Devils Pocket

The Devil’s Pocket is a scary story for kids about two brothers who toss a coin into a quarry.

It was an old, abandoned quarry, and the two brothers were forbidden to ever climb down into it or even go near it. A long time ago there had been a cave-in at the bottom of the quarry, and several men from the village had been trapped under tons of stone and slate. They were never seen again.

“The stone swallowed them up!” their parents would warn the boys whenever they spoke of the quarry. Then they would be threatened with all kinds of punishments if they were ever caught near the quarry. And finally their father would look up from under his glasses, and in his deepest voice he would say, “It’s the devil’s pocket — don’t ever throw a penny in it!”

There were other stories floating around the village… Rumors about the strange, haunting echoes that filled the quarry late at night when the wind was still. But the more stories the boys heard about the quarry, the more fascinated they became with the devil’s pocket.

“I’m not afraid,” said Marty, looking down into the bottom of the quarry. “I’m going to throw a penny into it!”

“You better not!” cried Bruce. “We’re not even supposed to be standing here.” And he started to pull his younger brother away from the edge of the quarry.

“You’re just afraid!” exclaimed Marty, taking an old, dull penny from his pocket and throwing it as far as he could into the quarry.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Marty! You know what we were told!”

“Shhhhhhhh — listen.”

“Ping! Pinggggg!” echoed the quarry. “CLINK! Pingggggggggggg!”

“Did you hear it? Did you hear? Did you hear my penny? C’mon, let’s climb down — just once,” cried Marty, suddenly breaking away from his brother.

“Marty, you come back here!” But it was too late. Marty was already running down the side of the quarry. “You’re going to get it!” shouted Bruce as he chased after his brother.

And the devil’s pocket echoed back: “You’re going to get it! “GOING TO GET IT! “GET IT!”

And before the echo died, both boys were standing side by side at the bottom of the quarry.

“Boooo!” cried Marty as loudly as he could.

And the devil’s pocket echoed back: “Booooooooo… BOOOOOOOOOOO… BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…”

“Come on, Marty. Let’s go home!”

And the devil’s pocket repeated: “Goooooooo hoooooooome… GOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOME!”

Ignoring his older brother, Marty began running around the bottom of the quarry, playing games with his echo, running and shouting until the quarry was filled with howls and screams and laughter.

Then all of a sudden Marty tripped over a rock, and for a moment the quarry was still. “Now you’ve done it!” cried Bruce, running to help his brother.

“You’ve done it… YOU’VE DONE IT… DONE IT…”

Now the devil’s pocket seemed to be mocking them.

“Look what I found!” Marty cried, jumping to his feet. “My penny! It’s my penny!” And he held it up for his brother to see as he danced around and around with glee. Then he shouted to the quarry, “I found my penny! I found my penny! I found my penny!”

“My penny… MY PENNY… MY PENNY…” the quarry echoed back.

“That’s not your penny,” said Bruce. “Look how shiny and new it is.”

Marty looked down at the penny gleaming in the palm of his hand. “It is so my penny.” And he shouted back at the quarry, “It’s my penny! It’s my penny!”

But this time the devil’s pocket did not echo back, and both boys stared at each other in the silence.

“I’m scared,” Marty whimpered, stuffing the penny in his pocket. “Let’s go home.”

“Better not take it,” Bruce whispered as he carefully scanned the rocks and the sides of the quarry.

And the quarry echoed loudly: “Better not take it! “BETTER NOT TAKE IT! NOT TAKE IT! NOT TAKE IT! NOT TAKE IT!”

And the echo grew and swelled, repeating the same words over and over again as both boys scrambled up the side of the quarry and ran as fast as they could straight for home.

Before they went to bed, Marty placed the gleaming penny on the night table between their beds, and both boys took a long look at it before they finally fell asleep.

That night both boys had the same dream. They dreamed that the devil’s pocket was calling them, calling them to give back the penny.

Perhaps it was only a dream, but when morning came, the two brothers found themselves huddled together in one bed — and the penny was gone!