It was Halloween night, and I was home alone. The trick-or-treaters came and left with bags full of candy. But It was getting late. So, I took a pumpkin-shaped bowl filled it with candy, and put it on a chair outside of my front door for the late bloomers. Some parents don’t get off work early enough you know… It’s a shame for those kids not to get some candy on Halloween. When I was a kid my mother would take me our for trick or treating because she didn’t have to work.
My dad would usually be home by the time we got back. He always brought us some Halloween-themed candy. I could sense that he felt sorry for not being able to come with us. A couple of times he spent one of his off days to come with us on Halloween. Although I could see he felt guilty about it. The family could not afford to have him take a rest. He never took a vacation. He preferred to cash in the unused time off at the end of the year to buy us gifts for Christmas.
I wanted to have a family of my own, but I lost the ability to have kids entirely at 27. I thought I had time for a family but nature had other plans. If only I started earlier, I would not have to pass all my Halloweens alone. That said things were tough on my father back then. Although I am just an old woman now, I can see that it’s incredibly tough to get the life I had as a child even with both parents working full time now. So I do this every year for the kids that have to be raised in this day and age.
A little candy on the porch of the house with a Halloween-themed flood light pointed at the bowl, some spider webs on the chair, and a plastic skeleton behind it holding a sign saying “Take As Much As You Want. Have a Spooktacular Halloween”. Usually after 8 pm I sit down and start watching my movies. I usually refill the bowl just before I go to bed. If I don’t fall asleep on the couch. I have a marathon of horror flicks that I have been preparing all year. But this year the kids keep ringing my bell even after 8pm. Some of them didn’t know when to give it a rest.
I had planned to spend the evening watching scary movies and eating candy, but I started to feel uneasy as the night went on. I tried to rationalize it away, telling myself that it was just the spooky atmosphere of the holiday, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I was about to check all the locks and go upstairs to check the windows when I heard a noise coming from the basement. I froze, listening intently. There it was again, a faint scuffling sound. Someone was definitely down there.
Without thinking any further, I grabbed a fireplace poker and crept quietly down the stairs. I peered around the corner, poker at the ready, but there was nothing there. The basement was empty. I slowly made my way over to the other side, heart pounding hard in my chest. Again, there was nothing there. I was starting to feel like a fool. Maybe it was just the wind or something. I was about to go upstairs when I heard the noise again, only this time it was coming from right behind me. I froze.
My breath not wanting to leave my chest. I turned around slowly, poker held out in front of me, but there was still nothing there. I was starting to freak out. I turned to go back upstairs, and that’s when I saw it. There was a figure clocked in black all the way to the ankles, standing in the doorway at the top of the stairs, watching me. I couldn’t see its face, the head was hooded with a deer skull draped in front of it. Antlers poking through the hood.
“Samhain Is Upon Us”
“Hail Cernunnos, Guardian of the Ways”
I heard a feminine voice cry out loud without any concern about being discovered. And then all the lights of the house turned off all at once and I was plunged in thick darkness. From the depths of the void spaning in front of me, I could hear chanting. It sounded like there were hundreds of people speaking in unison accompanied by the sounds of nature. I could hear Owls, Crickets, and Mockingbirds along with the sound of the wind passing through the branches of trees in the forest.
Am I still in my basement? Suddenly I felt multiple pairs of arms coming from the darkness, grabbing my shoulders, my head, my arms, and my legs. My feet left the ground. I felt as though I was floating. And then I felt pain as darkness gave away to red.
I guess I am not going to be alone this Halloween after all.