Mazie's Sister is Kidnapped by the Bird that Creates Ghosts

     Mazie and her younger sister Ariel love exploring the graveyard near their house. Despite their strict parents  encouragement to act like proper young women who respect the ordinary, both sisters have gothic sensibilities. They are fascinated by eerie and unsettling subject matters such as death, monsters and ghosts. The sisters are also fascinated by people. When they explore the graveyard, they like to look at the names on the headstones. They make up stories about the people buried underneath.
     One day, just as the sun was setting, the two sisters spied something odd in the graveyard. A gigantic bird gobbling up small animals such as squirrels and crows that lived in the graveyard. After the bird swallowed an animal, the sisters heard an odd sound that resembled squeaky gears turning. After a couple of minutes, the bird creature would spit out the animals ghosts. The sisters hid behind a tall gravestone as they watched the horrifying spectacle. Mazie shivered with fear, but Ariel was filled with righteous indignation as she saw innocent animal after innocent animal being consumed and transformed into ghosts. She ran from the hiding spot toward the bird creature. Her attempt to stop the bird was quickly foiled. The bird swallowed up angry Ariel.
     For one horrible moment, Mazie was struck with a sense of deep dread and fear. She thought her sister was gone forever. But soon Mazie's dread was transformed into her own sense of righteous indignation mixed with something even more potent, the need to save her sister. She ran toward the bird, but the bird was too distracted to notice the second human intruder. Although the bird seemed strong, it's leafy skirt was it's Achilles heal. As if by instinct, Mazie tore at the leaves just as she use to pick wildflowers as a child.  With it's leaves gone, the bird withered and broke apart. Mazie acted quickly enough to save her sister from turning into a complete ghost. Although for the rest of her life Ariel would have a translucent left arm, where the ghost creating process had started. The sisters parents were horrified by the arm, but Ariel was proud of it.
     After the incident, Ariel and Mazie abandoned all pretenses of leading a traditional lady-like life. They traveled around the world in search of more mean spirited and menacing creatures. With their cleverness, gumption and diligence, they saved many a person and animal from the clutches of odd and grotesque creatures.