Halloween in Moriches Read online

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  The next night was Halloween, and the Moriches Daredevils were ready to wreak some havoc and have a lot of fun. However, their fun was limited because they were accompanied by Tommy’s grandmother, who was very old, and by Tommy’s mother, who was also very old—almost forty! But Tommy had a plan.

  The group was Trick or Treating in East Moriches, and they went over to Pepperidge Lane, where there was a man in costume who every year stood on his roof and teased the children before giving them candy. One year he was a spaceman, and another year he was the Cowardly Lion, and one year he was even a Witch. Rumor was there was a stupid, old man behind the house who seldom smiled and never let anyone have any fun. But never mind the stupid, old man—the Moriches Daredevils wouldn’t get to have any fun as long as Tommy’s grandmother and mother were with them.

  They went to the famous house on Pepperidge Lane, and the man on the roof squirted them with silly string and lowered down a piñata, which Tommy broke open. They got armfuls of candy from it. There was always a big group by the Pepperidge lane house, and Tommy’s mother and grandmother started chatting with the other parents. While the two women were distracted with their chatting, the Moriches Daredevils made their escape. They ran around the corner, Tommy leading the three boys and two girls whose names we won’t mention.

  Tommy could hear his mother calling for him, and he led the group in a direction away from her voice. The Moriches Daredevils wandered around the neighborhood, Trick or Treating, and knocking baskets out of little kids’ hands, and stealing their candy. When enough time passed that the coast was clear on Pepperidge Lane, they returned to that house. They taunted the man on the roof and made him give them more candy. Before too long, they were chased away by the stupid old man who seldom smiled, and ran off to nearby the woods adjacent to the creek that ran down to Moriches Bay, and further south to Moriches Inlet.

  After a time, the night became chilly. None of the children seemed to notice the mist creeping up around their knees. The night was damp, and one of the girls began to shiver. Tommy’s plan was to find their way back to his house and be waiting there when his mother got home. It never entered Tommy’s mind that his mother would be worried sick over him and the three boys and two girls whose names we won’t mention.

  Only there was a problem with Tommy’s plan. He led the group down one block or another, in the dark, because the sun had gone down, and with the mist from Moriches Bay up above his ankles, and he couldn’t remember the way to his house. “What was this mist called again?” Tommy wondered. “Memphis Sealing Mist?”

  It had been a long time since they had heard Tommy’s mother calling for them. Tommy was getting frustrated at his failure to remember where his house was. Finally, he thought maybe they needed to take a shortcut through the woods by the creek. But the woods were dark and scary, with mist covering the ground. Tommy didn’t want to admit to the others that he was lost, although he could sense they were starting to doubt him.

  “I’m cold,” one of the girls said.

  “And I’m hungry,” the smallest boy said.

  “Eat your candy,” Tommy snapped. At that moment, there was a huge whoosh swooping down on them, as if two giant wings were flapping nearby overhead. The children all ducked down, and another giant whoosh followed as a huge bird sped right above them. The girls screamed, and Tommy cried, “Follow me.”

  They ran straight for the woods.

  Once they were in the woods by the creek, the mist seemed to rise higher and higher. After a while, Tommy forgot why they were in the woods at all. He was starting to panic when he spotted his grandmother down by the creek, seeming to walk out of the water. But the mist was so thick it was hard to tell where the edge of the creek was.

  “Grandma!” Tommy cried. He led the children to her, but once he got close, he knew the woman in the tattered black robe with wisps of seaweed clinging to it was not his grandmother. She had a long fleshy nose, and a hairy wart on her chin. Tommy tried to remember what her name was, but he couldn’t. The mist was up to his waist now.

  “Hello, my pretties,” the woman cackled. “What are you doing out so late? It’s dangerous, to be out this late without your parents on Halloween.”

  “We’re lost,” Tommy said boldly. “Help us get home,” he demanded.

  “Ooh, a pushy one you are,” the woman replied. “Well, I tell you what.” She extended her cane out in front of her, holding it just above the level of the eerie mist. “If you can jump over my cane, then I will take you home.”

  “Don’t do it, Tommy,” the older girl said. “You can’t see what’s on the ground!”

  “Ooh, my pretty,” the woman cawed, “there’s just ground on the ground, you silly nilly.”

  Tommy puffed up his chest and said, “I’ll do it. But you promise to take us home!” The woman nodded.

  The older girl pleaded with Tommy again, “Don’t do it.” Tommy told her not to worry. He bent his knees and just before he jumped he snapped his fingers twice. He went over the woman’s cane easily, but when he came down on the other side, he disappeared, as if there were a deep hole in the ground.

  The Moriches Daredevils, not feeling like daredevils any longer, watched and screamed as Tommy’s entire body was swallowed up by the mist. Tommy had vanished. The oldest girl said, “Tommy forgot to say ‘woo woo.’” They called Tommy’s name, but he was gone.

  The Moriches Daredevils screamed and tore off through the dark, mist covered woods. In the dark they could hear a noise [SNAP SNAP]. It was a faint noise that they recognized. [SNAP SNAP] They called out Tommy’s name, but he didn’t answer. The three boys and two girls, whose names we won’t mention, found their way out of the mist enshrouded woods, but when they got to the street, they had forgotten that it was Halloween, and they had forgotten that the other children were wearing costumes. Everywhere they turned there were what they believed were real pirates and real ghosts and real hobos and real witches. The Moriches Daredevils screamed and ran, but everywhere they went there were more pirates and ghosts and hobos and witches.

  By the time they next heard the whoosh-whoosh of a giant bird descending upon them, they were exhausted, and had no memory, and they looked up at Gorgonica and stared into her eyes as the massive eagle descended upon them. All at once, their screams stopped. The only sound was the whispering wind tickling the dead brown leaves clinging desperately to the trees in the dank night air.