nking about the characters in it and what a
terrific imagination Mr. Baum must have had, when suddenly, out of the
stillness of the house, came a weird screeching sound. The sound was
like nothing he had ever heard before. It seemed to have come from
behind him; from the vicinity of the fireplace. Graham shivered. He did
not believe in ghosts, and at twelve years old (almost thirteen) he
should not be afraid to be home alone. But he was scared right now--no
question about it. However, when no other sound was forthcoming, he
began to rationalize that it had all been his imagination, perhaps just
the wind whistling down the chimney. Then it happened! The awful sound
of breaking glass. "Oh no," he thought. "Someone is breaking in!" He
looked over to the window--then to the French doors. Nothing! Yet the
sound had seemed very close. He glanced at the mirror above the
fireplace only to see that all the glass had gone, leaving an empty
frame. Now he was really frightened. He wondered what had caused the
glass to shatter. Then, to his amazement, all the pieces of slivered
glass suddenly flew up from the fireplace and reconstructed themselves
in the frame.

"I must be going crazy!" thought the poor lad. "All this school work is
getting to be too much for me. I must have cracked completely!" Then all
the lights in the house went out, leaving him in pitch blackness. At
that moment there was a strange crackling sound, and the mirror became
illuminated with a purple glow. A grotesquely human face began to form
into the image of an evil Witch. A loud, screechy cackle emanated from
her throat. It was the same sound he had heard earlier. By now Graham
was absolutely frozen with fear.

The Witch's evil eyes glared at him as she screamed, "So, my little man.
We meet at last. You have hated me ever since you first read about me,
haven't you? HAVEN'T YOU?" she shouted. "ANSWER ME, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
She reached her arms out of the mirror, grabbed him, and shook him hard.
She shook and shook until he thought he was going to be sick. Then she
lifted him right up off the floor and into the mirror. By now Graham was
absolutely terrified. He kicked and screamed and tried to escape, but to
no avail. The Witch was much too strong for him. He found himself
dragged to the other side of the mirror and out into a room in the
Witch's castle, whereupon the Witch immediately released her grip, for
she knew that the boy had nowhere to run.

"Well, wha