Tag: October

Bite-Sized Halloween #17: Marion Faces His Fears

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“No more!” roared Marion, puffing his fleshless chest out. “You shall harm no more children!”

“What’s one more, Marion? How many did you not save?”

Marion yelled and lunged with his sword. The Collector dashed forward, ducking easily beneath Marion’s clumsy swing. With a swipe of his scythe, he sliced the skeleton in half. Marion didn’t even manage to scream.

A few of the dead who had gathered to watch the scene tittered laughter.

Far away, deep in the darkness of the cemetery, Charlie sat down with a thud as a shadow passed over his heart. “Marion?” he whispered.

 

This is part seventeen of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part eighteen!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16

Bite-Sized Halloween #16: The Collector

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“He what?” hissed The Collector.

“Hhheeeeee tooooollllld thhheeee booooooyyyyy—”

“Yes, I got that! My God, you lot talk slowly!”

“Wwweeeeee caaannnoooottt—”

“Enough. Where did he take him?”

The ghost pointed further into the cemetery.

“That damned skeleton… I knew I should have—” But he didn’t get to finish his sentence, for that was when Marion jumped out of the shadows, brandishing an ancient broadsword.

“En garde!” cried the skeleton, as he struck a battle pose. “This is one child whom you shall not consume!”

The Collector burst out laughing. “You never learn…”

He drew his scythe.

 

This is part sixteen of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part seventeen!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14 | #15

Bite-Sized Halloween #15: By the Light of a Jack-o’-Lantern

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Marion’s grave was a sad sight. 1811 – 1833 read the dates. “How did you die, Marion?”

“Now’s not the time!” whispered the skeleton. “Take this! It’ll ward them off!”

He handed Charlie a pumpkin. Carved into it was a simple smile. “Here!” said the skeleton. He opened the sculpted head of the jack-o’-lantern and placed a single candle inside. Then he blew a small gust of air between his all-too-prominent teeth, and the flame whumped into life.

“How did you—”

“Not the time!”

“Where are you going?”

“To stop The Collector… if I can! Don’t stop, Charlie! Run!”

 

This is part fifteen of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part sixteen!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14

Bite-Sized Halloween #14: Land of the Dead

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“This way, this way!”

Charlie followed the skeleton.

“What’s your name?” he asked, in between breaths.

“My friends used to call me Marion, once upon a time… And you?”

“Charlie!”

“Charmed, I’m sure! Now, quickly! No time for dilly-dallying!”

“Where are we going?” whispered Charlie.

“Away from him. Away from them. Bad, bad – they’re all bad!”

“Who are?”

Marion stopped and placed a skeletal hand on his shoulder. Charlie shivered. “Why, the other dead, of course! Today is their day. I—well, our day, I suppose… And if they catch you—oh, no!” He squeezed. “You have to hide!”

 

This is part fourteen of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part fifteen!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13

Bite-Sized Halloween #13: Marion

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“Oh no! Not again! Oh no, oh no!”

Charlie was frozen to the spot, staring at the thing in front of him. He’d gone mad. Surely, he had, for this… thing couldn’t exist.

It was a skeleton. With eyes. They rolled in their sockets as the bone-man strode back and forth, muttering.

“You can’t be here!” hissed the skeleton. “They’ll—oh, no!”

Screeeeee! Charlie knew that sound: the gate.

Somehow, the skeleton’s eyes widened. “The Collector! He’s here! Quickly, my boy! This way! Follow me!”

Charlie didn’t budge.

“Didn’t you hear? He collects their souls!”

That got him moving.

 

This is part thirteen of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part fourteen!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12

Bite-Sized Halloween #12: Welcome

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They all noticed the child in their midst. Their cloudy eyes and rotten brains had perceived him from his first step onto the revered grounds.

“Boooooyyyyyy,” said one.

“Youuuuunnngg,” replied another.

“Freeeeeshhhhhh…”

“…sooouuuulll,” said the other, finishing the first one’s sentence with a nod.

They could sense the others stirring around them; they didn’t have much time. The pair began closing in, when they saw that Marion had already gotten to him.

“Noooottt faaiiiiirr,” pouted the initial speaker.

“Weeeee saaaawwwww hiiimmmmm,” said the second, “fiiiiiirsssttt!”

But then the gate squeaked again.

“Cooolllleecctooooor,” they whispered, grinning.

They disappeared like smoke.

 

This is part twelve of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part thirteen!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11

Bite-Sized Halloween #11: A Grave Situation

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Charlie didn’t know how he ended up at the cemetery. He had fled from the witchdoctor and his inhuman eyes all the way out of town… and up the hill on the outskirts. It never occurred to him that the man had driven him here intentionally.

He pushed the wrought-iron gate open. Screeeeee! Several crows flew away at the sound, cawing.

Charlie stepped into the necropolis, headstones jutting up at odd angles like crooked teeth. A fog hung low.

“Hello?” he called.

Whooooo? said the wind in response, chilling him to his bones.

Charlie sensed he was being watched.

 

This is part eleven of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part twelve!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10

Bite-Sized Halloween #10: Backwards Glances

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Charlie sprinted as his mind screamed. What’s wrong with his eyes?

The boy threw a glance over his shoulder. There he was, still smirking. His grin was too toothy, but Charlie wouldn’t think about this until much later.

The man’s face was painted in the fashion of a witchdoctor; white and black. He wore an old Victorian suit, with a cane and a top hat to match.

The man wasn’t running. Just ambling, casually – as if out for an evening stroll. Yet, whenever Charlie stole a look behind him, the distance between them was always the same.

Always there.

 

This is part ten of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part eleven!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9

Bite-Sized Halloween #9: Concern

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Charlie gulped breaths of fresh air as he watched the undulating crowd of zombies, ghosts and ghouls. He scanned the throng, looking for black capes, white-painted faces and bloody fangs. He spotted twelve different Draculas before giving up. I’ll wait here, he thought, sitting down on the stoop of a shop.

“Are you lost?” asked a voice that sounded like crunching gravel.

Charlie looked up, only to see the man from before. He was grinning from ear to ear.

Before he even knew he was going to do it, Charlie had jumped up and was running.

The man followed.

 

This is part nine of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part ten!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8

Bite-Sized Halloween #8: Boy Alone

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Charlie was jostled as he tried to break free from the gathering. He couldn’t see any signs of his dad.

Everyone was too tall. And too drunk. As Charlie navigated the sea of legs, the grownups shoved and kicked him. They either didn’t see him or were too inebriated to care.

Nobody asked if he was okay.

As the claustrophobia began clawing at his throat, Charlie spotted it – the edge of the mob. The crowd momentarily parted as a group shuffled past, loftily carrying beers. He darted through their legs, escaping into freedom.

Charlie hadn’t slipped away entirely unnoticed.

 

This is part eight of a larger story for Halloween. All sections are in the form of a 99-word story. Check back tomorrow for part nine!

Previous parts: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7