Boy, did I make a mistake! I just realized that the first two chapters I posted were not from one of Mel's Halloween stories...in fact, it reminds me of something quite different, indeed, and I'll post the whole story in it's entirety in December. So I do apologize for leaving you hanging; if anyone really wants to see the rest of it now, just email me, ok?
In the meantime, here are are three chapters from her second annual Halloween story, The Golden Goblin; I'll post Chapter 4 tomorrow, 5 on Friday, 6 on Saturday and the final Chapter on Sunday. Then...next week...a NEW Halloween story (I hope!)
Chapter One of The Golden Goblin:
"The October sunshine was pouring in the windows, but the air outside was crisp and cold the day before Halloween. As Jan walked by the kitchen table she noticed a large piece of bright orange paper. It was strange--she did not remember it being there just a few minutes ago when she had grabbed the newspaper. She had heard her father get up early and go out long ago so there was no chance he had set it there in the last few minutes. "I just must not have seen it before", Jan said out loud and then thought that maybe the headache she had must be the reason she had not noticed the paper earlier.
She sat down on a chair at the table, picked up the orange paper and looked at it. There were smudges of dirt on it and some red brown spots that looked a bit like dried blood. The paper had been folded and crumpled. On what appeared to be the outer part were several blots of ink and scribbles and then Jan saw her name. Under her name it said simply "Lives in a little house." Jan turned the paper over and read aloud to herself and Wolf, who just happened to be lying right beside her.
You have been chosen to enter a Halloween Photo Contest! Do not disregard this important invitation. You could win the coveted Golden Goblin Award. Outside your back door you will find a small bottle of blue liquid, drink it and the contest will begin.
Jan laughed out loud and said to Wolf as she headed toward the back door,"Well which one of my friends could be behind this? It's probably Megan, could be Krista, tho." Carefully she opened the door just in case there was someone there, but seeing no one, she looked down at the steps and sitting on a black pillow was a small bottle with blue liquid in side. She was laughing again and then thought, a potion! OMG, this is just like something out of Harry Potter! I'll go along with this!
Before she drank the shimmering blue liquid, though, Jan ran inside the house, grabbed her camera and snapped several pictures of the bottle for her blog. She couldn't wait to post this. Then she twisted the cap off the bottle and in a loud voice, just in case anyone was hiding nearby, she laughingly said, "I'm going to drink the blue liquid, yum! I hope I don't keel over and die!" With that she tipped the bottle up to her lips and drank."
Chapter Two of The Golden Goblin:
"The blue liquid had tasted strange. It was salty, smoky, with a hint of mint and citrus. It was the consistency of a raw egg, sort of slimy. There was something else almost earthy tasting too! Not good, but not exactly awful either. As she expected, she felt nothing. No earth shattering changes or strange floating feelings. Nothing, zip, nadda!
There was a tiny part of Jan that hoped there would have been something, well, magical about that blue potion, but at least her headache was gone! She picked up the bottle and pillow and as she did she saw that there was a pocket in the underside of the pillow and sticking out was a compact mirror.
Jan's hands were trembling as she pulled the mirror out of the pocket. She wondered for a moment if the trembling had anything to do with the potion, but decided it was just all the unexpected Halloween fun she was having. The mirror was ornate and heavy. As she opened it there was a flash that flew from the mirror straight up and entered Jan's body by way of her partly open mouth.
There was a burning feeling that seemed to course through her veins and then her skin turned the same blue color of the liquid she had ingested, and her clothes and flesh fell off her body leaving bare bones. Without feeling any great concern over the flesh that lay on the ground at her feet Jan realized her camera had been snatched from her hands and pictures of her bones were being taken by the image of her former self.
When she started to move around the backyard she could hear the rattle of her own bones. She felt the wind blow through her bony frame along with a few dried brown leaves. Then a deep dark blue cloud surrounded her and she fell to the ground and lay there as nothing but a pile of old dried bones."
Chapter Three of The Golden Goblin:
"A leaf fell and landed softly on Jan's face. That was enough to awaken her from what felt like a very deep sleep. When she opened her eyes she realized it was starting to get dark and she was lying on the ground in the backyard in the pile of leaves she had raked up the day before yesterday. She was confused as to why she was there. Perhaps, and she really hated to admit it, but maybe she really had overdone the dirty martinis at Grendel's with Michelle last night!
Jan started to get up and that was when she remembered that someone was playing some kind of a Halloween joke on her. It all came flooding back to her now, the photo contest, the blue liquid, the mirror and her bare bones. How was this all happening?
She looked around for the black pillow and the bottle, but the only thing she could see near the back door was her rake and an old broom. The broom did not look familiar. Its handle was dark from use and the brush part was pretty thin and brittle.
Jan moved the rake and then reached her hand toward the broom. Without touching it the broom moved toward her hand as if it were magnetized. No sooner was it in her hands when the broom swept under her and lifted her up off the ground. With a huge puff of black smoke Jan saw that she had taken off, riding the broomstick high above the treetops soaring faster than she was comfortable going in these situations (not that it had ever happened to her before, not in real life, anyway!).
Since she held the camera in one hand her grip on the broomstick did not seem like enough to keep her from falling to her death. As she looked down to make sure she as situated on the broom well enough she saw a black skirt billowing all around her, hanging down to her ankles and black boots on her feet. She couldn't help it, she laughed loudly, only to hear a wild cackle burst from deep within.
After what felt like an eternity the broom started down out of the dark night sky and into the middle of a thick forest. As Jan got closer to the ground she started to see the tops of the trees and beyond that a large clearing. An enormous black pot was resting over a smoky fire and figures dressed all in black wearing tall, pointy hats danced around the pot.
"This is going to be interesting," Jan thought, and at that moment the dancing ceased and each head looked up at her with their eyes glaring."
The End of Chapters One throught Three! What do you think?
And if you've made is this far, as a reward, here is a list of Haunted Places in Massachusetts for your Halloween fright pleasure. Enjoy!
