Halloween in America

Halloween In America

Billy Smith was excited. Halloween was only days away. The choice of costume was on his mind. A decision had to be made. He had narrowed it down to two possibilities. The trusty, scary pirate with a large sword and an eye patch or being a mummy with dark circles under his eyes and spots of blood spattered on a white wraparound sheet.

Six years old is an age where the end result was very important. Billy had very successfully been a pirate the year before. When he had yelled trick or treat, he received assorted candies in his treasure bag while sending chills down the spines of those who opened their doors. To change and be a mummy this year, interested him. Time was running out. He had to choose.

America loves Halloween. It’s their second biggest commercial holiday after Christmas with over 147 million people taking part. In the small country town where Billy lived, in some minds, Halloween was more exciting than Santa’s arrival. Since the age of four Billy had put on a costume, waited for dusk, and with his Aunt Paula at his side looking on, brought terror to the tree lined streets and family homes of his neighborhood.

It was not only about collecting goodies, but also going down the main street, store to store, window to window, writing on the glass with a candle. Some used soap. Not Billy. He knew candle wax was far more difficult to remove from the windows than soap. He had heard the grownups saying that it took twice as long to clean a window with candle wax scribbled across it. For Billy, making adults work and taking their candies, there was nothing not to like about Halloween.

Aunt Paula adored Billy. Paula wasn’t married and had no children of her own. She spent a lot of time with Billy taking him places and buying him toys that he wanted. Billy’s parents both worked long hours. They were extremely pleased to have Paula share some of the burden of parenting. When Billy was with Paula, they knew he was in good hands.

Paula was the one who taught Billy to swim. She took him to the circus and other attractions that came to town. She bought him the best present at Christmas and for his birthday. She was his escort at Halloween.

Paula was thirty-one-years old. She didn’t have any outstanding features, but what she did have, fit together making her attractive enough. Dark brown hair, brown eyes and a straight nose, sat atop a strong body standing 5’ 6” tall. Paula worked for the State Government Forestry Department with much of her time spent wandering around through the woods with an eye out for poachers, timber thieves and illegal tree clearing. Paula loved her job and the freedom it gave her. It was strenuous at times and could be dangerous.

She always packed a concealed Springfield XD-S .45ACP. This was one of the best carry weapons on the market with a single stack magazine with five rounds and one in the chamber. Paula thought if you can’t protect yourself with six rounds of a 45, you shouldn’t be carrying a gun.

Halloween arrived with Billy still not sure of which costume to wear. He called his aunt.

“I have a question. What do you think I should be tonight, pirate or mummy?”

Paula thought. “Go with the mummy. You’ve never been that. It’ll scare a lot of people.”

“Okay, I will. I’ll be waiting for you. I’m excited.”

“Me too Billy. I’ll be there after 6.”

000

The weather was cool with some strong wind gusts. Falling leaves and those already on the ground blew along the street, rustling under foot. The sky was cloudy with very little moonlight making it a dark fall night in the rural town. Perfect for Halloween.

Billy and Paula had already hit half a dozen houses with the results in the treasure bag. They had marked up many windows with Paula lifting Billy so he could write in places he couldn’t reach. They then turned their attention to a street with large houses, which were set back from the road and mostly had porches.

The streetlights were every fifty yards or more, making this street darker than most others. The first house they tried had no one at home or at least they didn’t answer the door. The second house had a dim light by the front door. Paula waited on the sidewalk as Billy made his way up the walkway to the house and climbed the three stairs onto the porch.

Billy reached out his hand to knock on the door. At that second, from around the corner of the house, a huge black bear leaped out on all fours, opening its mouth letting out a loud roar.

Billy turned and screamed in fright. He screamed again as the bear reared up on its hind legs just feet from where Billy was hunched over, not moving.

Paula heard Billy’s scream and saw the bear rear up. Running towards the house she pulled the Springfield from the small of her back and fired three rounds. The bear dropped as Paula arrived on the porch with gun in hand.

A curtain moved. A few seconds later both barrels of a shotgun exploded through the window, with the slugs catching Paula full in the chest and knocking her off the porch. Billy had his head between his legs shaking uncontrollably when the police arrived.

000

After hearing some shots, Warren Thomas saw a person on his porch with a gun. Fearing for his life, he fired the shotgun killing Paula. His son Ben, dressed in the bear suit, was also dead.

Billy, in shock and unable to speak, was taken to the hospital. Investigations went on into the night.

The incident in the country town made the local papers for the next few days and was buried in the middle of a few national papers. Billy remained in the hospital before being moved to an institution able to deal with his shock.

Warren Thomas was charged with manslaughter, found guilty, and sentenced to fifty hours community service.

000

Over the years Halloween has been documented as one of the most dangerous nights of the year. In a study over twenty-one years, an average of 608 persons die on this night each year. Of these, 55 are children aged 4 to 8, 43% more than any other night. In other words, Halloween is almost twice as dangerous for children than any other night of the year.

Some believe it won’t be long before Halloween overtakes Christmas as the number one commercial holiday in America.

Halloween in America was included in Tall Tales Three a book of short stories available at:

www.jackkregasbooks.com

Amazon

Thank you for reading.