore the boundaries of their own worlds, becoming fearless and independent in the process. 'By teaching children to be confident, we enable them to become the architects of their own future.' Manuela Wieninger, better known as the 'Story Magician', is a cheerful actress who enchants children and adults alike with her talent for slipping into any role. Her love of storytelling led her from the theatre straight into the world of children's literature. When she's not on stage, she's writing a new book. At home, surrounded by stacks of old fairy tale books, she is always on the lookout for the next great adventure - be it on Earth or in distant galaxies. 'Courage is the magic that makes dreams come true.'

Textauszug

The Secret of Cave Paintings

The Winter family – Marvin, Lilly, Astro and Claire – were hiking through the imposing mountain landscape of Alpha Prime. It was a peaceful environment, the air was clear and fresh and the wide sky stretched endlessly above them in blue. But the mood quickly changed as dark clouds gathered and a distant rumble of thunder broke through the sky. ‘We should hurry,’ Marvin said anxiously as the first raindrops fell. ’There's a cave up ahead where we can seek shelter.’

The family ran the last few metres to the cave, and no sooner had they reached the shelter of the rocks than the rain set in with full force. Thick drops pelted the ground, the thunder rolled loudly and menacingly over the mountains. The wind carried wafts of mist that crept like ghostly figures over the slopes and obscured the view.

The cave was dry, but cold and dark. Marvin lit a small fire, which crackled as it sent its flames licking upwards. The warmth of the fire enveloped the family, but the flickering shadows it cast on the cave walls intensified the eerie atmosphere. Claire, sitting next to Astro, looked around the cave. ‘Look, Astro,’ she whispered, pointing at the walls. ’There are pictures.’

The walls of the cave were indeed covered with ancient murals – ancient, faded depictions of humanoids, animals and strange, shadowy figures. Some seemed threatening, as if they had been created by a long-forgotten civilisation that had once inhabited the mountains.

Marvin smiled mysteriously as he looked at the drawings. ‘You know,’ he said, ‘these mountains are full of legends. People say that these wall paintings are a warning,’ and he winked at his wife Lilly, who rolled her eyes and smiled. Astro and Claire looked up at their father curiously. ‘A warning about what?’ asked Astro.

Marvin sat down on a stone and let the fire crackle between them. ‘It is said that many hundreds of years ago, a people lived here who discovered an ancient power deep in the mountains. They found a cave so hidden in the rocks that they believed it was the entrance to another world. The cave was full of secrets – strange noises, moving shadows, and a presence that no one could explain.’ Claire shuddered, and the rain outside lashed even harder against the cave entrance.

Marvin took another look at the wall paintings, as if bringing the ancient stories back to life. ‘They wanted to discover the secret of the cave, but the deeper they went, the more they sensed that something was wrong. They say they awakened an ancient guardian that watched over the caves. He wasn't a creature of flesh and blood, but of mist and shadow, and he hunted down anyone who ventured too far into the mountains. And his sole purpose was to protect the secret of the mountain.’

The children stared spellbound at the shadows cast by the fire on the walls. Every gust of wind outside made the flames flicker and the shadows dance as if they were alive. ‘But that's just a story, isn't it?’ Astro asked somewhat uncertainly. Marvin shrugged. ‘Who knows? They say that this guardian still lurks in the mountains, always on the lookout for intruders. And when the fog gets so thick that you can't see your hand in front of your face... then... the Guardian returns... and the last hour has struck.’

A sudden gust of wind whistled through the cave entrance, the smoke from the fire swirled around, while a loud thunder sounded outside. The whole family jumped, because the rumble of thunder in the mountains is much louder than you would imagine. At that moment, it seemed as if the fog in front of the cave was getting thicker. The clouds crept towards the cave entrance as if guided by an invisible hand.

Claire clung to Lilly's arm. ‘Dad, this isn't funny.’

Marvin grinned, but even he seemed a little nervous. ‘It's just the wind and the rain. Nothing more. I hope so…’ But then they heard it. A soft, scraping sound, like footsteps approaching in the fog. The family held their breath, the children moving closer to their parents. The fire flickered weakly, the shadows dancing even more eerily on the walls. ‘Did you hear that too?’ Astro whispered. Marvin slowly got up and went to the cave entrance. The fog had almost reached the cave, and it looked as if figures were wandering around in the mist. Shadows that had no fixed form, but were still there.

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound echoed through the cave and a shadow, larger than the others, emerged from the fog. The children screamed and Marvin took a step back. The shadow seemed to rise up, like a giant sentry of fog, watching them.

The family remained motionless as it suddenly became light again and the rain stopped. Then everything was quiet. ‘Was that... the guard?’ Claire asked quietly. Marvin shook his head, a weak smile playing around his lips. ‘Maybe it was...’ The children looked at their mother, who whispered with a smile, ‘It was just a brief storm on the mountain. It comes quickly and violently. But it helps to tell each other scary stories, then time passes more quickly!’ Lilly and Marvin gave each other a loving look, gathered up their things, and the family set off for home. But behind them, the sky turned black again and the fog grew thicker and thicker.

Viki, the Vampire

Once, three bats, Viki, Nyx and Drako, had lost their way because they hadn't paid attention to the airway, and ended up in that container of soil that was destined for the Lunar Station. By the time they realised their mistake, it was already too late. A biped had locked the container, and it was now on its way to the Lunar Station. The three bats made themselves comfortable in the warm soil, which smelled incredibly good and was soft as straw.

After a long flight to the Lunar Station, the container, including soil and bats, landed in the biomass hall. As always, technician Matthew Harper opened the container door to allow the temperature to equalise before the soil was distributed the next day. That night, Viki, Nyx and Drako left the container, unaware that they were many hundreds of thousands of kilometres from their home planet Alpha Prime, and looked for a nice branch to hang from just before dawn.

Astrolabius was walking along the promenade as usual with shooting star. But today something was different. Astro couldn't get going at all, was sweating like crazy and shooting star was always hanging around somewhere else. He barked for no reason, so some Mondians woke up earlier than usual – and for the first time in a long while, they were on time for work. Shooting star, it seemed, even wanted to climb a tree. He kept jumping up and down on the trunk, as if there was something up there. Astrolabius was annoyed; today the two of them weren't a good team. He picked up Shooting Star and dragged himself back home.

‘You can't even get a good night's sleep,’ Drako grumbled to his big sister Viki. “I agree,” murmured Nyx and licked his pointed teeth, ’Viki, do something.’ ‘You're always complaining, you crybabies, I'll do it,’ Viki hissed back, who led the group, because in the Bats, the girls were the bosses. They decided to find a quieter place, although the view here was truly unique. Through small tunnels in the walls, they flew to the hydroponic garden, where they immediately felt comfortable. Nyx accidentally landed in the hair of a humanoid, but was quickly able to free herself again and hid again with Viki and Drako in the branches of a bush.

‘You have such beautiful, thick, red hair, my dear,’ said hairdresser Holger, raving about Amanda's hair. ’I have no idea how you do it. Tell me your secret. I beg of you!’ “You're always so charming,” Amanda Scott blushed a little, “wash and air-dry... that's all.” “Unbelievable...,” Holger replied, “...but brilliant!” ’And you're sure I didn't pull out a clump at the back of my head? I really thought I got caught on something. It was a strange feeling, as if I had got caught somewhere. Can you see anything? This has never happened to me before,‘ Amanda Scott asked uneasily. “No, your hair looks ”perfect’!’ beamed Holger, “Your hair is perfect!” and then raved about the great skin and hair care products from Kim's shop.

Suddenly the bats woke up again, this time because of the noise of strange wing beats. A horde of blue butterflies had spread out and invaded the bats' airspace. It was the middle of the day and the bats didn't want to spring into action. Although a bite of butterfly would have been nice in between. But they were just too tired. A little later, but not before the situation for the bats became even more uncomfortable due to an angry crowd of humanoid bipeds, everyone calmed down again and evening fell. Time to wake up!

The already somewhat grumpy bat boys followed Viki through the corridors to the biomass hall, but there was no container to be seen far and wide. The group was very clever and knew that the container was a gateway to another world. Their world. So they just had to fly in, sleep, wake up and they would be back home on Alpha Prime. But they didn't want to spend the night in the empty, cold hall, so they flew back to the cosy hydroponic garden and hung themselves upside down from a few branches. Still half asleep, they suddenly spotted a small group of humanoids and a few blue butterflies in a box. When the humanoids were gone, they followed the smell of the box with their sniffer noses and hid near it. As soon as a biped opened it, they wanted to eat the delicious blue butterflies, because the three had become very hungry from all the not sleeping and not eating.

Surprisingly, the box...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 4.10.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kinder- / Jugendbuch
• ISBN-10: 3-99119-063-X / 399119063X
• ISBN-13: 978-3-99119-063-9 / 9783991190639