Halloween Promise
Tommy was excited because tomorrow was Halloween, and Mommy had promised him a new brother or sister on that night. He thought he would like a brother better than a sister. They could play cowboys and Indians, pirates, hide and seek and so many neat games that girls didn’t like to play. Yes, a brother would be better, but it wasn’t up to him. It was up to Mommy.
She had been making cookies and candies for a couple of days now. Tommy got to lick the spoon on a few batches. They hadn’t been here quite a year yet. This year Halloween would be much better than last year. He could hardly wait. There were about thirty kids in his class at school and he had talked up all of the goodies that Mommy was making. He hoped his new brother was going to be a boy from his class because he was already friends with all of them.
It was time for Tommy to go to bed and Mommy came to tuck him in. She kissed him on the forehead and said, “Sweet dreams.” She left a night light on and closed the door. That night Tommy’s dreams were far from sweet. He had nightmares with Mommy taking him somewhere he didn’t want to go. He tossed and turned all night. He woke up crying once but stifled it with a pillow because he didn’t want Mommy to hear him. She thought that all the bad dreams and crying were over, but she was wrong.
The next morning Tommy had remembered something from his dream and he asked Mommy about it.
“Mommy, didn’t I have a brother once?”
“You had a brother, but he died about this time last year. Just before we moved here.”
“How did he die?”
“Let’s not talk about that right now. Tonight is Halloween, are you getting excited?”
“I guess so.” Not wanting to let go of the previous thought he said, “Am I going to die?”
“Everybody dies sooner or later. Now get ready for school.”
So off to school Tommy went, but he couldn’t concentrate on anything. There was something in the back of his mind that he was trying to get to the front and not having any luck with it. Finally the bell rang that signaled the end of the day. Tommy trudged home, something weighing heavy on his mind.
Mommy wasn’t going to let him go out trick-or-treating, but just let him hand out treats at the door. She said she didn’t trust the people in this town yet. It had just gotten dark when the first of them arrived and Tommy was there to greet them. The first batch had a skeleton, a ghost, a witch, and the tin man. They came to the door and said, “Trick or Treat.” It was then that Mommy showed up dressed up like a witch, with make-up and everything. She had a wart on her nose, a pointed hat and a broom. She even scared Tommy when he first saw her.
Children came and went and Tommy was just thinking there would be no brother or sister. Just as he was about to give up hope, Mommy called to one of the children to come and get a special treat. It was a little boy, about a year younger than Tommy. All the other children left because Mommy said she would take the boy home.
Something about this seemed all too familiar to Tommy. The thought that was trying to get to the front of his head finally popped in there. He ran into the kitchen and screamed out, “Don’t eat the cookie.” It was too late. The little boy stood there glassy-eyed while the woman who called herself Mommy chanted to him in soft tones. “I’m your Mommy now. Your name will be Paul.”
She looked up from Paul and Tommy understood that it wasn’t make-up that made her look like a witch, she was a witch. There was a pentagram in a circle on the floor with candles lit on all five points.
“Come here Tommy. Meet your new little brother.”
“No, you can’t make me!”
Then she looked at Paul and said, “Go bring me your big brother.”
Suddenly it all came back to Tommy. He had been the little brother; he had dragged the older boy over to the witch. He had watched while she had eaten him. Well this wasn’t going to happen to him. He looked around the kitchen and grabbed the first thing he could find. He threw cookie sheet after cookie sheet at Paul, but he kept coming. One of the cookie sheets glanced off of his shoulder and went spinning to the floor. On its way down it knocked over two of the burning candles. One of then rolled and caught the witch’s dress on fire. She began swatting at it and stepped out of the circle. The spell was broken and Tommy grabbed Paul by the hand and dragged him outside.
She couldn’t get the flames under control and soon caught the drapes and the furniture on fire. The whole small cabin went up in flames like so much dry kindling and then she was gone.
