Monday, October 28, 2013

The Speakeasy #133 - Trick or....treat?





I pulled the door shut behind me and repeated, "Remember!  Don't eat any candy until I check it out!”  The kids were too excited to talk back and skipped down the street ahead of me.  I followed more slowly, making sure I had the flashlight and my cell phone.  It was just starting to get dark as I caught up to them, my little ghouls and goblins.  The tiniest ghost immediately started tugging me towards a neighbor’s house.  "No porch light, no trick or treat, kiddo.  If they don't have the light on it means they don't have any candy." 
 
Undaunted, we continued walking.  By the time we had reached the end of the street, we'd not seen one house welcoming us, no warm yellow light, no doors opening with bowls full of treats.  And no other trick or treaters.  I wondered if we were out too early, but it was almost dark, and a school night at that. 
 
"Come on, guys, let's walk up to the square.  They're doing Trunk or Treat."  (Thinking to myself, if nothing else I'll get a coffee out of this deal.)
 
As we approached the town square, I was glad to see cars parked with the trunks open and what looked like Halloween decorations peeking out.  Good.  We could fill up our buckets here, and be back home in no time. 
 
We got closer, the kids chattering excitedly, me answering them distractedly.  Something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it.  Where....where were the people?  The other kids?  Who was giving out candy?  The only sound I could hear was a leaf, skittering across the parking lot.  Even my children had fallen silent and were holding hands.  Main Street was like a ghost town, except for one lit storefront.  The coffee shop.  Well, maybe everyone gathered there, I thought.  Maybe.  I reached for the small hand nearest me, and started walking.  As we passed the cars I noted how realistic the trunk decorations were...it seemed I could even smell the iron tang of the blood and, now that we were closer, hear it drip steadily off a bumper.  How did they manage that, I mused? 

I was practically dragging the children along with me now, I was so anxious to get into the light, to see people and figure out what in the world was going on.  I pulled open the door to the coffee shop, greeted as always by the cheery ring of the hanging bells, but instead of the smell of coffee beans and cinnamon rolls, we were assaulted by the stench of death.  "Oh god!”  I cried, covering my nose and gagging, as the kids whimpered next to me.  My friends and neighbors had indeed gathered here.  But as they sat around in the comfortable chairs at the low tables, they had become the treats.  I watched horrified as tiny witches and princesses and super heroes gnawed hungrily on people I had known.  As the hollow eyes and blood-smeared faces of costumed children turned our way, I tried to push my kids out the door behind me, whispering to them to run, to get away.  That's when I screamed and looked down into the face of my tiniest ghost, just as his teeth pierced my flesh. 


****This is a submission for a short fiction contest.   In case you were wondering.  None of that actually happened. 
 
Anyway, I read some great stories here last week and decided to try my hand this time.  Because, prizes.  Thanks to www.pileofbabies.com for the link to the Speakeasy.
 

 

 
 

12 comments:

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    1. Thank you! I really appreciate it. This is my first attempt at fiction since...oh, about age 12. ;)

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  2. Hey, you're welcome! Glad you joined in!

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    1. Yeah, me too! But after our submissions this week, I don't think anyone will be asking us out for coffee anytime soon!

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  3. Yikes, that was an ending with bite! Okay, that was bad, but it was a creepy ending :)

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  4. Yikes indeed! This is awesomely creepy. Nice touch, having her own kids turn on her at the end. Maybe I'll get my husband to take our son trick-or-treating this year... ;)

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  5. Scary kids really freak me out. I guess because you always want to save or protect them, even as they are eating you alive.......
    Thanks for reading!

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  6. Love it! Have you read The Uninvited by Liz Jensen? It kind of reminds me of that...

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    1. Thank you! No, I haven't, but I'll check it out. I always need new stuff to read!

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