DOOMSDAY HALLOWEEN
October 27, 7:30 pm. The topic of discussion on most dinner tables in Nexton was Halloween. Families talked excitedly about their plans. Night of October the 31st was a big event here, second only to Christmas Eve. This year, though, the interest in Halloween was not limited to humans alone. In a mansion far into the forest ghosts were having a meeting. A few witches and wizards were also in attendance. "We have had enough of human insults!" Declared an ugly ghost sitting on a throne made of pumpkins. "Every Halloween they dress up in silly ways and make fun of us!" He paused and produced a crystal ball from his robe, looked into it and gave it to a ghost who looked into it and passed it to the next. The speaker continued... "Take a look at the past. See how even babies mock at us! This time we will make their foolish fantasies one bloody reality! We must teach them all how not to play ghosts again!" Everyone cheered in agreement.
October 31st, 12:00 pm. Everyone was rushing about making the necessary arrangements for the great night. Making purchases, preparing costumes, planning, and so on. Then suddenly time began to move at an alarming speed. Every timepiece picked up speed. People looked in fear at their watches and clocks. The sun too could be seen speeding westward in the sky. Fear and confusion spread like wild fire. As the sun quickly faded, a sky blacker than night was seen. The stars were orange and the moon blood red. Magical mountains sprouted about burning sulphur. An eerie stillness invaded the town. One could hear a feather fall. This was sharply interrupted by a loud and continuous sound--an ocean of blood was quickly flooding the streets, even beginning to seep through people's doors.
Little Jenny was a six year old girl who had waited anxiously for Halloween. Now that it was finally here, she suspected something was wrong. It was night all right but mummy locked her upstairs and ordered her not to make a sound. Wasn't she supposed to be out playing ghost? She tiptoed to the window and opened the blinds slightly. The sky was very black and colourful. Great! Three fat pigs flew towards her window. She jumped back in fear, then remembered it was Halloween, and smiled at her silliness. Why would mum lock her in while everyone was out having fun? She went and tried the door. No way. Back to the window she went. It was not locked. She could sneak out through the fire escape and mum would never know! She quickly wore her costume, lifted the window and disappeared into the outside blackness.
Jenny waded through the street and got to what seemed like a shore. There was a 'ghost' busy with something on the floor. She sneaked up quietly and shouted, "trick or treat!" The ghost jumped, then said, "damn! You scared me! You guys better stop behaving like these disgusting humans! Give me a hand with this." On the floor were several human parts still dripping blood.
The ghost was carving them into small pieces. He held out an arm to her. "Hold it tight." She did not move. But it suddenly dawned on her that this was no trick. She was very frightened but knew she had to play along or die. She held it and mumbled, "heavy." "Yes lazy bones. This was a fat lady's." The ghost replied, carving away. They worked together without speaking for half an hour. The ghost then loaded the meat into three buckets and carried two. Turning to Jenny it said: "What's eating you? Tell you what, these humans are useless except as food. Get yourself a heart of stone. Now pick that bucket and follow me, will you?" She did as told.
They entered a large hall filled with ghosts of different types, feasting on human flesh, singing and dancing. The ghost led them to a bench and said. "Here, sit by me little one. I can't stand these wild fools!" He took a large chunk of meat and gave it a bite then passed it to Jenny. "Eat this, it's soft and succulent." She took it and hesitated, wondering what to do with the raw flesh. Then a monkey-like ghost snatched the meat and fled. Her ghost-friend broke into a laugh. "That's what you get for being careless. Hahaha! Help me share the meat around, will you?" She picked a bucket and moved through the crowd, giving each a piece of meat. Some grabbed more. When she got to the last group she was frozen with fear. A small boy was tied to a chair and his blood was being collected in cups through many open wounds! The boy was dying. She could not take it any longer. She broke into a loud cry, flung the bucket and tore off her mask all at once. The ghosts suddenly realised she was human and all rushed for a kill. At the same time a tear escaped from her eye and sailed downward. As it hit the bloody floor, the spell was instantly broken. Everything returned to normal. Even the sun returned to the sky and the clock back to 3:45 pm. Every ghost vanished leaving behind a bleeding boy and a distraught Jenny.
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