What you think does matter

Hi, I’m Ellie, and last weekend I got tangled up in the weirdest mystery of my life. It all started with Mr. Whiskers—Mrs. Thornton’s grumpy, fat, gray tabby who lives two houses down. Everyone in the neighborhood knows Mr. Whiskers. He’s famous for hissing at kids and stealing hot dogs off backyard grills. But last week, Mr. Whiskers vanished. Mrs. Thornton knocked on every door on our street, asking if anyone had seen him. “He’s never wandered off like this before!” she cried. “He always comes home for dinner!” I wanted to help, mostly because I felt bad for Mrs. Thornton. So I decided to search for Mr. Whiskers. At first, I didn’t find much. A paw print here, a tuft of fur there. Then I saw something strange . In the yard next door, Tyler—the kid I barely talked to because he was so quiet—was sitting on his porch, petting Mr. Whiskers . The thing was, Mr. Whiskers didn’t look grumpy or annoyed, like he usually did around humans. He was sitting perfectly still, staring up at Tyler l...

 Hi, I’m Ellie, and up until last week, I thought my life was totally normal . You know, homework, soccer practice, and sneaking extra snacks before dinner. But then, weird things started happening at my house. And by "weird," I mean alien-level weird . It started with the basement. For the last few weeks, every night at exactly 9:00 PM, a low, buzzing hum vibrated through the house. It wasn’t loud, but it was the kind of sound that makes the hairs on your arms stand up. I asked my mom about it once, and she said, “Oh, it’s just the pipes settling.” Pipes don’t hum like spaceships. Then there was my dad. Last Friday, he spilled a glass of water on his arm, and instead of grabbing a towel like a normal person, he just stared at it. The water rolled off his skin like it was plastic. The strangest thing of all? They were acting too normal. My parents have always been a little quirky—Mom sings made-up songs while she cooks, and Dad loves cheesy puns. But lately, they were acting...