PAST HALLOWEEN EDITION
THE WRITERS OF ROHAN
Old Man Joe
by Johnny
One day old man Joe woke up. It was a normal day very much like all other days. He ate his breakfast and tidied up his house. That’s when he heard a scratching noise coming from the basement. He thought nothing of it because he had other things on his mind like setting up for Halloween and making children so scared that they’d drop their candy and run away. He heard the same scratching noise again but this time much louder. He still thought nothing of it. He started baking his famous “puke it all candy.” The candy was designed to make children puke and even if they braved his scary decorations and monsters they would end up not enjoying their Halloween. Not one child had braved his monsters and decorations for 50 years. Just as a safeguard he would give them candy that made them puke. He enjoyed watching little children of all shapes and sizes throw up their guts out every Halloween. He
heard that same scratching again but louder. He still thought nothing of it. Then he decided to take a shower. He turned the tap to warm and suddenly the water became ice cold. He jumped out of the shower annoyed. He decided to take his mind off things and get a snack from his fridge. He opened the fridge very tired and could not believe what he saw. The previous day he went to the supermarket. Everyone was terrified of him so everything at the supermarket was on the house for him. He filled his fridge with bread, meat, milk and grains so it was full to the brim but now it was completely empty except for one miniscule sized crumb. Old man Joe was really getting angry. Who would dare to come in his house and steal all his food he thought. Again he heard that same scratching. It was louder this time but old man Joe was so angry he paid no attention to it. He was fuming like a volcano about to spill its lava onto the innocent citizens below. Every night he had a midnight snack. But not this night. His round belly would have to go hungry. He went to bed and a few seconds later jumped out again scratching his back. He slept on his armchair for the rest of the night. In the morning after he woke up and was about to have breakfast, but remembered that the fridge was empty, he heard the doorbell ring. He was still fuming but tried to control his temper for the benefit of his guest. When he opened the door he saw a postman. The postman cleared his throat politely and then said, “good day to you sir, do you happen to be old man Joe?” Old man Joe said to the polite young man, “yes but normally the postmen puts the mail in the mail box in the front of the house” he said matter of factly. The postman blushed and then said “I’m sorry sir but I am new on the job.” Old man Joe smiled sweetly and said, “can you please leave now since I have matters to deal with.” The postman replied smoothly, “of course Sir but I have one question.” “Of course” old man Joe said. The postman replied, “are the rumours true?” “What rumors?” old man Joe asked. The postman hesitated. “Speak up boy” commanded old man Joe. “They say a boy choked on your candy and the next day he passed away and they say that he will forever haunt you and your house.” Old man Joe felt a pang of remorse. He hadn’t meant to kill anyone with his candy. “Okay please leave now I would like to have some peace” the old man said. The postman departed without saying a word. That very night he tried to go to sleep but he couldn’t sleep because he kept thinking of the boy that had choked. The next day he tossed all his “puke it all candy” into the garbage. Then he put on his cooking gloves and started to bake. Soon a sweet aroma filled his kitchen. Old man Joe sighed with a pang of regret that he hadn’t made sweet candy in all his years. Finally it was the night of Halloween. He took his candy out of the fridge and put all of it on a tray. The sun went down and the witching hour arrived. He stepped onto his sidewalk with the tray. Soon a crowd of children surrounded him with their parents in tow. Old man Joe invitingly held out the tray. “How do we know it won’t make us puke?” A child in the front row called out. Slowly a sly grin passed across the boy’s face. “Eat some candy to prove we won’t puke,” he shouted. “Sure,” old man Joe replied. His hand picked up a candy. The children gasped as he put one in his mouth and chewed. The children seeing he hadn’t puked started chanting in unison, “eat more, eat more!” Old man Joe ate it and on his fifth candy murmured “mmm good.” At once all the children stepped back expecting the puke of the century. But nothing came out. Hesitantly, a little boy stepped out of the crowd. “Can I have one, please mama?” he asked. “I don’t know,” his mom said, casting a suspicious glance at old man Joe. “Please mama, please” pleaded the boy. “Oh all right.” his mom replied. The boy hesitantly put his hand on the tray. The onlookers watched in amazement. He grabbed a candy and put it in his mouth and chewed. Immediately he grabbed another one. A grin slowly spread across his face. “Good” he murmured. At this all the children dive bombed the tray each of them trying to get two candy. They all started chewing, smiles spreading across their faces. In union they chorused “thank you old man Joe.” That very night while laying in his bed a smile broke across his face. There was no scratching. The water stayed hot. There was food in the fridge. From that day on, children who came to his house only puked if they ate too much candy.
THE BEAST
by Ruby
It was a moonlit night, and the campfire crackled like twigs underfoot, its light dancing over the four faces gathered around it. Suddenly, a sharp snap sounded from the forest beyond.
“What was that”!? The youngest said.
“It’s probably the Beast!” His older sister replied snidely.
“Lily!” their mother Leana scolded. “Don’t scare poor Willam like that! You know there’s no such thing as monsters.”
“Yeah, but HE doesn't know that” Lily replied sulkily.
“Listen to your mother Lily.” their father Maxwell said. “Say, have I ever told you the story of how I met your mother?”
“Only about a bazillion times” Lily muttered under her breath.
“What was that Lily?” “Nothing dad!” He didn't look it at first glance, but Maxwell had a “Death Glare” feared by his college students and his own children alike. It was not one you would like to find yourself on the receiving end of.
“I have an idea!” Lily said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s tell spooky stories!”
“Ok!” Willam said, perking up immediately. He loved stories.
“I'll go first!” Lily exclaimed. “Ok! It was a dark, scary night, just like this one. There was a family sitting around a fire, just like us. When suddenly, RAAAAAAAH!”
“AIEEEE!” A shriek pierced the air. Little Will cowered in fear. Smirking and looming over Will, Lily continued ominously.
“A great Beast rushed in, taking the little boy among the family and dragging him into the forest, never to be seen again. Then, the older sister got her own room and everyone lived happily ever after! The end!” She beamed with pride as her father comforted a very scared Willam, and Leana glared daggers at her daughter.
“Lily!” Her mother cried. “Don’t do that to your poor brother!”
“Oh he’s fine.” Lily said dismissively.
A loud crunch came from the woods, making them all jump. Leana grabbed Willam, and she and Maxwell muttered comforting words into his ear. Lily sat dejectedly on the other side of the fire.
“I have a story.” Maxwell said. “You won’t believe it though.”
“Tell us dad!” Lily said eagerly, snapping out of her nobody-cares-about-me mood. “Ok, here it goes. Once upon a time, there was a family. There was a mother, and a father, an older sister, and a younger brother. Then, the older sister was, (Gasp) nice to her brother!” He said pointedly.
“That wasn’t a very good story.” Lily humphed, crossing her arms. Her father sighed tiredly.
“I have a story!” Willam said timidly.
“What's your story?” His mother inquired.
“Once there was a little boy, and he met a monster in the woods. He was scared at first, but the monster was nice and then he took the monster home and everyone loved it and that’s the end!” He finished, standing up and taking a bow.
“What a great story!” his doting mother said approvingly.
“WooOooOOoOoooW” Lily said sarcastically.
“I thought it was very nice Will.” Maxwell said, shooting one of his infamous “Death Glares” at his daughter.
Willam listened as the wind whispered through the trees, as if it had a voice and a consciousness of it’s very own. Come on. It seemed to say. Don’t be afraid. It muttered. Will shivered.
“Did you hear that dad?” Will softly remarked. “The woods are talking to me.”
“It’s just your imagination son.” Maxwell replied.
“No, they are. They want me to come in.”
Now it was his father’s turn to shiver.
“I bet it was the Beast trying to lure you in so it could EAT YOU UP!” Lily cried with glee.
“Lily! We discussed this!” her mother told her sternly.
“What?” Lily said, feigning innocence. Her mother continued her lecture, but Will’s mind wandered and he found himself looking back to the woods.
“I think we’ve had enough stories for one night. I’m going to hit the hay.” Leana proclaimed.
“Come on Will, let's get you tucked in” Maxwell said, scooping up his yawing son.
As Lily marched off muttering something about how at least she got her own tent, Will saw something in the woods. A large, glowing pair of eyes that looked directly into him with animal intelligence.
“They are real.” Will muttered sleepily, before slipping into unconsciousness.
His dreams were ones of Beasts.
The Wizard’s Apprentice
by Harper
One apprentice. Every ten years. Why him? Tony didn’t want to be “special.” No one ever noticed him before. He was just a normal, boring kid who was good at math, and this had nothing to do with math. Why was he chosen? It just didn’t make sense.
I, as the narrator, should probably explain. The Wizard rules the world using magic. There used to be magic everywhere, in the old days. But now that he’s taken every enchanted person and made them a part of his administration, magic has been running low. That’s where Tony comes in. Every ten years, The Wizard chooses one extremely magically gifted person to study by his side, as his personal assistant. That’s today, on Halloween.
Sure, strange things happened to Tony. All the time. The Wizard’s world was a strange one, and the fact that Tony’s parents were a part of the Rebellion didn’t make it any more normal. He had been taught to hate The Wizard and his administration his whole life. He didn’t know anything about The Wizard except that he had made the world this way, which is a pretty good reason to hate him. Hundreds of years ago, all the wizards and witches had met and agreed not to harm the non-magical people or try to rule the world. The Rebellion was planning to infiltrate The Wizard’s castle and force him to oblige to those rules. Despite all of this, Tony’s parents still weren’t magical. They’re one of the few non-magical people who were smart enough to figure out that there was a Rebellion, and when they found out, they wanted in. They really hated The Wizard. So, if The Wizard didn’t tear Tony apart, then his parents would make Tony their spy on the inside, which at least tripled the danger.
Tony found out that he was a wizard by just watching The Wizard announce who would be his apprentice on the news. Most people figure it out before that, but hide it because The Wizard’s administration is so awful, or at least that’s what people say. Tony and his family had never even seen anything remotely magical come from Tony, but according to The Wizard he was “incredibly talented” and “had a bright future at the capital.” If he went, especially supporting the Rebellion, he was toast. His parents had already made it clear that Tony was going to spy on The Wizard for the Rebellion, no matter what he wanted.
Still, it didn’t matter how he felt about it, he was a wizard, and he had to work with The Wizard. Everyone was counting on him. He had to get on the train to The Wizard’s castle, be his apprentice, and spy on him for the Rebellion. It wasn’t his choice.
When Tony arrived at the capital, a young man with black hair and deep blue eyes took him to The Wizard’s castle. As soon as they walked through the castle gates, though, he transformed into someone else completely. He was older, with gray hair and different clothes, but his eyes were the same. It was The Wizard.
“So, Tony, how’s the Rebellion?” he asked in a gravelly voice.
“You know about the Rebellion?” Tony asked. He was both horrified and fascinated.
“Of course I know. The only reason I haven’t squashed it down yet is because they’re the last steady supply of magic,” The Wizard said, as if it was obvious.
“For you to rule the world with?” Tony asked in a shaky voice.
“Oh, I don’t need magic to rule the world, I rule by fear. The magic is just to keep me alive. I’m old, you see, and I’ll die without a very large amount of magic,” The Wizard said.
“So?” Tony asked.
“So, I need to take it from you,” he replied. He sucked all of the magic and all of the life out of Tony, until all that was left of The Wizard’s apprentice was a small heap of dust on the grass outside of the castle.
A Story by Yonna
Kate rubbed her eyes and yawned. She was done with work, finally. The clock read 7:00 PM on the office wall. She needed to get home. Home… to her daughter… her daughter! Kate sat straight up. She had forgotten about Ellie being home, the thought buried under a pile of thoughts about paperwork. She was home alone, for the first time ever, and she was only eight! But Kate couldn’t help it, she would get fired if she didn’t stay at work… Kate calmed herself down by reminding herself that the babysitter had left 10 minutes ago, so Ellie would only be home alone for 20 minutes. Nothing could happen in 20 minutes. Ellie was fine, she could take care of herself, and eight wasn’t that young. Kate breathed in and out slowly. She reached for her bag under her desk. Her fingertips were mere centimeters away from the strap when the bag buzzed. Her stomach jolted.
In her head she chided herself for getting so startled over her phone ringing. With her hand she moved the side pockets of the bag away from the bottom, where her phone was. She was expecting it to be a robo-call, probably from her daughter’s school. She was shocked when her phone screen lit up with the word “Home.” She had asked Ellie not to call unless it was an emergency! She gripped the phone with shaking hands and clicked “accept call.”
“Mom?” It was Ellie’s voice, sounding unusually worried.
“Yes?” By now, Kate had picked up her stuff and was walking out of the office, determined to reach her car quickly, to take her daughter trick-or-treating, and to see what was wrong.
“Something’s… happening.”
“What’s going on?”
“Mom…”
“Ellie, just say it!”
“There are sounds.”
“Yeah?”
“From the… basement.”
Kate sighed. This was a regular Halloween thing. Last year it was sounds from the attic. It turned out to be the cat. Nevertheless, Kate, determined to make her daughter feel better, opened the door of the Volvo and clicked in her seatbelt.
“Mom…”
“Yes honey, I’m coming!!”
“Mom, help!”
Something in her daughter’s tone worried her. It was different, and strange. It seemed like something really was happening to Ellie!
Meanwhile, Ellie was trembling with fear, clutching the phone, trying not to make too much noise under her sheets. She was sure she heard something, like footsteps. Max meowed pitifully in bed next to her, so it wasn’t him this time!
She heard something again, this strange, creaking noise, coming from below. She clamped her mouth shut and closed her eyes. She felt as limp as a noodle. She’d never been this scared before. Was somebody really in the house? What was that person doing? What if it wasn’t a person, or something… else???
Kate heard various whimpering noises coming from the phone. She felt stressed and extremely worried. She had no clue what was upsetting her daughter. In her distress, she yanked the wheel too hard on a turn and almost ran into a fire hydrant! During this chaotic turn her daughter’s trick or treating bag was propelled out of the back seat, through the window, and into a bush. She ignored this and pulled to the side of the road. She was in no condition to drive.
“Ellie? Ellie? ELLIE?” She almost screamed into the phone, getting louder each time.
There was no answer. Kate’s heart skipped a beat.
“What?”
Kate sighed with relief as she recognized her daughter’s voice. She urgently asked Ellie to describe what she had heard. Ellie said it sounded like a giant, taking huge, ground-shaking steps. Kate relaxed, because nothing like a giant being real was even remotely possible. Then Ellie said something else.
“Wait…” She said in a whisper.
“What?” Kate uttered nervously. She suddenly realized she must look like a weirdo, on the side of the road, getting in a panic attack and worriedly screaming at a phone.
“There’s something else… it’s like… someone breathing… loudly.” she finished lamely.
Nevertheless, Ellie's voice sounded really scared. Also, Max was meowing through the phone, which he never does unless there’s danger around. Kate hung up, promising to be there soon. Kate’s mind flashed back to when Max had started meowing when she was painting Ellie’s bedroom wall, standing on a ladder. She had jumped off just in time before the ladder crashed, loudly, to the floor. This was enough. It was time to get home and figure out what the heck was going on.
She jumped into the car and turned the key. The engine revved and rumbled and purred like a cat, and she shot off towards home.
Ellie heard the thumping footsteps and heavy breath coming closer to her room. She was worried it might come into the room and… she shuddered just thinking about it. In movies or in campfire stories, when something like this happens to a character, she never thought it would be this scary. Some stranger was in her house, her house, HER HOUSE!!! She needed to at least get away from this room. She remembered the secret door in the closet, like in Narnia. Except it didn’t lead to a magical world. It lead to her mom’s room, which was a magical world for her now, because it offered escape. She crept slowly on tiptoe to the closet, wiping her sweaty brow with her sleeve, holding the phone, Max still meowing softly at her heels.
Kate rushed past familiar shops and restaurants, gripping the wheel so hard her knuckles went white. She had entered her neighborhood, and she was about 5 minutes away from Ellie. She suddenly heard the phone ring again.
“Not again!” Kate exclaimed.
She picked up the phone quickly with a free hand and shoved in under her ear, propping it up with her shoulder.
“What?” She moaned.
Ellie was sitting in her mom’s closet. She was shaking with fear, hearing whatever it was in the other room tearing up her things, roaring with rage. She realized that her mom’s room didn’t have any other doors leading out of the room, only the one door leading to hers, where the monster was. There was no escape. Max meowed.
“Help.” She whispered into the phone, crying quietly from sheer terror.
She could hear her mother sobbing on the other end.
“I’m coming! I’m coming!” Kate said.
“Oh no…”
“What? What happened? Ellie?”
Ellie just realized that the monster was slowly turning the hidden door in the closet leading to the room she was in.
Kate panicked, shouting in the phone, almost veering into another car. She pressed on the gas and shot off, faster than ever before. She heard sounds from the phone. Of her daughter screaming.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”
She heard meows, too. Frantic, loud, wailing, meows!
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Meeeoww!”
Kate wailed too. She was about to hang up and call the police, but she couldn’t while she was going so fast.
“ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”
20 more seconds… she could make it....
“Meow! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
10 seconds… she could see the house up ahead…
“Ahhhhhhhhh!!!! Mom!!!!!!!! HELLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
9 seconds…
“Meow!”
8…
“HELP!!”
7… 6… 5…
“ARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!”
4… 3… 2.... 1… Jumping out of the car….
“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-”
The line cut out. No one ever saw Ellie or Max ever again.
