One dreary Halloween night, when all the kids went out for trick-or-treating, Cody was buzzing with excitement. He and his friend, David, were going together. The two teenagers were walking together down the road, the streetlamps glowing faintly with their yellow lights, shining down on the street. The streets were filled with kids, all their costumes casting tall shadows in the light of all the Halloween decorations.
As they walked, buckets in one hand, their free hands conjoined, a kid came up to them. He looked rather… strange. He was also pretty tall. He was wearing all black and a Ghostface mask. “Hey…” he said, crouching down to their eye level, tilting his head. “Have you heard?” He asked. Cody and David shared a glance. “Heard what?” David asked. “It.” The older teen said. His voice was deep and smooth, albeit it was a bit solemn.
“Who… or what is it?” David asked, sharing another confused look with Cody. The boy took a breath before speaking, “Every Halloween night, a man by the name of Jack goes around with a pumpkin basket and lures people to his house and slaughters them.” Cody felt a shiver go down his spine. What was this guy talking about?
“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” David asked, tilting his head, a puzzled look on his face. The boy looked down. “I… had a friend who went that way…” Cody and David gave a sympathetic look. “Oh- I’m… sorry to hear that.” “It’s okay… anyway, would you want to go trick-or-treating together?” He asked, and they could hear the slight pleading from behind the mask. “Sure,” Cody and David said in unison, a smile on their faces.
The three boys walked together, laughing and having a good time. They walked up to the last house, knocking on the door. “Trick or treat!” They all said in unison. A kind old woman opened the door, a sweet smile on her face. “Ah, hello dears,” she said softly. “My, what scary costumes you have!” The lady gave them some candy as they thanked her, then they went on their way.
“Hey, by the way, we never caught your name. What is it?” Cody asked as they walked. The boy pulled up his mask, a grin on his face as he let his pumpkin basket fall. “My name is Jack.”
Adalyn Morin, Francestown, Age 13
Grade 8