31 Days of Halloween Tales - Sister Knows Best

A story of siblings entitled:

Sister Knows Best

"Are you sure this is the way?"

I looked at the hand-drawn map in my hand and nodded.

"I think so. Maybe it just looks different now that it is getting dark."

"I have to say Dee, this is the craziest thing you have ever dragged me into."

"Well, you didn't want me to come here alone! I could have you know, but you insisted."

"I wasn't about to let my sister wander into some strange bar in the middle of nowhere without some backup. This guy should know better than to do this on a blind date."

She was probably right, as usual. But it wasn't exactly a "blind" date. Shaun and I had Skyped several times before tonight and he looked pretty normal as far as I could tell.

But my sister was relentless. "I've never heard of this bar Dee, I even Googled it and nothing came up."

"Shaun said it's fairly new so maybe that is why you couldn't find it."

That sounded lame, even for me but I hated to admit I was wrong to Lori. "Sis, we'll know in a couple of minutes either way. It should be right here." I tried to sound optimistic but I was faltering.

"Stop." The word came out of my sister in a whisper but her tone was enough to stop me dead.

"What's the matter?"

"Shhhh… listen."

"Is it coming from the bar?'" I said the words although the small cottage showed no signs of life or of being an actual bar of any type.

"That is no bar, Dee. It's a friggin shack in the middle of the woods."

I had to admit she was right again.

"Someone is coming."

Lori grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my flesh. I would think about smacking her later but right then I was too scared. She yanked me behind some bushes just before an old Chevy Blazer pulled in front of the shack and stopped. The driver's door opened and Shaun stepped out.

I nearly yelled for him but my instincts were already sending out more warning signals than I could deal with at the moment and Lori's nail were still digging into my arm.

Shaun walked around to the rear of the Blazer and opened the back. I lost sight of him for a minute or so but when he reappeared, he was carrying a young woman in his arms. Her wrists and ankles were bound by something and from her muffled screams I guessed she must have been gagged as well. She was struggling to free herself but in just seconds he managed to snatch her inside the shack.

"What the fuck?" Lori didn't cuss often but when she did, watch out.

"What the hell? Is he actually with another girl?"

Lori looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

"What?"

"Shaun invited me here and he shows up with another girl?"

"Dee, please listen to yourself. That girl is in trouble."

That thought hadn't occurred to me, I thought this was some kind of weird sexual game or some strange fetish. I had read Fifty Shades of Gray after all.

My first instinct was to run away, fast.

"What should we do?"

Lori didn't answer me, she was already walking towards the shack.

I caught up to Lori and peeked into the window with her.

Shaun had the girl on a large table and was strapping her down to it. The girl was fighting him with all she had but he seemed to just ignore her struggle. When she was secured he removed the tape from her mouth.

****

The scream hurt and I had to cover my ears. If I thought for one moment that this was all some lover's game, that idea was shot to hell with the sound of that scream.

Lori was already running towards the door.

I stepped into the shack a second after Lori. The girl on the table was screaming at both of us to help her.

It was then that I noticed Shaun, or what used to be Shaun. It was more like a Wolf-Shaun combo.

What I could see of his skin was now covered with a dark gray fur but his face had completely transformed into something else. He was wolf-like or maybe wolfish, that much I can say for sure.  I don't know if it recognized me but there did seem to be something in it's eyes as it turned it's gaze away from the girl on the table  and towards the two women standing in the doorway. 

I heard Lori scream just as the Shaun-wolf lunged towards us.

 ****

I wasn't ready for the blast. Even if I had seen it coming I might not have been ready for it. My ears rang loudly and I was quite sure I was deaf, but at least I could no longer hear the girl's screams.

Lori hadn't moved but Shaun, he was back to being just Shaun, was now lying on the floor, a small red stain spreading on his shirt, a large burgundy puddle forming beneath where he lay.

"Are you alright?"

I thought I heard a voice but I couldn't be sure. I turned around and saw my brother Abraham standing in the doorway. I think I fainted then but just before the room swayed, I caught a glimpse of the gun in his hands.

 ****

By the time I woke up I was already back in my car and Lori was driving at what I would consider a high rate of speed.

My head hurt from its unfortunate connection with the wood floor of the cottage and I winced as I fingered the large egg on the back of my skull.

"What happened?"

"What happened, Dee? What happened??!!" My sister's voice was shrill and practically screaming at me. It made my head hurt even more.

"I'll tell you what happened, Miss Deidre Van Helsing. What always happens with you. You get yourself involved with some supernatural creature and your siblings have to come and get you out of the mess you created. A werewolf. What the hell were thinking? Grandma's House? You actually wanted to go to a bar named Grandma's House?? 

I hadn't thought of that and I should have. My brother and sister always know that kind of stuff and I've often wonderhow did those genes miss me?

"And that loser last month??  He was a vampire, Dee. A blood sucking vampire."

She was still ranting but I managed to tune her out as I stretched out on the backseat. She was right though. I had to admit my luck with men lately wasn't all that great.

Perhaps I should try a different dating site. 

When I signed up with SexyBeastsForLove this wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

31 Days of Halloween Tales ~ Dinner Anyone??

You are invited to read:

Dinner Anyone??

Looking back on that day, the storm, the darkness, the coldness of the summer wind, I should have known that something was wrong. I should have been more aware.

A late summer storm had relieved me of electricity and without a television and the Red Sox to keep me occupied, I found myself napping in the darkness of my living room. I was in the middle of a very strange dream involving a child’s grave and some shoes that didn’t fit when I was awakened by a soft tap upon my front door. The storm had washed out a good portion of the driveway that led to my house so it was quite a surprise when I discovered an elderly woman standing upon my front porch.

“Good evening Mr. Kelley” the ancient voice cracked.

I stared at the strange figure before me. She was tiny, barely five foot tall with short stubby arms and legs which seemed to protrude from an oversized torso. The skin on her face was smooth but it was her eyes that gave away her age. Ancient, blue eyes the color of frozen ice, sunken deep into her skull, stared out at me over smooth, pale cheeks. A tight, silver bun sat on the top of her head and not one single hair appeared out of place although a cool, stiff breeze was still blowing. Her matter of dress was stranger yet, a floor length dress with a high ruffled collar, which given the summer heat, seemed quite unbearable. I had seen similar clothing in the yellowed photographs of my great-grandmother as readied for church garbed in her Sunday best. The woman’s dress appeared ironed and stiff as one would expect but it was covered with a coating of dust which I also found quite odd.

I could not say anything for a moment, taken aback as I was by her unexpected appearance and I had no idea how the woman knew my name as I had just recently taken residence in the house. After a fashion, I was able to speak.

“Can I help you?”

“As a matter of fact, I believe you can Mr. Kelley. I prepared an elaborate dinner before the storm arrived as I was expecting some friends but now it appears that with the main road closed, my company will not be able to make it. Would you care to join myself and two of my neighbors for dinner? I live just past the bend in the road, you know the place, don’t you? And you will join us?”

I nodded amicably. I was embarrassed that I did not know her name and ashamed to admit I did not know the whereabouts of her house but I felt I could find it without much trouble. Besides, all I had in my refrigerator was a now, luke warm beer, and some congealed leftover pasta that would not be fit to eat without the assistance of a microwave.

“When you see my mailbox, take the little path towards the house, it is quicker than the road. I will expect you within the half hour. Do hurry Mr. Kelley. Waste not, want not.”

And then, she was gone, disappeared actually. I thought it was a trick of the shadows that now covered my front entrance and driveway combined with the fact that I had been awakened so abruptly so I shook off the feelings of apprehension, closed the door and went up the stairs to my bedroom and bath. 

I splashed my face with cold water and tried to wrap my head around what had transpired. I found the entire event bizarre but still found myself desiring to go. I quickly changed my clothes into something better suited for dinner with an obviously proper lady and hurried out into the darkening evening. For some reason, I thought it best not to be late for this dinner.

I had just reached the end of my driveway and stepped onto the pavement of the road when a white bolt of lightning struck the large oak tree outside of my house sending it crashing into the living room where I had been sleeping just a short time before. I stood in shock as a watched the scene play out before me and I must have been a sight in my jeans and suit jacket standing in the road as my house crumbled before me. Needless to say, I forgot about my dinner plans.

It was some days later after the emergency vehicles and the insurance claim adjuster had come and gone; that I remembered the elderly woman and felt I should find her and explain my absence. In the coolness of the early evening, I headed down my driveway once more and walked the short distance to the bend in the road that the woman spoke of.

I found the mailbox right away, a rusted clump of metal with the letters, “Clar_  S_lliv_n” still attached. I took the path she suggested but instead of arriving at a house, I found myself at the entrance of a small cemetery. It consisted of only three headstones and I shivered as I approached them. The largest of the three stood in the middle. As I looked at the stone, I felt the hair stand up on my arms and the graze of cold fingers upon the back of my neck.

Clara Louise Sullivan

Beloved Teacher and Friend

1830 – 1925

“Waste Not, Want Not”

The evening shadows were hanging from the stones and I felt it best not to linger any longer in this makeshift graveyard when my wits were clearly not about me. I turned to go and leave the unholy place but paused when I noticed some scratchings which looked like letters in the soil.

The ground in front of Clara’s stone was void of grass and the dirt was soft and newly turned which I found quite peculiar since the cemetery seemed otherwise to be quite unkempt. I knelt down and strained my eyes to better see what was there but upon reading the message, I became terrified and fell backwards into the damp grass.  

In the soft, dark dirt in front of the gravestone, written by what I, in my fear, supposed to be a finger, were the words,

“You are welcome Mr. Kelley.”

I have not been back for dinner.

31 Days of Halloween Tales - In the Name of Love

A tasty little story entitled:

In the Name of Love

"Two things you must know before you continue Quentin. First, what is once seen cannot be unseen. And second, and mostly importantly, you can't ever go back."

I stood before this gorgeous and delicious woman and thought how could I not do this. I loved her and no matter how I wished it wasn't so, that wasn't ever going to change.

I've always believed in Fate, that we are predestined to a path and should we attempt to veer from this path, the consequences would be dire. And Alyssa was my destiny. From the first moment I laid eyes on her, I knew it.

Two halves of the same soul, searching for one another. Her lonely soul called out to mine across miles, across ages and I was led to her by something we could never have foreseen.

What is an eternity if you are not with the one you love? She told me of the emptiness she had endured the last two centuries and I thought of what would happen to her if I said no to her now. Imagining my beloved Alyssa wandering this earth forever alone, I simply could not bear it. I would sacrifice who I was, who I was meant to be for her. For love.

"I understand my love, and I will not abandon you. I can no more change my mind than I can change my heart. Now, stop worrying, this is my choice and my will to do this."

I took her hand into mine and offered my throat in return.

31 Days of Halloween Tales - The Muffin Man

A wee tale entitled:

The Muffin Man

"Shut my curtains, Mommy."

"They are shut, sweetie."

"No, I want them shut real tight."

"Real tight?"

"So he can't peek in."

"So who can't peek in?"

"The Muffin Man."

"The Muffin Man? What Muffin Man?"

"You know. The Muffin Man. From the book in the library. He peeks in my window at night when I am trying to go to sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mommy."

"What do you think he wants, sweetie?"

"I think he wants me to let him in."

31 Days of Halloween Tales - Food For Thought

A short story entitled:

Food For Thought

You can't ever go back, Tam.

Tammy didn't want to go back, not now not ever.

Tammy loaded up the trunk and the back seat of the car with everything that she managed to salvage from the small two bedroom trailer.

The last three years of her life had been a nightmare. The death of her father four years before had started the wheels turning in the wrong direction and then her mother died a year later. Tammy spent six months in foster care which hadn't been a picnic either until her brother, Arthur managed to gain custody of her.

At first Tammy thought everything was going to be alright but by then Art had married Drew and things went from bad to worse.  With more than enough encouragement from his wife, Art began to dabble in drugs and it wasn't long before  the abuse began. It was bearable at first but as it began to occur more frequently and with greater violence, Tammy realized it was only a matter for time before they killed her, either on purpose or accidentally.

Tammy was tough and it is possible that she could have endured it a while longer if it hadn't been for Belle.  The sweet yellow lab was nothing more than a punching bag for her brother and Drew didn't bother to feed her most of the time. Yeah, maybe she could have lasted a while longer but she was pretty sure Belle couldn't.

She slipped on her backpack and grabbed Belle's leash. The yellow lab would never be hungry again, not as long as Tammy was alive anyway. The backpack was filled with the few valuables her mother had left behind and whatever money Tammy had been able to find hidden in the trailer. It wasn't much but it was enough to get them into California before dark.

Tammy climbed behind the steering wheel of the old Chevy Cavalier and scratched the ears of the dog in the passenger seat next to her. Behind them the last of the trailer burned in the early morning dawn.

It had been six months since Art and Drew disappeared and not one single person had stopped by to see where they were. Someone might come looking eventually, they might even wonder whatever happened to good old Art and Drew.

They wouldn't find them however. They were completely gone.

Belle belched softly in the seat next to her, her tummy full and round once again. Tammy laughed, and realized how ironic it was that while Art and Drew might not have cared for Belle when they were alive, in death, they cared for her more than they would have ever imagined.

Tammy pulled away without giving them another thought leaving the dirt lot and the burning embers behind.

31 Days of Halloween Tales - Walk This Way

A chilly tale entitled:

Walk This Way

I don't know if you've heard this story before, you can stop me if you have.

Otherwise you might want to listen.


It was a stupid dare but I thought it would be fun. Spend Halloween night in a cemetery. No big deal. Lots of kids do it, right?

I was ready. I had my iPad and phone, both fully charged with an extra battery for each. I didn't even show up at the cemetery until after nine. I figured I would stay awake for a couple of hours and then curl up in my sleeping bag and go to sleep, wake up early and then head home for a shower before school. I couldn't be late for school again, I was already on the brink of getting in deep trouble for being tardy three days that semester.

That was my plan anyway.

And you know what they say about plans, you make them and God laughs. I wonder if he is still laughing.

By the time I arrived at Cedar Grove Cemetery, the trick or treaters were all gone and the streets were empty. I thought I knew the cemetery pretty well, I cut through there every day to go to school but let me tell you, it looks quite different at night.  The path I normally took every morning which was basically a dirt road, was now covered in shadow, and the green grass of  day was now a sulky black.

During the day the place seems quiet and peaceful, at night, it's downright creepy.

I had a place all set out in my mind when I took the dare, there is a huge old tree over by the stone wall that surrounds the cemetery itself that I thought would make a pretty good camping spot. I think its an oak tree but I don't really know for sure.  I've sat beneath it a couple of times when I had to finish up some forgotten homework before school. Even a genius like me forgets stuff.

During the day, it's a nice enough place to sit and contemplate things but in the dark, with its branches bare, the tree looks like a crooked and twisted monster. Something that could eat you if you weren't careful enough. It didn't change my mind about where I was going to stay however. At least I knew this place. The devil you know and all that.

There also aren't any graves nearby so I didn't have to worry about stepping on anyone.

So I'm creeped out already but I find my way to the tree and get settled in for what I think is going to be a quiet night. And it was, for awhile. I listened to some music and read for a bit then settled in to watch a movie on my iPad. Abbott and Costello meet the Mummy. It's funny movie but still good for a Halloween night in a graveyard.

I think I watched  just about all of it before I fell asleep but I can't remember exactly. I could try and figure it out if it was important but it doesn't matter to the story, not really.

I do know the exact time when I woke up because I checked my phone to see if maybe I had been there long enough and I could go home and sleep in my own bed.

It was one minute till midnight and the cemetery was full of people.

When someone of importance dies in Jordan Village, they are often buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery. When this happens the streets outside the cemetery are lined with black limousines and the cemetery is overrun with other important people, usually politicians or Mayflower descendant family members.  You know, old money.

But even on those days when you could hardly get out of your own driveway because of all the cars, I had never seen this many people in Cedar Grove before. There must have been a hundred of them.

At first I couldn't imagine what would bring all these people out on Halloween night, was it some sort of Halloween Party game? This is what your rational mind tries to tell you when something irrational is happening to it. Otherwise it would just explode.

So I just sat there quietly watching the parade of people lumber through the cemetery as if it was a normal every day occurrence. I was okay with that, believing that it was normal until the people started disappearing right in front of me. I thought it was just a trick of the night, the full moon and the darkness playing havoc on my eyesight but soon I realized they were actually disappearing.

Sort of anyway. It was an old woman I noticed first. She was bent over as if her back was aching or she was quite crippled. She was moving very slowly towards a grave to my right and I watched her as she appeared to be kneeling down to pray in front of the headstone.

As I continued to stare at the old woman I realized she wasn't kneeling at all, she was actually fading into the grave. At first I could see her entire body, then her legs were gone, then her waist and arms until finally she disappeared altogether.

I thought it was odd although I really didn't believe what I was seeing at the time. Your mind protects you as best as it can against things that don't fit into your world as they should and it needed a lot of protection that night as I watched similar scenes being played out over and over in the cemetery. Dozens of people, or should I say spirits, returning to their graves as if they were out for nothing more than a leisurely stroll.

I should mention here that the returning spirits took no notice of me at all as I watched them dissipate into their final resting places. I could guess that this was either because I was too afraid to move and they just didn't notice my presence or perhaps it was that I didn't matter to them at all.

Either way I watched all of them complete their journeys and as the final spirit faded, a tall lanky man who didn't walk as much as shuffle back into his grave, I heard the clock tower at City Hall chime the hour of midnight.

Halloween was officially over and November arrived right on time.



I decided I had stayed long enough to cover my dare, plus I was freezing on that cold Autumn morning.

I packed up my things, rolled up my sleeping bag, and walked back home which is just up the street from the cemetery. I slept like the dead that night and I ended up being late for school the next day after all. I got three days of detention that first week of November in 2012.

I still cut through the cemetery every morning, its a shortcut and a good one at that, but I never go back to the cemetery after dark. Especially on Halloween.


But if you ever happen to find yourself in Jordan Village on All Hallows Eve you might want to visit Cedar Grove Cemetery a few minutes before midnight just to see for yourself.

I won't be there but don't worry.

You won't be alone.

31 Days of Halloween Tales - Goodnight Irene

A silly tale entitled:

Goodnight Irene

The room was lit only by a tiny nightlight and what moonlight managed to peek in from the window as three young girls huddled together silently on the narrow twin bed, afraid, yet enthralled of what was to come.

"It happened a long long time ago, before I was born, I'm not sure when exactly. My Grandfather Edward was lost at sea and my Grandmother Irene held seances right here in this very room so that she could talk to him.

Susie spoke up first. "Did she? Talk to him I mean?"

Melanie looked at her friends on the bed and smiled in the dark. This was going to be easy.

"Yes she did. She had never been alone you see and couldn't bear it."

"What happened?" Linda whispered.

"Well, they actually held three seances here in what was once the library but it wasn't till the third seance that Grandma Irene saw her dead husband. In the flesh."

One of the girls gasped but Melanie couldn't tell which one. She grinned a little broader then continued.

"The four of them were sitting around a table right where that bed is now. Just sitting and waiting as they had during the first two seances but this time Grandpa Edward came.

First the room became ice cold, cold enough so that the four people sitting around the table could see their breath come out in a white clouds in front of their faces. And then the candle blew out all on its own so that the room was really dark. Sort of like it is right now."

One of the girls began whimpering. Melanie thought it was Susie but couldn't be sure.

"Then, when it was so dark that they could barely see,  my Grandma heard Grandpa singing the song he sang to her every night as they were getting ready for bed…

Irene goodnight
Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene
Goodnight Irene 
I'll see you in my dreams.

And right there... in that doorway right next to you…  stood my Grandpa Edward singing to my Grandma just like he always did."

My best friend Cheryl giggled nervously but said nothing.

"Did they ever see him again?"

Melanie was ready. "Oh yes! We see him all the time!"

No one moved for a moment or two then Linda snapped on the lamp next to the bed. It shed a little more light into the room than the tiny nightlight had but not much.

The four girls just looked at each other in silence until Susie stuck out her tongue. "You're lying, Melanie. You're nothing but a big liar. Your house is so not haunted." She stuck her lip out and pouted. Melanie felt like slapping her. "Now, I get to choose a game and I want to play Mystery Date."

Melanie shrugged "Well okay, if you don't believe me."  She leaned over and dug the game out from beneath her bed. Leave it to Susie.

The four girls gathered in a circle on the floor and set up the game. Linda was just about to roll the dice when the singing began.

"What was that?" Susie squealed.

"It's nothing. Just my Grandpa." Melanie noted matter-of-factly.

The singing grew louder as it drew closer to the room.

Goodnight Irene
Goodnight Irene
I'll see you in my dreams.

Linda screamed and Susie ran towards the open window. Melanie thought she just might jump.

The door slowly opened and there stood Grandpa Edward. Smiling and singing.

Susie screamed and darted past Grandpa Edward, with Linda close on her heels. The two girls were still carrying on when Melanie's mom shuttled them into her old Dodge to take them both home.

Cheryl was laughing hysterically.

"What was that all about Melly?"

"Just some scaredy cats Mom made me invite over to spend the night but they changed their minds I guess. Can you take us for ice cream, Grandpa?"

"Sure kiddo. Just let me tell your Grandma we are leaving."

31 Days of Halloween Tales - The Perfect Spot

A wee bit of a tale entitled:

The Perfect Spot

"This is it! It's perfect!!

Cliff looked at me to check if I was kidding. "Are you sure? It's a little out of the way."

"Oh no, I just love it!"

Now, I know you aren't supposed to show your emotions when buying real estate but I was thrilled with what we had found. Yes, I suppose it was a little out of the way but I liked the idea of the isolation and the quiet.

I had been looking for the perfect spot for several years but none had ever fit the bill exactly. They were often either too warm or too sunny or too dark but  more often than not, they were simply too crowded for my taste. I was a loner and had been for most of my life. A secluded place thick with ancient trees and lush grass sounded like the perfect match for me. People were nothing more than a mere annoyance and the less I had to be around them the better.

"Yep. This is it. The one I have been looking for all this time."

Cliff seemed to resign himself that my search was indeed over. "Well, if you are sure we can go back to the office and write it up."

I was more than sure, I was elated.

"Thanks," I said. "That would be just great!"

We went back to his little office at the front of the property and in less than an hour it was all done. I was the proud owner of the perfect spot.

I drove past my newly acquired property one last time before I left, taking in the beauty of it and imagining myself resting there.

I noticed Cliff standing outside his office and I waved good bye to him as I passed by, he was frowning a bit, I couldn't imagine why. It was beautiful, and perfect, and I was thrilled with my purchase.

Dusk was just beginning to fall and the late afternoon shadows were starting to  lengthen across the gravel road as I made my way towards the exit.

I glanced in my rear view mirror one last time before I drove through the large iron gates of the Cedar Grove Cemetery and headed towards home.

31 Days of Halloween Tales - Pick Your Potion

Love is strange in a little tale entitled:

Pick Your Potion

"Yes, I have a love potion, maybe you'd like to give it a try?"

Lisa looked at the bright pink liquid inside the tiny glass bottle. It couldn't be more than a sip, what could it hurt?

She wanted Leo to fall in love with her and if this was the only way it could happen then it was worth the hefty price the gypsy was asking.

"I'll take it." She looked at the size of the bottle again and asked, "Is one bottle enough?"

The old gypsy cackled sending shivers through the girl's body. "Yes, girl. One bottle is plenty. Ya only needs a sip."

Lisa paid the gypsy and slipped discretely out of the carnival tent.

****

Lisa pulled the scarf tighter around her head, close enough to hide the fresh bruises on her cheek. She slipped into the carnival tent only to find the same old gypsy waiting for her inside. She couldn't believe he was still alive, if he was old ten years ago, he was positively ancient now.

"I need a potion to make someone fall out of love with me. Do you have something like that?"

The gypsy didn't say anything but quietly pulled a small bottle filled with a dark blue liquid out from under the counter and slid it across to her.

"This will make someone stop loving you if that is what you wish. Would you like to give it a try?"

Lisa didn't even look at the price this time. She didn't care, she simply paid the old man what he asked and slipped back out of the tent hoping no one recognized her.

****

"As to Count, One Malice Murder the Jury finds the Defendant,  "Guilty."

Lisa stopped listening after the verdict on the first Count, that was the one that really matter. They could sentence her to death for that. And they might.

As it turned out it hadn't mattered to the Jury that she wasn't aware that there had been a lethal poison in the tiny bottle that she had given to her husband, Leo.  And by then, the gypsy carnival was long gone. Nor had it mattered that he was known on occasion to beat her as that only seemed to give her motive in the first place.

What everyone heard over and over again, the Jury included, was how much Leo had loved her. He never stopped telling his family and his co-workers how much he loved Lisa.

And he always said that he would love her till the day he died.

31 Days of Halloween Tales - The Bates

A little tale entitled:

The Bates

"I’d like to get out of here, Simon. Something doesn't feel right."

"We just got here babe. Give it a chance."

I didn't want to give it a chance I wanted to go. This wasn't my idea of  Halloween fun. I wanted candy and apple cider. Maybe a fire even. It was chilly enough.

"I can't see anything. Where the heck are we?"

"It looks like we are in the Bates Motel if you want me to be honest."

To be frank, I didn't want him to be honest. I saw a pale yellow glow stick off in the distance and decided being honest, at times, had its shortcomings. I wanted him to lie and say we were Tahiti or somewhere else where the lights might still be on.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! Isn't it cool?"

Cool? No, it definitely wasn't cool.

I clung to Simon's shirt (the wrinkle is in there permanently I am afraid) as we walked through pitch black narrow hallways lit only by what I imagined were small clusters of Christmas lights stuck inside various closets along the way. What had he gotten me into?

I found I couldn't breathe and I squeezed my eyes shut so as not to let anything in, praying we would make it out alive.

The air around us was  damp as if we were walking through a thick mist and when something cold touched my cheek, I screamed in spite of my desire to stay invisible.

My eyes shot open, also in spite of my desire to keep them shut, and I was face to face with an knife-wielding Norman Bates wearing a lopsided woman's wig that I guessed once belonged to his mother.

I screamed again, louder this time and shoved Simon to the ground as I plowed over him in search of the exit. I left him alone with Norman Bates a fact I am neither proud of nor ashamed of. Self-preservation is a tough cookie.

When I finally found my way outside I discovered the Halloween sky was full of stars and the air was cold and dry.  There was however, the faint smell of snow in the air and I thought how wonderful it would be to be home in front of the fire when the storm hit later on that night.

My racing heart slowed as I gazed at the star lit sky and I soon realized I could breathe once again.

Simon appeared a few seconds later looking slightly disheveled but really none the worse for the wear.

"Was that really necessary?"

He was frowning but I knew he thought it was all great fun.

I grabbed him and  pulled him close to me, giving him a deep kiss on his lips.

"Are you ready to go home now?"

This time he didn't even think about it.

"Yep. Let's blow this popsicle stand."

He grabbed my hand and practically dragged me out of Knott's Scary Farm and Halloween Horror Nights, leaving their version of Psycho far behind us.

31 Days of Halloween Tales - The Banshee Wails

A little tale entitled:

The Banshee Wails

It was easier in the end, with what I know.

To know the truth.

We each owe a debt and we can pay it in this life or the next, the choice is always up to you. Most people choose the later, rolling the dice and hedging the bet, hoping the debt never actually comes due. I was one of the lucky ones, I learned early enough to pay up front because credit always comes at a cost.

I was sixteen when my sister died. It was just another Halloween night in southern California but this night the Santa Ana winds had arrived and on their coattails, the Banshee rode. I heard her wail just after dusk and just in case you have been fortunate enough never to have heard her keen, you cannot mistake it for anything else. It is a mournful sound, lonely and cold like a lone fog horn on a silent snowy night.

My sister Ellen had been ill for some time but even when I heard the song of the Banshee I didn't imagine it was for her. She was only seven years old but with a soul so old you knew from the moment she was born, she already understood more about life than the rest of us who had been here for awhile. She was blessed with the face of an angel and thick dark auburn hair and eyes of such a deep blue you needed look at them twice before deciding on their actual color.

She was beautiful still, even in the end, the disease not having eaten away at her. We were lucky I guess for that much. Or maybe it made it harder, I can't be sure.

I was sitting in the living room when I heard Ellen call out to me. I didn't hurry, I was sixteen after all but I soon stopped the game I was playing and went in to check on her. She was sitting up in bed, her hair down over her shoulders and across her pillow like an fiery cloak. She looked pale, more so than she ever had  been and I immediately became worried.

"Did you hear that, Will?"

I realized then that she had heard the same thing I did but I refused to let on.

"Do you mean the wind, El? It's just the Santa Ana blowing."

She stared at me then, the cutting kind of stare that told me to stop the nonsense because she saw right through me.

"Not the wind. That was the Banshee." She sat there on her bed, her head cocked slightly to one side as she listened to the sound of her own death calling her soul out into the night.

I was sick, my stomach churned and twisted and I wanted to go and get my parents. I didn't want to do this alone.

"No, El. It's just the wind. Just the Santa Ana winds come calling."

I was trying to convince myself as much as I was trying to convince her but in the end, I did neither.

Ellen's gaze was still looking at something I could not see when she whispered, "Come closer to me, Will."

I was terrified to get closer to her, the way she looked so far off and dazed but I was just as afraid not to.  My love for my sister was stronger than my fear however and I walked over and sat down on the twin bed next to her.

I took her hands into mine, I remember how cold they were and thinking that it wasn't right. For these two tiny and oh so gentle hands to be so cold.

"I will die tonight, Will."

"NO!!"

I yelled loud enough to make myself cringe at the sound of my voice but Ellen didn't even seem to notice.

"We can't stop it. Will. You can't stop it no matter how much you wish it not to be so. But you need to know something."

I was beyond listening and beyond grief. I wanted to run away, to hide from her. I couldn't bear the pain.

But she continued.

'There is another life beyond this one Will so don't be afraid."

Was this delirium? Wishful thinking on the part of a dying child?

"We are put here for a purpose, sometimes we can see our purpose clearly and other times it is cloudy. But remember that Will. We are all here for a purpose. Mine was just to teach you how to love and to give your heart freely." She touched my cheek with her icy fingers.

"Your heart is opened now and you must keep it that way. Your purpose has yet to come to light but when it does, you will understand."

I wanted no part of her nonsense, this was gibberish and I only wanted my sister. My head ranted and railed as my heart shattered inside my chest.

All this happened even as I understood she was telling me the truth.

I cried then and she held me, a child consoling a man who could not yet comprehend the loss he hadn't yet begun to grasp the depth of.  In time I would understand that there is no bottom to grief but I didn't know that then.

She was holding me in her arms when she died but I knew it the moment it happened. It wasn't that she let go of me, on the contrary, she held me tightly to her as she passed through me in an instant.

I felt her as she left, a still entity with all her hopes and dreams going with it. I saw it all. Her life, her moments of pure joy and surprisingly to a young man who had yet to understand, very little sadness.

I stopped crying long enough to see her pale shadow stand before me, long fiery hair swirling around her head like a soft red halo. She smiled at me then and I think I smiled back. She gave no notice to her body on the bed as if it was discarded clothing that no longer fit her and that she no longer required.

There was a moment I wanted to go with her, to follow her where she was going. There was no fear on her face, only peace and contentment and even as a young man I wished to know that same tranquility. I reached for her hand but she pulled away from me, blowing me a kiss as she faded into the air and was gone.



That was many years ago and I am an old man of eighty-nine now. My life has been blessed with a wonderful wife,  four beautiful children and nearly a dozen grandchildren.

Like I said, I've been lucky.

Now, it is Halloween night and the Santa Ana wind is blowing in again from the east.

Once more I hear the woeful wail of the  Banshee but this time it is my name she is calling. It is as clear as a whisper in my ear and yet there is no fear.

Ellen is sitting beside me, her long auburn hair flowing across her shoulders and tickling my arms.

She is holding me tightly to her as she did that night so long ago.

And this time I know.

She will not leave me behind.

31 Days of Halloween Tales - Long Distance Calling

Talk about long distance charges….

Long Distance Calling

"Whatcha doing, Benny?
"Nothing Rog. Mind your own business, okay?"
"You're doing something. I can see it!"
"Just don't tell Ma. I'll let you try if you promise not to tell Ma."
"I promise. So whatcha doing really?"
I'm talking to someone."
"On that old phone?? C'mon Benny, that thing ain't worked in forever."
"I know it don't work for regular phone calls, but listen. Here, just say hello."
"Benny, that's dumb! That phone ain't even plugged in to nothing."
"It don't need to be plugged in, Rog. Just say hello. It's Grandpa Will."
"Grandpa Will? But Grandpa Will's dead Benny."
"Yeah I know he is but we can still talk to him. Just say hello and see."
"Hello? Hello? There ain't nobody there Benny! You're just fooling me!"
"Sure Rog. That's it. I was just kidding ya. Now go get your ball and glove and I'll play catch with ya in a minute."
"Okay, Benny!! I'll get my stuff and meet ya out in back!"

****

"Sorry, Grandpa. I gotta go. Rog is waiting for me. I love you."
"I love you too, Benny. Take care of your brother and I'll call you again real soon."

31 Days of Halloween Tales - Burial

A little Drabble entitled:

Burial

He buried her tiny body in the small patch of soft dirt by the concrete wall and erected a monument above her with stones she had collected herself. 

It didn't matter that it wasn't much, he was the only one who knew she was there.