Scawy…Very Scawy…trust no one!

/ Penny L Howe

During one of the first Halloween holidays that a little girl of 5 had been very vocal about, she had an incident that scared her. She put her small hand up to her chest and patting her heart very quickly and with very wide open eyes said “Scawy…very scawy”. Sometimes I agree with the feelings of that little girl.

I do love Halloween for all the fun traditions that it represents, however some of the aspects of this spooky night can be very scawy, as a little girl so eloquently demonstrated. So having said that here is my scawy story for you:

~

She was alone, she hadn’t meant to be alone. It wasn’t supposed to have worked out that way. It was late, the streets were deserted, she was about 3 blocks from her car and she was alone.

The Moon had disappeared behind dark and gloomy looking clouds, giving the shadows surrounding her an almost eerie life-like appearance.

“No Worries” she said to herself as she walked along, “I can walk these next few blocks by myself, I’m not afraid”.

Just because it was Halloween didn’t mean it was any different from any other night. A sound was heard off to her right behind her. A soft sound, and then another, the sound of footsteps, She turned and looked in the direction of the sound, nothing there. She turned back again walking faster.

The footsteps could be heard to be coming nearer. “Oh crap”, she thought, her heart beginning to beat faster, “I really don’t need this, not tonight”. Suddenly a black cat appeared in front of her and she shrieked without meaning to. She staggered around the cat, her walk now increased to almost a run. The streets seemed even darker than before. The edges of the shadows seemed to be reaching out to touch her.

The now pounding footsteps behind her were running, their pounding keeping beat with her racing heart. She broke into a run.

She could see her car, so near. Her breathing ragged, she was sure she could make it, so near now, so near. In just another few seconds, she reached out to the handle of the door. Locked, “Oh my lord”. She thought, A heavy hand landed on her shoulder, she screamed and turned.

“Lady, I’m sorry, I’ve been trying to catch you for several blocks now. You left your purse at the restaurant when you paid your bill.” The Restaurant manager was breathing as heavy as she as was as he handed her the purse. She smiled a shaky smile and thanked him. He smiled back.

She felt so silly, so very silly, it was Halloween after all the mind plays tricks on one’s imagination, She reached into her purse for her keys and turned to thank him once more. His smile was larger than before, that was when she saw the fangs.

Happy Halloween, everyone,

Penny

42 thoughts on “Scawy…Very Scawy…trust no one!”

  8. Aha, the old unexpected twist within a twist technique. I really got into that, to make it doubly effective, as I scrolled down I only saw the top of the cats tail and assumed it was a big hook. As if a big hook is needed to make me pop over to your place!

    Reply

    • Yeah, that’s the ticket SteJ, a big hook lol! I will admit I am an advocate of the ‘twist within a twist’ plot of things, the doubly back scariness!I did write a short story where a person wakes up in the middle of the night with light streaming thru the window blinds and in the shadowy corner she see’s this shadowy lump of clothing that looks like a person sitting down bent slightly over, She laughs to herself at her imagination until she turns on the light and realizes there really is a dead body sitting up bent over in the corner of her room with a note pinned to the body that said “Are you scared!” but I thought it might too scary, especially the second twist that I didn’t share with you! 🙂

      Reply

      • Oof, I would have been on tenterhooks with that one. I’m sure it would also have provoked a cleaning frenzy in the bedrooms of many of your readers. We are an impressionable lot, it’s someones fault for helping to open up our minds….

        Reply

        • I resemble that remark SteJ. In Philip K. Dick’s (one of my sci-fi heros) “We can remember it for you wholesale”, there is a line ‘Open you mind, open your mind…’ (this story was made into a movie called Total Recall in the eighty’s and remade this year with Collin Farrell)…so you may have a point here. btw in Dick’s book it has, not just a doubt twist to the end, it actually loops…you never know what is reality and what isn’t! I just love that! 🙂

          Reply

  9. Nice story Penny. I agree with Al. Felt the fear then relief. And when I read fangs I thought, “WHAT? NO?” Now I’m wondering whether he was a vampire or if that was just his costume… Hmm..

    Reply

    • Leave the audience guessing. If you must know Rynna he was the real deal. He watched her eating and enjoyed watching her enjoyment of the food so much that when she paid her bill he snuck her purse behind the counter and then waited a minute before following her. It turned out he was hungry for her! (sorry I couldn’t help myself it’s halloween) Are you laughing here? Penny 🙂

      Reply

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