This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are
not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. Any resemblance to any person or
persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All Rights Reserved
The right of Eduard Joseph to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him under the South African Copyright Act of 1978 (as amended).
1
Halloween; it’s the one night of the year when – supposedly – all kinds of ghouls and monsters came out to wander our world. Or so the story goes, but these days Halloween is the one day in the year when children get to dress up in all sorts of strange costumes and collect candy. It was the day of the year when parents forgot that children get rotten teeth from too much candy, or that the sugar rush kept their children up at night.
On all-hallows eve, all the houses in town were decorated with all sorts of festive decorations; front lawns had tombstones reaching up from the grass, while plastic skeletons hung from tree branches. Some plastic skeletons were more realistic than others. Some even looked like the real thing. One could be forgiven for mistaking them to be a terrible crime scene of some sort.
Johnny Reed’s house was no exception. They had a big old pumpkin Jack ‘o lantern on the front porch. A portentous grinning face was carved into the pumpkin and the flickering candle inside gave the appearance that it was laughing. In some way it may have been laughing for it too was a creature of the night.
The front door opened and Johnny ran out into the front yard. He had just turned 13 the previous month. He was one of the popular kids in school and also acted the part, and thus he could be a real jerk sometimes. To be part of the cruel crowd he played pranks on unsuspecting kids or bullied some of the younger ones. He was a real handful at school – spending more time in detention than he did in classrooms.
Johnny was dressed in a Superman suit and had a plastic bucket in his hand. It was in the shape of a skull. He was not sure why his mother insisted he dress up for Halloween. She had to realize sooner or later that he was no longer a child. He would much rather be out hanging with his friends than babysitting his younger brother.
Johnny’s mother stepped out onto the porch as he ran over to the front gate.
“Johnny...” his mother called out.
Johnny rolled his eyes and turned around. He hated that she still treated him like he was a twelve year old. He was a teenager now. She embarrassed him by calling out after him. What if one of the cool kids heard her? They would think he was a mama’s boy.
“Wait for Peter.” His mother said.
Johnny let out a grunt and said, “Why? He’s nearly ten. He can take care of himself.”
“As long as you live under my roof, you live under my rules.” His mother said sternly.
Peter skipped out onto the porch. He had a white sheet over his head with eye holes. He was supposed to be a ghost, but looked more like a laundry heap. He made his costume himself and wore it proudly like it was an outfit fit for the red carpet.
“Mom!” Johnny sighed, “Seriously? He’s dressed like laundry. I cannot be seen in public with this baby. What will the other kids think of me?”
“Johnny.” His mother said annoyed, “Either you take him with you or you both stay home.”
Johnny sighed and said, “Fine.”
Johnny turned and walked back to the front gate dragging his feet behind him. Peter skipped after him and seemed less worried about being seen in public with his brother than Johnny was. Peter was still blissfully unaware of popularity ranks at school.
“Just stop skipping.” Johnny mumbled, “You’re annoying me.”
Once they were both in the street, Johnny closed the gate behind them. The streets were alive with children dressed up in costumes. Some were dressed as witches, other as their favorite comic book hero, and some as ghosts. The children traveled in groups from house to house collecting candy and other sweet treats.
“Let’s see who can get the most candy.” Peter said jolly.
“Let’s not.” Johnny said.
Collecting candy was for children. Johnny had other plans up his sleeve. He was not about to spend the coolest night of the year dragging a baby from house to house to collect candy.
Once they were around the corner, Johnny dumped the skull shaped bucket in the nearest bush. He turned to Peter.
“I’m too old for trick or treating.” Johnny said.
“What else is there to do on Halloween?” Peter asked confused.
“I’m going to a party.” Johnny said.
“What party?” Peter asked.
“Jackson’s having a party in the graveyard.” Johnny said.
A shiver ran down Peter’s spine. Graveyards still seemed very creepy to him. He hated going to the graveyard even during the day. Whenever his mother made them go visit grandma’s grave he’d fake some ailment.
“The graveyard?” Peter asked with a trembling voice.
“Yes.” Johnny said, “I’m thirteen now. I need to spend Halloween with kids my own age. We don’t go around begging for candy. We have a real party.”
“Why in the graveyard?” Peter asked.
Johnny started walking again. Peter scampered after him trying to keep up, but every now and then he would step on his sheet and nearly trip. He’d then regain his footing and continue pacing after his brother.
“Because it’s a creepy place.” Johnny replied.
“What if—“ Peter said.
“What if what? Johnny interrupted him, “You see a ghost?”
Peter did not reply. It was evident from his silence that it was what he was thinking. He was still at the age where he slept with a night light. Darkness freaked him out. He still believed that there was a monster living in his closet. The shadows concealed all sorts of ghouls – like the one that feeds on children’s blood while they sleep snug in their beds.
Johnny chuckled and said, “You’re such a baby. There is no such thing as ghosts.”
They walked down the street and as they came around the corner, they almost bumped into two boys. The other two boys were not dressed up in any sort of costume. They were dressed in casual clothes and stood out from the other kids who were dressed up for the occasion.
“Hey!” Johnny said annoyed, “Watch where you’re going.”
The other two boys stood still side by side and watched as Johnny and Peter continued down the street. They were not used to babysitters pretending to be bullies.
“Jerk.” The one boy mumbled.
His name was Steven. The other boy was his brother, David. They were both 14 and 15 years of age respectively. Though there was an age difference, they could almost pass for twins. They spent every moment of the day together. They were inseparable.
“Apparently the street belongs to him.” David said annoyed.
“Where do you want to go next?” Steven asked.
“I want to go home.” David said.
“Oh come on!” Steven pleaded, “This is the one night of the year we can come out and do this. Come on. Let’s have some fun. Would you stop being so uptight? Let’s go to another couple of houses, please?”
“Fine.” David said, “Only the houses left on this street. I want to get home before midnight.”
“Yay!” Steven said with a wide smile.
“You know what they say,” David said, “If you stay out pass midnight, you turn into a pumpkin. I don’t w
ant to get a scary face carved into me.”
“That’s Cinderella!” Steven chuckled.
The two of them walked down towards the first house on Stanford Street. It was decorated with a few pumpkins arranged around the trees and tombstones lined the lawn. David and Steven entered the front yard and made their way to the front door. David was not much for the whole Halloween thing. He only came out for his brother. Steven always loved Trick ‘r treating. David on the other hand felt that the whole Halloween thing was a gimmick.
The two of them walked up the front steps of the house and then Steven knocked on the front door. Steven waited for someone to come outside. A moment passed and then Steven knocked again. There was no response. He inspected the windows. The inside of the house seemed dead quiet. Something moved in the shadows near the window.
“Maybe nobody’s home.” David said.
“I could have sworn I saw someone walk pass the window.” Steven said.
“So they don’t want to give you candy.” David said.
Annoyed, Steven knocked again – only louder this time.
“Trick or treat!” Steven announced loudly.
David grabbed him by the arm in protest. The last thing he wanted was to upset some disgruntled person who hates handing out candy.
“Come on.” David said, “Let’s try the next house.”
David and Steven went down the steps again. The porch light came on and the front door opened. A large man stepped out onto the porch. David and Steven turned around and looked at the man. He stood in the shadows like a silhouette. The man stood there without saying a word. Steven took a step forward. It was a creepy sight. They could not make out the man’s face in the shadows. A lit cigarette singed in the darkness.
“Trick or… treat.” Steven said uncertain.
The man simply stood on the porch. He may just as well have been standing in the dark. The porch light only cast some light on his shoes. One could barely make out how big the man actually was.
“Give us something good to eat?” Steven asked.
The man dropped the cigarette, stomped it then turned around and returned to his house.
“Damn kids.” The man mumbled as he shut the door.
“Geez.” Steven said, “Rude much?”
“I told you we should have left this one.” David said.
“Some people just don’t have the Halloween spirit.” Steven said.
They walked down the street to the next house. The next house had only a few decorations. There was a Jack ‘o lantern on the porch and a few fake cobwebs spun across the framework of the porch. They did not put in much effort with their decorations. Whoever was in charge of decorations clearly had no idea what Halloween was about.
“These people aren’t going to give us any candy.” David said.
“How can you tell?” Steven asked.
“Just look at this place.” David said, “They don’t even have decorations up.”
”A pumpkin is a decoration.” Steven said optimistically.
“Yes.” David said, “A decoration. Singular. Houses with plural will give us candy. These people will have even less Halloween spirit than the other guy.”
”We won’t know until we try.” Steven said optimistic.
David shook his head as Steven raised his hand to knock on the door. Steven gave it a good knock and stepped back a foot. Someone inside pulled back the curtains at the window. An elderly woman peeked out at the porch and then shut the curtain. Steven knocked again.
“Who’s there?” The woman yelled out.
“Uhm…” Steven said, “My name is Steven and this is my brother David.”
”What do you want?” The woman sounded paranoid.
”Trick or treat.” Steven said.
The woman did not respond. Steven grew agitated and banged on the door. The woman screamed petrified.
“I’m calling the police!” The woman yelled out.
“I think we’d better go.” David said, “She’s obviously not in the mood for us.”
As the two of them walked out of the woman’s yard, Steven stared back over his shoulder. He saw the woman pull back the curtains once again; her eyes searched her yard for the intruders.