Halloween Fright

Foreword

Halloween comes but once a year, and with it comes a generous portion of fun, a scary-movie kind of fun that chills our bones and makes us laugh outright, both at ourselves and each other. I loved Halloween and my friends did too. But one particular year, in the beginning of our ninth grade year to be exact, our fun was interrupted by a threat from a distant place, an unwelcome threat that came upon us secretly, and like an aching tooth, refused to go away.

Oh, just another scary story, I hear you say, and while that’s probably true, when it happens to you it seems to be just a little bit more than that.

The story I tell is sound and true. It’s an authentic tale that now doesn’t seem as if it happened at all, but happen it did. It’s a tale of another time: an October time of peculiar unrest, an autumn time of intrigue and mystery, and a Junior High time of adventure and fun. So buckle your seat belt and hang on for the ride. For this one more time I will share the tale that happened to me and my friends, not that long ago, and right in the middle of our own little town.

Chapter One

The Hop

Nothing ever happens in Salem, Beak muttered. I mean, Geez, what a dull little town this is.

It’s the City of Peace, I answered. That pretty well says it all.

It’s a great town and you know it, Matthew said, even if it is a little boring.

Beak shrugged.

Vampires, I whispered. The scariest monster ever invented.

Yeah, right, Matthew answered. You just like the idea of nibbling on a girl’s neck.

I smiled, There is that.

Yuucckk! Beak said. Sucking on girls. He shuddered.

The Mummy, Matthew said. If you really understand the mummy, then you know you don’t have much of a chance against that guy.

Beak dragged a leg in mock respect as we moved slowly towards the old junior high school.

I had to smile, best friends, in spite of their differences, Matthew and Beak were a remarkable pair. Beak, with his curly black hair, elongated nose, and wild laugh, was occasionally obnoxious but he was always crazy. Matthew, on the other hand, was the inquisitive type. Most often he could be found reading a book or tuned in to educational television. He was, pretty much, a walking talking encyclopedia.

Nice shirt Beak, I said.

He looked at me in surprise.

Yes, nice orange shirt, Matthew echoed. Very festive—in honor of tonight’s Harvest Hop? He chuckled.

At least I’ve got a little school spirit, wise-apple, Beak muttered. You two losers didn’t even try.

I grinned at Matthew and he winked back.

You’re cool Beak, I said. I mean really, we respect you.

Beak slugged me in the shoulder. I winced in pain and backed away.

I was the small one, a pint-sized boy with short brown hair and a ready smile, and in my mind there was nothing more fun than hanging out with my friends.

Where’s Gary? I asked.

Well duh, where do you think he is? Beak said. It is October you know.

Hunting? I asked softly.

There was no response. There was no need for one. We already knew that was the answer.

The chatter of kids sounded out in the night, as the old junior high loomed up before us. The lighted windows of the aged gymnasium illuminated the east lawn with a soft yellow glow.

Several girls talked and giggled near the entrance to the school. We sauntered past them and went inside. We stopped briefly, squinted, and tried to gain our bearings as the brightness of the lights overcame us and the loudness of the party momentarily confused us.

A giant jack-o’-lantern blazed, bigger than life, atop each basketball hoop. Autumn colored streamers dangled below them. A few kids wandered the floor in Halloween costumes, but the majority was dressed in orange and brown, honoring the spirit of the occasion, just like Beak.

A handful of kids bobbed for apples in the far corner, but the majority of the student body hung out and talked against opposite walls. The boys were on one side and the girls on the other. A few couples danced between them in the middle of the floor, as a high school rock group boomed out popular tunes from on top of the stage.

We moved to the boys’ side of the gym and tried to blend in.

Hey Beak! Matthew tapped Beak in the arm. Gayle sighting at ten o’clock.

Sure enough, there she was, Gayle Farmer, Beak’s secret flame. The girl had obvious appeal, not only was she pretty and not only did she have class, but she also carried a natural femininity about her that could ignite the imagination of any young boy.

Beak’s eyes grew wide as he slunk back into the shadows. Matthew and I stepped forward and hid him as best as we could.

We had only recently developed an eye for girls. Though still uncomfortable in their presence and much too shy to ever believe one could actually ever like one of us, we still had somehow developed a talent for studying them from afar.

The neck, Matthew whispered. The pinnacle of a girl’s appeal is the gentle curve of her neck.

He nodded, in complete agreement with himself, and then he sent me a dubious smile.

Yeah, yeah, it’s just the time of year, I answered. That vampire/neck thing, you know?

Matthew rolled his eyes. He peered across the gym through his thick eyeglasses. You take a look then, big boy. What do you see on the other side?

The other side, I thought. That sounded about right.

I gazed across the gym. My eyes settled on Gayle Farmer as she talked with her friends. Susan Sloan had a cute little flip in her hair, that seemed to be her thing, but she was a gum chewer and a bit too arrogant for me. Robyn Anderton was a brunette babe, but she was kind of tall and people said she didn’t shave her legs. That was an obvious turnoff. Shauna Lacey was small and cute, mousy but cute in an earthy kind of way. She seemed to have over dressed for the occasion as a female vampire. Fish net stockings adorned her slender legs. They extended down from her short black skirt and turned daintily downwards into shiny black high heels.

The turn of a girl’s leg, I whispered. There’s nothing finer than the turn of a girl’s calf as it drops downward to her delicate little foot.

Beak looked into my face and snickered, but I didn’t care. I felt almost hypnotized as I gazed yearningly at the fetching qualities of the tiny female vampire.

Now I see what you mean, Matthew said. He seemed to be caught in the same trance that I was in.

We wandered across the floor, to the ‘other side’, as if the girls might even be our prey, though we knew in our hearts that just the reverse of that was true. Our approach, we now realized, was a bit late, as another group of boys had reached the girls just before us.

Sid Chrisman confronted Gayle with a confident smile. His friends stood right behind him. Gayle did not return the smile. A subtle tension filled the air.

Sid Chrisman was a lady’s man. He was a total pretty-boy, with slicked back blond hair that kicked back and hung strategically down over his forehead in a tight and bouncy little curl. His favorite sport was kissing with his pick-of-the-week on the back seat of the movie theatre, and everybody knew it. Gayle on the other hand was the president of the Sunday school and she did not believe in such frivolity, in fact she detested it.

So, you stood me up then, Sid said with a synthetic smile.

Like, not! Gayle answered with an icy reply. I told you right from the first that I wouldn’t meet you.

I have a little something for you, anyway, Sid said, something to show you how I really feel.

He held a hand out behind him and it was immediately filled by one of his friends.

He swung back his arm and pushed a cream pie directly into Gayle’s astonished face. Whipped cream dripped from her openmouthed expression onto the shiny wooden planks of the gym floor. Sid and his friends howled with laughter. My friends and I stood helpless, stunned and immobile, not knowing exactly what we should do, or even could. Scattered laughter erupted from the dance floor and before long the entire crowd seemed to be laughing in derision.

Suddenly, a small black form raced up from behind and leaped on top of Sid. (Like a cat that springs onto a table.) They went down hard to the floor.

Shauna Lacey, it seemed, imagined herself with the strength of a real vampire, since she obviously believed she could take out Sid. Her small black figure now sat directly atop the kissy-boy’s chest. She righted herself and reached for his throat but Sid easily brushed her away as he leapt to his feet. They squared off like a pair of determined Friday night wrestlers.

Shauna did not hesitate, but quickly threw a wild swing. It bounced harmlessly off Sid’s shoulder as he backed away. She caught her balance and once more confronted her adversary, but only to be met by a stiff left jab. It caught her on the right eye, raised her a few inches off of the floor, and backed her a few steps away. She whimpered softly but quickly stepped forward again. Her fists were raised, and a look of determination covered her face.

Now, indecision no longer a factor, my friends and I stepped quickly forward in the girls’ defense. Sid’s friends stepped forward too. We faced off in anticipation of a magnificent battle, but suddenly teachers’ voices rang out from across the room. The crowd hesitated, but even before the bustling teachers could reach us, something else happened, something that was a total surprise.

A chilling scream, the frightened cry of a young girl, rose up from a classroom somewhere down the hall. The resonating cry was so loud and so desperate that the entire crowd quieted instantly, listening intently for the source of the interruption. The student body hesitated and then turned as one, flowing down the hall towards the scream’s origin.

Just two doors down, in Mr. Measom’s art room, a young girl sobbed. She sat alone in the back of the room, head down and shoulders quivering, as she whimpered in fear. The left sleeve was torn from her blouse, and a cool breeze blew through the shattered glass of a broken window.

The faculty quickly cleared the startled crowd from the room and ushered the shaken girl off to the teacher’s lounge. They urged the entire student body to return to the dance floor, as if nothing had even happened, but the party was over now and everyone knew it. Students spilled from the building and onto the front lawn.

Did you hear her? a girl whispered. Someone black, she said, a black hand tried to grab her.

Not someone, another answered, some thing, a creature she said.

Stop it! said a boy. You don’t know that, she didn’t say that.

She did too, a voice echoed, that’s what she said, alright.

My friends and I broke off from the crowd and headed for home. A chill wind cut through the night.

Vampires, I said, the scariest monsters ever invented.

Matthew didn’t answer. Beak was quiet too.

We marched up the sidewalk with an unspoken urgency in our step, three solemn boys, walking, steadily walking. The quickness in our pace was the only outward sign of the fears that lay hidden beneath our peaceful demeanors.

Chapter Two

Goose Down

The barrel of the gun felt cool in my hands. Matthew and Beak flanked me to the right, shotguns raised. Gary, at my left, peered unflinchingly into the sky. Gary, tall and strong, was a hunting machine. He loved to hunt and he loved to fish. He was just that kind of a kid. Tonight he had invited us to come along.

The moonlight filtered down from the sky. A cool vapor rose up from the narrow stream before us. If our little town was known for anything, I guess it was known for water. A large pond sat strategically in the center of town, a pond big enough to water ski in if you went in one large circle. (And we often did.) The pond emptied out to the north, under the highway and into the lower pond, where it then trickled off into the swampy sloughs. And that’s where we were now.

Suddenly, Gary raised a hand and motioned us to get down. We shrunk into the landscape and peered out into the darkness. The creek gurgled and the wind whispered, but the moonlight revealed nothing at all.

Matthew’s voice broke the silence of the impasse, What do....

Shut up! Gary hissed. They’re coming. I stiffened at his sudden command.

And then I saw them. At first they seemed nothing more than a gray cloud, like a swarm of locusts coming in to devour the crops. Then, almost instantly, their dark bodies showed up clearly in the moon’s glow. It was a flock of ducks, dozens and dozens of ducks. Wings flapped and beaks quacked as their feathery bodies dropped towards us like winged monkeys descending on Dorothy.

I raised my gun and watched in amazement. Like shooting fish in a barrel, I thought. Gary, at my left, calmly waited as he held his gun loosely before him. I looked to my right. Matthew laid a hand on the barrel of Beak’s gun and pushed it back down. We waited still, as if to see the whites of their eyes.

Suddenly and simultaneously, Beak and Matthew fired off a couple of shots. The ducks, caught totally by surprise, broke out of their uniform pattern and flew off in countless directions—every duck for itself.

I rose up, fired, pumped in another shell, and fired again, with seemingly no results.

Gary squeezed off an easy shot. One dark colored duck tumbled and fell almost at his feet. Cool and composed, he calmly sent up another round, and one more duck plummeted into the little stream.

As if now on offense, a handful of ducks swooped and zinged right over my head. I ducked down defensively.

Suddenly, to my left, Gary gasped. His eyes were focused on a large shape that seemed to rise up from the creek to the west. I watched with interest as this large form rose slowly from the water and lifted upwards into the air. I strained to identify it, but it was of no use, it was too dark.

Gary raised his gun and fired off another round. This thing, whatever it was, hesitated in midair, but then wobbled, fluttered, and plummeted to the soggy pastureland at the near side of the creek.

Gary let out a war whoop and stumbled towards the dark shape that now lay silently on the ground. I followed quickly until I stood above his kneeling form.

Man, oh man, he said proudly, it’s a goose, a giant Canada Honker.

I wondered a bit what the big deal was. Matthew and Beak trotted over to see what was up.

I’ve always wanted to bag a goose, Gary said. I can’t believe I got a goose.

That’s illegal, ain’t it, Beak said.

Anything’s legal if you don’t get caught, I muttered. Matthew snickered.

Let’s get out of here, Gary said. I’ve gotta protect my prize.

Yeah, Lew could be out tonight. Beak whispered.

The hanging Judge, I muttered.

We don’t want to give him a crack at us, Beak answered.

He’d send us up the river, Gary said. Let’s go.

Let’s get the ducks, Matthew said.

Forget the ducks, Gary barked. Let the coyotes have ‘em.

We hurried back to the Jeep, piled in, and bounced back up towards town.

Excuse me for asking, Gary, but uh, what’s so great about a goose? I asked.

I’m gonna stuff it, Gary said, I’ll hang it on my wall.

Yeah, right, Beak said, maybe in the living room. I’m sure your mom would go for that.

You really don’t get it, do you? Gary said. This is a big deal—and a much bigger deal than you think!

Now we traveled in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. The Jeep passed by the lower pond and we reentered town. The first few street lights appeared just ahead of us. I suddenly felt sleepy. My eyes drooped and my head dropped. I was relaxed though, relieved that we had avoided trouble on our way out. Gary, however, was not so relaxed, not even close. He was wired, totally psyched out of his mind over his unexpected prize. He couldn’t believe his good fortune. He glanced in the rear view mirror and found that his friends were dozing, and already half asleep. He grinned and looked again, but this time something caught his eye—something was moving in the rear of the Jeep.

What?

He swerved back onto the road, narrowly avoiding an engagement with a ditch. The Jeep continued to roll, and once more he glanced back. What he saw this time stunned him completely. The goose was not dead, not dead at all. Its head poked up into the air and jerked frantically in every direction. Its beady black eyes were wide with fear and confusion as they searched desperately for a way out to freedom. Gary swerved once again.

Suddenly, a honking sound of extreme proportions sounded from the rear of the Jeep. A voluminous noise of at least a thousand decibels rang out from the back. Matthew and Beak sat straight up because the Goose, immediately, had gained their attention. Their eyes opened wide as they beheld the monstrous bird that sat between them. The giant bird raised its wings and stared directly at Matthew. Matthew whimpered. He closed his eyes, hunkered down, and awaited the worst.

Beak, unthinkingly, reached out and stroked the backside of this large bird. The goose pivoted, raised its wings, and trumpeted with even more amplitude than on its previous outburst. Beak draped his arms over his head and dropped to the deck. This was wise. The goose made a loud hissing noise and attacked. It flapped its wings wildly, more in fear than in anger, as it pecked angrily at Beak’s body. With no other discernible alternative, Beak took everything that the bird could dish out.

The goose, disoriented and confused, flapped once, rose into the air and banged into the rear window of the Jeep. Stunned, it dropped once more to the floor, rose up, turned around, and faced the front of the vehicle.

Instinctively, I released a moan from the depths of my soul. I looked towards Gary. A total look of desperation covered his face, and our fears turned out to be well founded. The goose flapped once, bounced off the front windshield, and settled awkwardly into the front seat. Gary hit the brakes. The Jeep turned sharply and spun to a stop, engine dead, right in the middle of the road. Gary, the goose, and I, were all flung to the passenger side of the Jeep where we rested uncomfortably together in one large pile of legs, arms, and wings.

Then the goose all but blew out my eardrum as it thundered out another honk of magnanimous dimensions. Gary pushed off and tumbled backwards onto the driver’s side of the seat, and I scrambled onto the floor. The goose rose up and looked back towards my other friends. Matthew moaned while Beak went back to the mats, his arms draped protectively over his head. The goose flapped and the goose flew. It banged into the windows of the Jeep, time after time, as we stayed low in our would-be fox holes, trying