|
“Poe,
come out from under the bed!” Mrs. Merlin knelt and pulled up the
bedspread. “Poe! You can’t stay under there for the next month. Come out
on your own or I’ll come and get you.”
Poe scooted as far back against the wall as he could. “No, Mom. Tomorrow
is October. I’m scared.” He saw his mom lay on her tummy. She gave him a
stern look. “You asked for it. I’m coming in.” Inch by inch she slid on
her back until she was face to face with her son.
“I
know it’s a frightening time for you; it is for all of us; but it’s part
of living here in Misty Valley. This is our home and we just have to deal
with it. It’s stinky under here.” Mrs. Merlin slid out from under the bed,
stretched and pulled the curtains open. “It’s beautiful today. The hills
are green and the trees are covered with red and gold leaves.”
“Yeah, for now; but tomorrow that all changes. I hate October.” Bruja,
Poe’s orange tabby, trotted into the room and jumped on his bed. “Get used
to it, Bruja. For the next month you have to stay inside.” The cat snarled
and hissed and ran back out of the room. “See, even Bruja hates October.
Why do we have to live here?”
“It’s been like this for a thousand years. My grandma had to deal with it
and so did her grandma. Ever since Witch Lilith’s ancestor put a curse on
Misty Valley because one of the residents in town insulted her, it’s been
this way. Every year during October, we have a month of Halloween ghouls,
zombies and vampires. Our lawns change from green to black. The trees die,
the sky changes to a weird pastel orange and every creature you can
imagine walks our streets. It’s going to continue this way until someone
in that family makes it right with Witch Lilith’s family”
“Whose
family was it, Mom?”
“Old
Mr.Death’s family. One of his ancestors punched a witch in the nose
because she made fun of his name.”
“Gosh,
Mom. Who can blame the witch. I wouldn’t want the last name Death. You’re
just asking to be teased!” Poe giggled. “That’s probably why Witch Lilith
has the ugliest nose in the world.”
“We
can’t change anything. Maybe one day Mr. Death will get sick enough of
this October hubbub and fix everything. Until then, we deal with it. Misty
Valley has been our family’s home for generations. We can’t leave. Our
jobs are here. Your father has a good job working at the Post Office and I
enjoy being a school teacher.” She saw Poe’s frowning face. “Everything is
fine during the day. It’s only at night that we have to worry. Just make
sure Bruja doesn’t get out. Would you like to help me fix supper? Your
father will be home soon. Oh, by the way, gather up those dirty socks
under your bed and put them in the hamper. They smell like rotten cheese.”
Mr. Merlin came home on time, carrying several bags of cat food, cat
litter and a handful of letters for his wife. After supper they watched a
show on television and when the grandfather clock chimed eight times, Poe
went to his room to get ready for bed. He climbed under the covers and
waited until his mother had come in to give him a kiss goodnight. When the
door closed behind her, he grabbed his pillows and heavy blanket and crept
under the bed.
Poe woke up to Bruja licking his face. “Go away, Bruja. Stop that.” He
kicked the blanket and pillows out and rolled from under the bed. After
tossing them on top of the mattress, he ran to the window. “Oh no! It’s
October.”
Instead of the normal rolling green hills, there were jagged candy corn
mountains with orange, yellow, and white stripes. Everywhere Poe looked,
he saw lean black cats slinking about and furry bats heading for the
caves. The street was lined with jack-o-lanterns that had evil grins and
sinister eyes carved into them. Poe pushed his face against the window to
look down the street. The cemetery was full of tipped-over coffins and
half-broken headstones. When he looked up at the clouds, Poe grunted when
he noticed the clouds were gray, and instead of an azure blue sky, pale
orange stretched from horizon to horizon. They weren’t just puffy gray
clouds; they were shaped like skulls with gaping holes for eyes.
“Mom! It’s October.” He dashed into the kitchen and threw himself into one
of the chairs. On the oval table sat a plate of pancakes and a small glass
pitcher of warm maple syrup.
“Help yourself,” his mother said. “I can make more pancakes if you want
them.”
“I
wonder if Prysm wants to walk to school with me today.” Poe chewed his
pancake; syrup dripped from his chin. “I wish I didn’t have to go to
school in October.”
“Come now, Poe. It’s safe in the day. I’m sure Prysm would love to walk
with you. She does every other day. If you want you can both tag along
with me.” Mrs. Merlin fluffed Poe’s dark brown hair.
“Uh, no thanks, Mom.” He wiped his mouth and ran upstairs to get dressed.
A few minutes later he was standing by the back door. “Thanks for the
pancakes. I’m going to pick Prysm up. I’ll see you at school.” Poe threw
the door open and ran next door. When he rang the doorbell, he was happy
to see his friend ready to go.
“Hi, Poe. Have you looked at the sky? Those clouds give me the creeps.”
Prysm gasped and grabbed the door. “Oops. Don’t let Bella outside.” She
nudged the cat indoors. “That was too close. I keep forgetting we have to
be extra careful now.”
“I
hate October, don’t you? You know what I hate the most?” Poe pulled his
backpack over his shoulders. “I hate that haunted house.” He pointed to
the top of the highest candy corn mountain. “And I hate Witch Lilith.
She’s an ugly hag with warts and green hair.”
“I
don’t hate October. I think it’s sort of fun. I’m not afraid of the bats
and black cats or even Witch Lilith. As long as I keep Bella inside and am
in my room by dark, that’s all I care about. I think on Saturday we should
climb those stairs up to the haunted house and look inside. My brother,
Shayde, says it’s cool. He did it last year with his friend, Drake, and
nothing happened to them.”
“They’re twelve years old. We’re only nine. They can run faster and Shayde
isn’t afraid of anything.” Poe walked to the edge of the grass. “Look at
our lawns. I happen to like green grass, not black grass. It’s so ugly.”
“You can say whatever you want. I like the change, except for the trees.
I’ll never get used to black and orange leaves and I don’t like the spider
webs and spiders that hang from the branches.”
“What about the ravens and crows, or the blood rivers with piranha
swimming in them. Not me. I guess we’d better hurry and get to school. My
mom will be watching for us.” Poe took off running, followed by Prysm.
After school they ran home as fast as they could, being sure to be safe in
their houses before the sun set. Poe was relieved when both of his parents
came home and locked the door behind them. Mrs. Merlin pulled the curtains
shut in every room and made sure the windows were closed and locked. Bruja
fell asleep on the living room couch, hidden under a pink, lime green and
white afghan that Mrs. Merlin’s mother had crocheted. The family ate a
supper of mashed potatoes, meat loaf and corn and then Poe went to his
room to do his homework. As he sat at his desk he heard a loud moaning
sound.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN
Poe
gulped. “What was that?” Dropping his pencil on the carpet, he sat still,
waiting to hear the noise again. A few moments later the moaning sound
echoed through Misty Valley.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN
At
first Poe was so afraid that he threw himself under his bed, but his legs
went numb so he pushed himself out, turned off his bedroom light and crept
to the window. He fell to his knees and pulled the drapes apart, just a
crack. “Yikes!” He yanked them shut again. “Skeletons.” After taking a
deep breath, he found the courage to peek again. He sat in silence,
careful to keep well hidden and watched as a dozen skeletons in a row
walked past, their bones clanking together. Following them came the
mummies, wrapped in dirty white bandages and only a few slits to see and
breathe through. Bats swirled around them, pecking at their empty eye
sockets. Poe’s gaze went to the haunted house. Another loud moan belched
from atop the mountain.
MMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNN
“What
is Witch Lilith doing?” Suddenly a face appeared through the glass window
pane right in front of Poe. He screamed, pulled the drapes together and
hid under his bed. “Oh no! The Frankenstein monster saw me!”
His bedroom door flung open and his mother rushed in. “Poe? Are you all
right? What was that scream for?” She glanced at his bed. “Poe? Where are
you?” Mrs. Merlin let out a long sigh. “Are you hiding under the bed
again? Poe, come out of there.”
Poe stuck his head out. “Mom, a monster looked in my window. It saw me. I
was peeking outside and it saw me.”
“You know the rules, Poe. No monsters or any other of the October
creatures are allowed to come into our homes unless they are invited. At
least the witches allowed us some protection! I don’t believe it applies
to Mr. Death’s house. I know he has many problems with uninvited bats and
zombies. Serves him right though. So, you don’t need to worry.” She sat on
the bed and patted the blanket. “You’ll be fine. Tomorrow’s school and you
need to get to sleep.”
Taking comfort in his mother’s words, Poe pulled the covers over his head
and dozed off. |
