Skeleton Man

Molly, a sixth grader and the first-person narrator, begins by stating that she does not know how to start her story, nor does she know her role in the story. She wonders if she hears footsteps on the stairs but realizes that the noise is only the old house creaking. She also wonders if the story she is about to tell is a product of her imagination.

Molly remembers a story that her father, who grew up in Canada on the Akwesasne Mohawk Reserve, once told her about a skeleton monster who started life as a greedy great-great-uncle. The great-uncle ended up devouring his own flesh to satisfy his hunger, leaving only his skeleton behind. He then began eating the other members of his family as they returned home. The last to return was his niece, who recognized that something was very wrong. When the great-uncle tried to entice her to come into the house, she ran away. She also found a helpful rabbit who taught her how to trick her great-uncle.

Molly returns to her own story, revealing that her parents have disappeared. For several days, she takes care of herself and hides her parents’ absence, telling her parents’ employers and her school that the whole family is sick.