Years ago, probably before many of you were born, I would tell a story to the kids in my neighborhood on Village Drive in Morgantown, West Virginia, about an old lady who lived at the bottom of a lake. In this story, wicked "Old Lady" would come out at night and kidnap children to work for her in her dilapidated castle. Each time I told the story I changed it, and I would sometimes pretend to carry off some of the kids. They would laugh or scream in delight as I went after them. I knew then that I would have the story of Old Lady with me forever. And, here it is in the following pages, with Old Lady still being wicked, but ... well, you have to read it to find out what happens to her.

Through the years, I have continued to tell this story to new young friends and family. If it wasn't for my great-grandson Mason, who gave me the inspiration to put the story in a children's book, I don't think it would have ever been written down. In the story, he is Captain Mason, who ... well, read it to see what he does.

• Ron Iannone