Spooky Writing Contest 3rd Place: “The Little Red House” by Sherly Cyril

It was so exciting to see a clear blue sky and the ground filled with all the colors: yellow, orangeand red. It was the best weather for ‘trick or treating.’ I am going as a red ninja warrior this Halloween. I cannot wait to get into my costume and show everyone how cool I look.

I got to the playground for recess. Leo and Isebella were playing on the swings. Isebella always carried her blanket with her. I like Isebella. She does not talk a lot, unlike Leo.

“Do you know there were more than six-hundred species of Dinosaurs on Earth before they all went extinct?” All Leo does is talk about dinosaurs. I have been at the new school for a month, and I know about dinosaurs more than anything, ever. Leo was bouncing up and down and cartwheeling and running about

“They say all birds could have come from Dinosaurs.”

“No way.” Said Leo. “Does that mean crows, eagles and even Ostriches came from Dinosaurs?”

“I guess so.”

All of a sudden Leo started cawing like a crow and went flapping his hands around.

I laughed at Leo. He always does funny things. I joined him and started bouncing around.

Jaimie from my class yelled out to me, ‘what are you doing.” I said that we are pretending to be modern era Dinosaurs.

“Who are you playing with?” he asked.

Before I could reply, Ms. Boris, our para, blew on her whistle and raised her hand. It was time for us to go for lunch.

After lunch it was time to get into our costumes. Roy was an inflatable jersey cow, Mia dressed up as a doctor, Mario was ‘Mario from Mario cart.’ I liked all of their costumes, but secretly I knew mine was still the best. Soon it was time for the parade.

Mrs. Scrubs asked us all to form a line, and we walked out and around the loop, I searched for my mom. Soon I found her waving at me from the crowd. She had the biggest smile, and I smiled and waved back at her. I looked for Leo and Isabelle. But I could not see them.

When I went out for recess again, Leo and Isabelle were outside playing. They did not have their costumes on. I went to them. “Why are you not in your costumes?” Leo stopped bouncing and stared at me. “Look, I am red ninja.”

Leo shrugged his shoulder and Isabelle looked pale. I said, “Are you doing trick or treating? Can I join you? I don’t have anyone else to go with. It is Halloween and I am not losing all that candy.” Leo and Isabelle now looked positively scared. Isabella pulled Leo’s sleeve, and he told her to hush.

“What, you don’t want me to come with you for trick or treating? Ok, fine, I will go by myself.”

I turned and walked away. I was angry, I thought they were my friends. Isabelle caught up with me and grabbed my hand.

“I don’t want to talk to you.” I pulled away.

But when I looked at her, she was crying. I didn’t know what to do. I looked at Leo, he was looking at his feet and simply standing there. And then she talked, “Do not go to the little red house.”

I was surprised to hear her talk that I did not say anything. Before I could ask what, she meant by that, Mrs. Scrubs was asking everyone to form a line to go back to our classroom. I watched her walk back towards Leo and for the first time I saw them looking sad. They stood there watching me as I walked back to my classroom.

I waited in the loop for our bus. It was not a long ride home. We lived in a subdivision with woods behind our house and a trail across the bus stop that led all the way to downtown. Mom was not home. I went inside the kitchen to see if she had left a note for me and there was one, along with some cookies and a glass of orange juice. I took my cookie and read her note. “Will be home late. Beth will take you trick or treating at 6pm.” Beth was my babysitter. Mom met her on her morning walk, and they decided to become friends. She is old, and fusses over me for not eating enough. “Oh Andrew, you are all skin and bones. I made you spaghetti and meat balls and yes chocolate cake for dessert.”

These are her cookies. They are EXTRA chocolate chip chocolate cookies. Hmm too good. Just goodie, goodie good.’

I drank my orange juice and washed my hands. I grabbed the rest of my costume and started getting ready. I checked myself in the mirror, I pulled up my mask. “Aiya!” I drew my katana and posed in front of the mirror. I got my pillowcase. I went into the living room and waited for Beth while playing ninja.

Beth came twenty minutes to six. I opened the door and let her in. Hmmm, something was different. “You didn’t bring any food today?”

“Oh, you don’t need any today. You are going to have candy for dinner.” She smiled happily.

“Sounds awesome to me. Not sure if mom would allow that.”

“Oh, it will be our secret. Just for this once. Are you ready to go trick or treating?”

“Oh yes, oh yes, yes, yes…”

“Oh, that is a big bag. Are you excited?”

I gave her a double thumbs up.

“Alright, let’s go.”

We could see kids running from home to home. I did not want to lose all the good ones. So, I ran to the first house and rang the bell. “Trick or treat!” I said when the door opened.

“I know you want it to be a treat.” Said the man who opened the door.

‘Ooh, m&m’s.’ “Thank You!”

It should be Halloween every day. We spent a good amount of time going from house to house, in our subdivision. Walking beside Beth, I was busy checking my bag. I looked to see if there were any more houses to go to and found myself at the end of a road. I don’t remember ever driving or riding past this way. As I looked around, I saw two kids hiding behind a tree, peeking at me. For a minute I thought it was Leo and Isabelle. But they were wearing costumes.

“Hey Andrew, the last house you will be visiting today is going to be a surprise!”

I turned away from the tree and looked at Beth. She was smiling excited. “Whose house is that?”

“My house.”

“Where is your house?”

“It’s right down this path. Would you like to come over and get some treats? I have the absolute best for you.”

She opened a small white fence and showed me to a neat long pathway.

“Where are all your decorations?” I asked.

“Well, I like my house neat and tidy all year long. I like to bake instead of having silly skeletons and bats. If you still want to see bats, we can go down to the lake, and I can show you some.”

“You have a lake next to your house.”

“Yes.”

“Cool” I said and walked beside her.

I could see a small cottage.

“Is that your house?”

“Yes, do you like it.”

I stopped and looked at the house. It was pretty and I could see the smoke coming out of the chimney. A small breeze brought the sweet smell of baked goodies. Her house looked cozy and welcoming. The only problem was that it was RED! I looked around. Everything was suddenly quiet. I couldn’t hear any kids shouting nor could I hear the usual hums of the cars. It was so very, very quiet. ‘DEAD QUIET.’ I looked at Beth. She still had the excited look on her face.

“Come on.”

“Does my mom know that you are taking me to your house?”

“Oh, yes.”

I waited. I looked around and, in the shadows, I saw them again. Peeking, and looking scared and worried.

Hairs on my hand pecked up. I can feel the sweat on my face and on the back of my neck. I tried calming my heart and took a step back. I could feel her gaze on me.

“I have way too much candy with me. In fact, I am sure I have cadies for a lifetime here. I would like to go home if you don’t mind. I will come back another day.”

Beth stopped and slowly the smile on her face disappeared. Her face was glowing, but in an uncomfortable, scary way. And when she spoke, her voice was horse.

“But I have your surprise waiting for you at my house. And I want you to come with me.”

I started walking backwards and she was walking towards me. I couldn’t look at her; my heart was thumping heavy. I looked towards the woods through the side of my eye. Still hidden, Leo and Issabelle were watching me quietly. I tried looking at Beth. All I could manage to see were her hands and they were no longer round and pink. They were ugly, scaly and with long dirty fingernails. Deciding to live, I threw my bag of candies at her. She screamed shrill. I turned and ran. I ran and ran, only to realize that the little white fence that we came through had disappeared. There were no signs of any fence. All I could see were trees. Lots and lots of trees and they were getting thicker and thicker.

“Andrew, here, come here.”

I saw Leo and Isabelle waving at me. I followed them and we ran. We reached a peculiar looking tree, crooked and tall. “Through here” Leo said.

We walked into the tree and hid.

“What’s going on?

“Shhh! She will hear us!”

We waited. I saw a shadow crawling. It was long, and cloaked and her thin, sharp finger stuck out.

We waited until everything was too quiet. I looked desperately at Leo and Isebella for answers. I asked again. “What’s going on?”

Isabella looked at me and said, “She is an evil witch, who comes for children once a year. She befriends them and feeds them until they are plump. Then on Halloween day, when the moon is full, she traps them in her house and eats them.”

“You mean she is real. Like a real, real witch. Like the bad witches in stories.”

Isabella shook her head.

“Can we escape?”

Leo looked at me and then slowly said. “We can’t?”

“What do you mean? There should be a way out.”

Then it dawned on me. I looked at them, and I could see it clearly. Their skin was paler, and their clothes were ripped. Their eyes were dull and lost.

“Are you a ghost?” I asked. They did not say anything. I peeked out and looked around. There was no sign of the witch. I crawled out, they followed me. We walked silently with me looking around and trying everything to find a way out. But with every few turns, I found myself back on the path leading to the little red house.

“I guess I will have to go to the house.” They did not say anything, neither did they follow me as I headed towards the house.

I reached the door and turned the knob. I stepped inside; there was no sign of the witch. The house was pretty and filled with candies and cookies of all kinds. I felt no hunger. I listened, I could hear someone humming. I followed the voice, and it led to the kitchen. There she was, no longer looking like the Beth I knew. Her eyes were red and cruel. Her hands and feet were long, thin, ugly, and filled with boils and scales. Her back was crooked, so was her nose and mouth. She looked at me, “Did you see all the treats I made for you?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you going to eating any?”

“No Thanks I am not hungry?”

She looked at me. Then she stood straight facing me. “Hmmm, you are not scared?”

I thought about her question. I looked at her, “No.”

Her eyes twitched and her nose twisted. She tilted her face sideways and without blinking she asked again. “Are you really not afraid of me? Are you not afraid that I would eat you?”

I did not like the idea of being eaten, but at the same time I did not feel anything. Neither fear, nor hunger. The whole thing was so bizarre to me that my mind was numb from all feelings.

She grabbed a cupcake with her boney hands and gave it to me. “EAT!”

Then the thought occurred to me. I have never seen her eat anything. Not once had she ate or drank anything that my mom offered while we had her over. Without thinking twice, I grabbed the cupcake from her hands, jumped over the table, and aimed it into her mouth. She screamed, “yuck!” I grabbed any and all sweets, pastries, and desserts that I could reach and threw at her. Every time I heard her scream, I threw them into her mouth. As she tried to stop me, she slipped and fell into the cauldron she was stirring a while ago. I stopped and watched her scream and scream in that boiling cauldron. And then her screams stopped. Everything stayed quiet. Slowly the house started to lose its color. The wall papers began to fade and peel away. As the ceiling began to give away, I ran outside. And then I kept running, I did not stop, I did not look back. I could see the fence, no longer white, but old and broken. I ran and jumped over it. I kept running and running. I can see my street, and my house. My mom’s car was parked outside. I ran home and opened the door and locked it and screamed for mom.

“Mama, mama …!”

“Andrew, are you home? How was trick or treating?” and then she saw me. “Hey, what’s going on? Were you running? Where is Beth?”

“I killed her.”

“What?”

I fell to the ground, and I started telling her everything. I told her about Leo and Isabelle. I told her about their warning about the little red house. I told her how Beth took me to her house and how she turned into a witch. How I tried to hide and then how I fought her with candies and cookies and finally how I pushed her into the boiling cauldron.

Mama hugged me and I held on to her tight. She said it was ok and that everything will be ok. She gave me a warm glass of milk and wrapped my blanket around me. She called the police and then they talked. When they left, she helped get ready for bed and finally I was asleep.

When I went back to school, the following week, I looked for Leo and Isabelle at the playground. I could not find them. I rode my bike around the block after school, but I could not find the road with any white fence. But when Halloween comes around, beware of the little red house.