'Scotty's Ghost Hunt'

Soon an eerie voice answered: "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day . . . "

"That's the voice!" Alex cried.

"That's a line from Macbeth!" his mom said. "Who's reciting Shakespeare?"

Turning the lights back on, I asked if I could inspect the room. Alex had a closet with a sliding door, and that was where I found the "ghost." It was a red and blue macaw, which is a big parrot, and that was exactly the kind of bird Mr. Waller had lost. It must have gotten away and flown through Alex's bedroom window and then found a nice cozy place to hang out, where it could be heard, but not seen.

It was really tame and friendly. When Dad and I returned it to Mr. Waller, who lived just down the street from Alex, he told us that the bird's name was "Banquo," which is a character from Macbeth. That's why he was teaching it to recite Shakespeare. But the funny thing? In the play, Banquo shows up as a ghost.

So in a sense Alex was right: there really was a "ghost" in his room!

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kidsreadingroom@latimes.com; visit latimes.com/kids for more Kids' Reading Room. To learn more about Mike Mallory, visit www.michaelmallory.com.

Special thanks to Mike and Brendan Mallory for this week's illustration.

Next week: Read Alvaro Huerta's new story, "The Dreamer."