Dialogue in Death

The date is October 30th, one day before All Hallows Eve. Matthew Montgomery is out shopping for Halloween candy for he and his wife Lynn to pass out while his children are out trick or treating tomorrow. Matthew loves the vibrant seasonal feel of Halloween in full effect. It reminds him of when he was a kid and he and his best friends were going around wreaking havoc for Halloween time. After buying a few bags of candy out of a Dollar Tree Matthew left out to head to his destination to rack up on candy. As he made his way outside of the store he looked across the street and saw the familiar face. It was the face of a boy he once knew when he was just 10 years old, Henry Wallace.

In the form of a 10 year old child, the site of Henry stopped Matthew in his tracks. He was frightened as a chill was sent down his spine. He could not believe what he was looking at because as far as Matthew was concerned, Henry was dead. Dressed in white fabric that mirror that of an angel or a ghost, Henry smiled at Matthew from across the way. His appearance reminded Matthew of a phantom. Matthew hastily walked in the opposite direction further into the shopping center. As Matthew walked further into the opposite direction he looked across the other side of the parking lot and saw Henry once more, as only he could.

Matthew couldn’t understand how a boy who died nearly 19 years ago was standing in front of him as a ghost. Matthew was not only afraid, but even guilt ridden. He then started having flashes of the past going through his mind. Matthew saw a flashback of his 10 year old self hanging out with his best friends for Halloween. While trick or treating he and his friends catch a glimpse of Henry Wallace being bullied by a group of kids that Matthew and his friends were friendly with. Matthew wanted to tell the kids to stop bullying Henry, but out of peer pressure he just laughed with the rest of his friends and moved along. Flash forward to the next day Matthew and the rest of the kids at school receive news that Henry died from drowning after being pushed off a bridge and into a river by his bullies.

All Matthew could think of now was the immense guilt he felt for not intervening and standing up for Henry when it could have made a difference. In his present mind he directs his focus back to the phantom image of Henry who carries a devious smile across his face. Matthew knew the purpose of that stare. It was meant to remind him of the shame and guilt felt for letting Henry die. Sure enough Matthew did feel the guilt. He turned away from the street and walked into the grocery store behind him. As he started roaming the isles he was met by a vision of Henry at every turn.

As Matthew arrived at the snack isle of he was met by the vision of Henry and decided to face his demons. Henry had a look of sadness on his face while looking eye to eye with Matthew. All Mathew could think about was how sorry he was for not standing up for Henry and how much he hated himself for a long time after Henry died. Matthew closed his eyes and blocked out the image of Henry while he thought about how guilty he felt that he was able to grow up and live a full happy, healthy life, start a family and grow up to have a great career. With his eyes tightly closed, Matthew wished to God that he could go back in time and make things different, but he knew this could only be a wish. With tears running down his tightly closed eyes Matthew’s heart was simply sorry for what he did. Matthew opened his eyes and found that the vision of Henry was gone.

Matthew walked out of the store and looked around at all the children in their Halloween costumes playing on the leave filled fall ground of the shopping center. It made him think a lot about his childhood and the childhood that Henry never had a chance to live through. That was 19 years ago, but he would lament this tragedy he failed to prevent for the rest of his life.