Mr. Crinkle

On a Halloween afternoon, Mr. Crinkle was shopping at his local corner store. Outside there were strong winds; making the trees brush against the store window. “Damn wind, a storm is coming for sure.” said the Clerk out loud for anyone to hear him. Mr. Crinkle just huffed as he filled his basket with candles and salt. He then approached the register with his basket of items. Suddenly, a group of trick-or- treaters run inside. “Trick or treat!” the children screamed with excitement. “Here, take it you parasites!” said the Clerk as he handed them expired candy. The Clerk smiled in a joking way but the kids’ faces turned from excitement to frightened while in the presence of scary old Mr. Crinkle.

Mr. Crinkle slowly turned to the children and said “I can’t wait for it to get dark outside. Oh yes - that’s when the spirits roam the streets collecting souls to take to Hell!” The children screamed and rushed out the door. As the kids fled the store, you can hear the Clerk and Mr. Crinkle laugh. “You’re a bitter old man!” said the Clerk as he bagged the items on the counter. “You’re a bitter old man too! Giving them old candy you cheap ass.” said Mr. Crinkle as he handed the Clerk payment. “They don’t care and neither do I. They don’t egg my store front and I don’t lose sleep at night.” said the Clerk as he hands over the change.

“What is all this stuff for exactly?” asked the Clerk. “It starts with non ya and it ends with your business.” Mr. Crinkle replies while taking his bags of the counter. The Clerk just waves goodbye and says “I hope you have a Happy Halloween!” “I don’t count on it; it tends to never work in my favor.” Mr. Crinkle replied as he left the store.

On the way home, the autumn wind blew through Mr. Crinkles coat. He tightens his jacket while walking past all of the decorated houses. Children are running around collecting candy before the storm hits. The old man grunts as he approaches his beautiful gothic style home. It’s a bit tethered due to the vines that encase the sides of the building. The only Halloween decoration is a small jack-o-lantern on the top of the stairs. He takes the pumpkin’s lid off and places a tea light candle inside and lights it. As he opens the front door, a white cat runs out surprising him. “Damn you Sabrina, almost gave me a heart attack!” he says while walking inside.

Sabrina follows behind him and waits on his big black chair in the living room. “Just give me a second Sabrina, you know how important tonight is.” said the old man as he places his store-bought items on the kitchen table. He heats up a TV-dinner, pours a glass of milk, and sits down with his cat. “Sabrina tonight is the night I can feel it. It won’t be like last time I promise. I read the instructions carefully this time.” said the old man as he eats his food. Sabrina looks up at him as if she looks a tad frightened. “Don’t look at me like that, I want to see her just as bad as you do.” he says as he looks up at his fireplace mantle. On top of the mantle there is a beautiful pearl white urn. The urn has the words ‘In Loving Memory of Mary Crinkle’ written on the side.

After dinner he took the candles and placed them throughout the living room. One candle rested in the window sill, another on the fire place next to Mary’s urn. Three more candles were placed in the center of the carpet. A long red wooden box was laid in the center of the room next to the candles. He grabbed the salt and made a huge circle around the red box. The rest of the salt was placed around Sabrina’s cot. He places Sabrina on her cot and says “Don’t lick that. It is meant to protect us if anything goes wrong.” She looks up with loving eyes and snuggles into her bed.

The lights were then turned off throughout the home. Candles are now the only source of light luminating the living room. Inside the red box contained a Ouija board, a black journal, and a yellow note pad that had Latin phrases written on it. He took the items out of the box and placed them strategically in front of him. The black book on the right, the board in the middle and the note pad on the left. The last touch was a glass cup placed onto of the Ouija board.

As he put his glasses on, he took one last look at Sabrina before starting the ceremony. “This will be the last time, no more after this Halloween.” he said to Sabrina as she laid in her cot.

He took the note pad and began to read the Latin verse ‘Et Per Eam’ which means let her through. It was spoken three times and his hands grabbed the glass over the ‘Hello’ symbol. “Mary, it is your husband can you hear me?” The cup started to shake and move to the word ‘Yes’. The expression on his face looked relieved as he continued with the conjuring. “Mary can you see me?” he says as the cup swiped over the word ‘No’. “That’s okay honey I lit the candles this time. Just look for the glowing light.” he said so lovingly. Suddenly a sound of rain began to fill the shallow silence. The storm finally hit and it didn’t take long before the wind rattled the windows knocking over a candle.

In a hurry, he ran to the candle to light it; leaving the salt circle of protection. As the candle was lit, a touch of cold air graced his neck. “Honey, is that you?” a soft female voice rang out. His hands began to shake as the candle was set down on the window sill. “Yes, my love it is me! I am so happy you found me this time!” “Will you look at me?” asked the soft female voice. “I thought for so long after you died, I would do anything to see your face again. Now, I don’t know if it is right to see you as a ghost.” cried the old man as his voice started to crack.

“I would do anything for you Honey. You should take your life and be with me forever.” said the soft female voice. His face went from sorrowful to concerned as he realized his wife would never ask such a thing. As he paused, Sabrina begin to hiss at the figure that stood in between them. “Sabrina, don’t hiss honey. Its Mary!” he says as he turned around. But to his surprise, there was nobody there. A look of relief flushed over his face as he walked to Sabrina.

The old man spoke to his cat, “I think we should leave the dead alone.” While bringing her to his chest, Sabrina begins to struggle and hiss trying to escape. Suddenly the room became cold again; a grotesque female voice spoke out and said “You’re not alone Mr. Crinkle I’m here too!” Sabrina scratched her owner in the face to get away and ran underneath the couch while growling softly. He grabbed his bleeding face and turned to see the ghostly figure rise behind him. All of the candles blew out as the horrifying female ghost came into focus. “Not again!” he screamed as he ran to the circle of salt. The ghost glowed white and blue luminating the living room. She was missing some of her limbs as her intestine hanged out of her stomach.

As the storm grew stronger outside—the house began to rattle. Sabrina was whimpering under the couch as the old man struggled to light the candles by the Ouija Board. “Don’t mess with the dead or we will mess with you!” the terrifying woman screamed.

“Leave me alone, all I wanted was my wife!” he screamed as he lit the candles. He read from the black book and placed his hands over the cup. The verse that was spoken was “As it lies, so shall be. You have no power here, leave me be.” The ghost began to screech at a high pitch. The glass cup was then placed over the ‘Goodbye’ symbol on the Ouija board. The sound of suffering souls filled the room as the winds rattled the home. “As it lies, so shall be. You have no power here, leave me be!” screamed Mr. Crinkle at the top of his lungs. The ghost continued to scream as it began to disappear.

The wind shattered all of the windows knocking Mr. Crinkle out cold. After a few hours, he woke up and saw his digital clock read 6:45 A.M. As he sat up as Sabrina jumped into the middle of his lap. “I am so sorry Sabrina - I thought this time would be different.” said the old man. When he looked out his windows, he realized that nothing was broken. It was all a facade from the ghost. The rest of the morning the old man cleaned the house of all the salt and candles. The items that were contained in the red box were burned in the back yard. Right before the black journal went into the fire, the dust cover slipped off and a slip of pink paper fell out. It was a hidden letter from Mary that was dated a week before she died. In the letter she wrote:

Dearest Husband,

I know you are probably upset because I hid this final letter from you. I didn’t know if your heart can fathom my final words. So, I slipped this into your journal the second night you visited me in the hospital. Please forgive me my darling. Not just for hiding the note but for leaving so suddenly. I am going to a better place, where sickness and pain does not exist. The only thing I wish I could take with me is you. No matter what my fate is, just know we will meet again. Please keep me in your prayers since that is the best way to reach me. Give Sabrina my love for she will need you during this time. Be kind to yourself my darling for I am just a prayer away.

Love,

Mary

Suddenly, tears filled Mr. Crinkles face as he clutches the letter to his chest. He looks up to the fresh morning sky and blows a kiss to his sweet wife.

The End.