A Visit On Halloween
written by: Roger Turner
@titansdad
Two days to go
Then we’re into November
Then thirty days on
We start on with December
The penultimate day
Before Halloween Eve
I was visited by…
well…read on and believe
I had just settled in
And was just off to bed
When I heard a small voice
And the voice, well…it said
“Roger, wake up”
I pulled my pillow in tight
The voice was the tacos
I had eaten that night
It said it again
More loudly and stern
“Roger, GET UP
You have so much to learn”
I rubbed at my eyes
The room was quite dim
Not sure if the ghost
Was a her or a him
It hovered about
A foot from the floor
“I’m the first one you’ll meet
Later on, you’ll meet more”
I said to the ghost
“Come back in December”
It said “Listen up…
you have lots to remember”
“A Halloween grinch
That is what you now are
Touch my hand, and we’ll go
We have got to go far”
“What do you mean?”
I asked the spirit before me
It said “I am here to help out
just follow and see”
“you once had the spirit
Halloween was such fun
You would love to go out
Now, your spirit is done”
“Halloween is for children
Just leave me alone”
Then the spirit reared up
And it let out a moan
“Touch my hand now
Or the next ghost to creep
Into this bedroom
your soul it will reap”
Against my free will
I did as the ghost said
I figured that if I didn’t
I’d not get to bed
“Hold on and we’re off
Heading backwards though time
To Halloween’s past
To the scene of the crime”
The place where we landed
I knew as a small child
I saw my old friends from school
This was really quite wild
Trick or Treaters abound
Running from place to place
Dressed in flammable clothes
With cheap masks on their face
I saw the Ranger,
A pirate, or three
Then I looked and I noticed
That one pirate was me
“You loved running round
Getting candy and such
But, now something has changed
You don’t like it too much”
The vision it faded
I was older but still
I was out trick or treating
It was still quite a thrill
“Remember the feeling
You had with your friends
We must bring it back
Before the night ends”
I looked and I smiled
At the costumes we wore
Yelling Trick or Treat loudly
As we knocked on each door
“My time it is waning
We must head on back
Another will come
To get you on track”
The next thing I knew
I was back in my room
The spirit had vanished
Then I heard a loud boom
“ROGER, GET DOWN HERE”
I heard from below
“WE HAVE TO GET MOVING
GET UP…DON’T BE SLOW”
I followed the voice
To the kitchen and there
I saw the largest ghost ever
Sitting drinking my beer
“I’ve looked all around
You haven’t got candy
So, I grabbed a beer from the fridge
You could say it was handy”
I looked at the ghost
Dressed in orange and black
“Where are we heading to?
And when will we be back?”
He laughed at me then
Said “You’ll be home in time
Touch my hand and we’re off
Right now, you are mine”
I asked if the visions
I was going to see
Were recent incarnations
Of my friends and me
He answered “of course
You must see what you are”
The first stop we made
Was up the street at the bar
“See that sign there?
A big Halloween Dance
Are you going to that?”
I said “No, not a chance”
“I’ll work if I must
I will drive all about
I’ll go hide in my basement
So, I will not shell out
I hate Halloween
I just cannot abide
It’s legalized begging
So, downstairs I will hide”
He showed me some houses
“They think just like you
Their porch lights are off
They hate Halloween too”
“See” I then said
“It isn’t just me
It’s gotten too costly
To give candy out free”
“Listen, you fool
That is not why it’s done
Forget all the candy
Remember the fun
We have to get back
My time it draws near
We’ll stop off in your kitchen
So, I can grab one more beer”
We arrived at my house
The spirit pointed and said
“Have you regained your spirit
Or is your spirit still dead?”
I said “maybe some”
Then he disappeared
Then the final ghost showed up
The one that I feared
It was dressed all in black
There was smoke all around
It was floating, not standing
Three feet off the ground
It said not a word
But, held its hand to me
I thought, I’m not going
What was there to see?
We were off in a flash
I knew the street we were on
It was the one where I lived
The street lights were off, wires all gone
My house was in darkness
The front screen was ripped
I walked up to the house
And I suddenly tripped
There was garbage and lumber
All over the yard
Finding my way it the dark
Was really quite hard
There were eggs on my windows
And then a group of kids came
Then I smelled smoke
And then I saw the first flame
They were burning my house
And the others as well
The street was all vacant
It looked like urban hell
The spirit just floated
Did not utter one word
The sound of the burning
Was the last sound I heard
We went on from there
Saw kids at a party at school
The teacher told them
“Remember, our rule
Don’t trick or treat children
Unless your parents come too
It’s no longer safe
They must come out with you”
I said to the spirit
“Not safe? that just mad”
I though of the past
And the fun that I had
“It isn’t the future
Say it’s not true
I must make amends
I know what to do”
I awoke in the morning
Halloween was today
I got dressed in a hurry
And I got on my way
The first stop I made
was for candy and stuff
I spent eighty dollars
I hoped it was enough
I rushed home from work
Turned on my front light
I then dressed as a pirate
I would do it up right
I can’t tell a soul
Who’d believe what I’ve seen
But, I can promise I’ll never
forget Halloween.
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