Here are a few short stories. I hope you enjoy!

Greedy Little Fingers

Trick or treating was going to be awesome this year. After an entire summer of staring at Star Wars costumes, I figured out which one I really wanted. I was going to be … a Tauntaun Rider!

The last two months, Mom and I scoured craft stores in search of material to make it. Mom was a costume designer and with the help of a few of her work friends, it was ready just in time for Halloween.

I slipped on the fur legs of the Tauntaun as Mom helped me with the jacket. Once inside the legs, I quickly put on the hat and gloves and rushed to mirror. I bumped the head of my Tauntaun into the mirror and then backed up a step to admire the costume.

It was like I was Han Solo, dressed in winter Rebel clothes, ready to help Luke. I went as a Jedi almost every year, but the last year was really cold and wanted to be better equipped for the elements.

I trotted to the door, my orange candy bucket in hand, and waited for Aaron to show up. Everyone called him AJ, but only his real friends got to call him Aaron. After a few minutes, I heard Aaron knock on the door. I tried to open it, but my arms were too short to reach the door without smashing my Tauntaun’s face into the door. Thankfully, Mom saw my struggle and opened the door.

Outside stood Aaron and his mom, the porch’s light illuminating their presence like angels. Except, they weren’t dressed as angels. Aaron’s mom wore a puffy purple and white jacket and scarf as she rubbed her mittens together. Aaron had a much cooler costume. He was dressed in black suit with a red tie and a white football helmet on his head. On the right side of his suit, he had a silver name tag that read, “Mr. President.”

“That is an awesome costume!” Aaron said, his eyes wide in amazement.

“Thanks! Mom and her friends helped make it.” I said, as I hopped in place. “Yours is pretty cool too Mr. President,” I saluted.

Aaron saluted back and puffed up his chest, “That’s Mr. Football President too you.”

I mirrored him and we laughed.

“Are you boys ready to go?” Aaron’s mom asked. We both nodded hastily, excited to start our candy adventure.

“Okay, it looks like Ms. Andrews is coming.”

Aaron and I walked out onto the porch and saw a trio of kids following Ms. Andrews, visible by the bright street lights. Ms. Andrews was our teacher and she agreed to take a group of us to all the houses on the block so other parents could stay home to give out candy.

“Gavin, I want you to stay with Aaron the whole time okay?” Mom said.

“And if you guys want to come back, Aaron has a cellphone and can call me.” Aaron’s mom said, staring Aaron down. Aaron fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a thin green cellphone.

“Yep, I got it.” Aaron said as he put it back in his pocket.

“Alright, you boys have fun.” Mom said as both our parents went inside. We jumped off the porch and sprinted over to Mrs. Andrews’ group.

“We got some new travelers with us on our spooooky adventure!” Ms. Andrews said, her witch costume not even slightly scary with her painted green face and fake pointed nose. The group consisted of two girls, both dressed as princesses, and one guy dressed in a cardboard spacesuit eating a taco. His name was Dan. Dan was a weird guy because instead of candy bucket or a grocery bag, he brought a little lunchbox with him. Regardless, he was still our friend.

After eating half of his taco, he put it back in his lunchbox and waved to us.

“No way!” Dan said as he rushed over to me. Dan stared at my Tauntaun, nearly drooling, as he petted it.

“Is it real?” Dan asked.

Dan was pretty dumb.

“No, it’s just a costume.”

“Tauntaun’s aren’t real, Dan.” Aaron said.

Dan crossed his arms, “That’s just because you haven’t seen any on Earth yet.”

Aaron rolled his eyes and joined Ms. Andrew. Dan and I followed.

The first house we went to was Mr. Walton’s house. Mr. Walton always had the best candy, even though he dressed like a demon every year. He mostly did it to make his neighbor, Mr. Roberts, mad. Mr. Roberts used to be a pastor and didn’t like demons.

We walked up his small cement stairs and admired his festive display. On his porch, a ghost in a blue top hat sat on a chair with a black pot of candy corn. He would let us grab as much as we wanted, but everyone knew the good candy was given if you rang the doorbell. Our group rushed up to the door and pressed the doorbell as fast as we could until Ms. Andrews pulled our hands away.

Mr. Walton liked when we rang the doorbell a lot. Plus, it made him open the door quicker. Seconds after we stopped hitting the doorbell, Mr. Walton emerged. This year, he wasn’t dressed as a demon. He was dressed in a purple suit with a weird looking guitar strapped in front of him. His curly hair was pushed back with a blue bandanna.

“Trick or Treat!” Everyone screamed.

“Hey kids!” Mr. Walton said, his voice making us giggle. His high squeaky voice always made us laugh, even though it was his normal voice.

From behind his back, Mr. Walton pulled out a large tub of candy bars. The wrappers shimmered off the lights as we gazed upon the amazing assortment of chocolate, caramel, and sugar.

“Let me guess everyone’s costumes real quick,” Mr. Walton said, as he first pointed to the girls. “Beautiful princesses, I love it!”

He tossed a handful of candy bars into their bedazzled buckets. The thick crispy thud to the bottom was music to our ears and hope in our hearts. He then turned to Aaron and I.

“A space cadet riding an adorable goat…”

“A Tauntaun!” Aaron and I corrected.

Mr. Walton put his hand and his chest, “My mistake, a Tauntaun.” Mr. Walton faced Aaron and squinted, working hard to figure out who he was.

“A football accountant?”

Aaron and I laughed, “A football president!” Aaron said, still laughing from the mistake.

“Oh, my I am sorry Mr. President!” Mr. Walton looked to his left and right, “I don’t see your secret service with you. Afraid they were going to take your candy?”

Aaron nodded as Mr. Walton threw a large handful of candy bars into our buckets. Mr. Walton then faced Dan.

“An astronaut!” Mr. Walton said.

Dan nodded. Mr. Walton excitedly strummed his guitar at his successful guess. Giggles filled the air as he took another large handful and dumped it into Dan’s lunchbox.

“Can you kids guess who I am?”

“A guitarist!” shouted one of the girls. The other girl agreed.

“A hippy!” Aaron said. I was going to guess a musician, but I was probably going to get it wrong so I said nothing.

“Space Musician!” Dan said.

Mr. Walton shook his head, “I am Prince!”

“Wow! You’re a Prince! No wonder you have so much candy.” Dan said.

“No, I am Prince … the musician?”

We all stared at him, unsure who Prince was. Mr. Walton lowered his head and laughed.

“I guess it’s an old reference for you guys, have a Happy Halloween!”

We waved goodbye and went to the next house, Mr. Roberts. His house was the opposite of Mr. Walton’s. No decorations. No ghosts. Not even a friendly Halloween banner. The only light coming from his house was through his main window. We approached the door and rang the doorbell.

Mr. Roberts opened the door, dressed jeans and a flannel shirt.

“Trick or Treat!” Everyone screamed.

Mr. Roberts flashed a smile and rushed back into the house. A few moments later, he came back with five miniature New Testament Bibles. I already had one from last year we came here, but it would be rude not to take another one. He each handed us one, said God Bless, and went back inside. The light in his window flashed off as we headed down the road to the next house.

As we crossed the street, Chad skated up to us, throwing candy in the air. We snatched at the candy before it could pelt us in the head.

“Happy Halloween!” Chad exclaimed as he skated around us. His blonde hair flowed in the hair like a princess running from a dragon. Chad lived across the street from Mr. Roberts, but he was rarely inside his home. He was always skateboarding around the neighborhood, something Mr. Roberts also didn’t like. Sometimes we would race him on our bikes after school.

Chad kicked his board up to his hand and stopped next to Ms. Andrews.

“How’s it going Alice?” Chad asked, pushing back his hair from his eyes. Ms. Andrews smiled.

“You’re name’s Alice?” Dan asked, confused. “I thought it was Andrew?”

“Alice is my first name.”

“Cool!” Dan said as Ms. Andrew smiled and continued talking with Chad.

Aaron tapped me on the shoulder, “Hey let’s go to Mr. Quinn’s house.” Mr. Quinn was the richest man in the neighborhood and a family friend of Aaron.

“We probably shouldn’t leave the group,” I said, looking up at Ms. Andrews as she continued to chat with Chad.

“Your Mom said you had to stick with me, remember?”

I smiled, “You’re right!”

“Plus, I can call Mom if we need a ride back.”

I put my arm around his shoulder as we walked away from the group, “You mean when we can’t carry all the candy back?”

Aaron nodded, “Yeah!”

***

We sneaked away from Ms. Andrews and the rest of the group and came to a small tree line at the curb. The barren trees were huddled together making it impossible to see past them. The creepy whistle of the wind brushing through the trees sent a shiver down my neck.

“We can cut through here,” Aaron said as he jumped over the curb.

“How are we going to see?” I said, staring uncertainly into the dark forest. Aaron reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. Aaron tapped a code into the phone and light silently blasted out of the phone, adding even more creepiness to the gigantic trees.

Aaron and I slowly moved past the trees as we got deeper into the forest. The occasional crunch of the fallen leaves brought my fear of imaginary monsters to the surface. And I wasn’t a fast runner in case the monsters were real.

“Maybe we should go back,” I said.

“Why? We are almost there.”

“How can you tell?”

“We just are, okay?” Aaron said, confident in his directions.

A few steps later, I saw something move to the right of the light.

“Aaron, look over there?” I whispered, fearing whatever the figure was would hear us. Aaron quickly whipped his flashlight over to the right. There was nothing, just more trees.

“Are you scared of the dark?” Aaron said.

“No…just thought I saw something.”

Aaron stopped and faced me, holding the light under his face and aiming up in the air. Jagged shadows covered his face, only revealing his eyes.

“I think you’re scared,” Aaron mocked.

Before I could respond, we both heard a quick rustling of leaves, like someone was running through a land of chip bags. Aaron aimed the light at the trees behind us, but just as we did, the sound stopped. We stood still as we searched the trees for any sign of life, human or monster.

Then light turned off.

The forest fell perfectly black, the closest trees barely standing out in the dark. Again, the sound returned, only this time it was faster.

“Turn the light back on,” I whispered hastily as Aaron hit every button imaginable.

“I can’t. The battery died.”

The roar of moving leaves continued to get closer and closer and closer. Then it stopped again. We listened closely over the wind for more steps. Aaron hugged me close, slamming his helmet into my head. I was too scared to feel the pain.

The leaves moved again, this time slower, like the creature was trying to climb over something. A thud soon echoed in front of us, maybe only a few feet away. I blinked my eyes desperately, hoping to be able to see the creature before it ate us.

As it got closer, I was able to see the creature. It wasn’t tall, about my height, and it had blocky legs and arms like a robot.

“Hey!” It said.

“Don’t come any closer; we have a vicious beast with us that will eat you if you get any closer.” Aaron said, his voice shaking as he referred to my harmless Tauntaun.

“You mean your Tauntaun?” It questioned. This time, I recognized the voice.

“Dan?”

Dan walked closer, his cardboard box a bit easier to see in the dark.

“What are you doing here?”

“Ms. Andrews was still talking with Chad, so I thought I would join you guys,”

“Great, do you have a flashlight?”

“Nope,”

“You need a flashlight?” A deep fourth voice said in the distance.

The three of us spun around. Several feet away stood a tall dark figure with unusually long, spear like fingers. Its stance was like a cowboy, ready to fight us…or eat us.

We screamed as loud as we could, “RUN!”

We sprinted through the forest, Aaron leading the way, as we dipped and darted past the tree’s branches. I could hear the figure’s steps following us as we ran through the leaves. Aaron continued to get farther away as I struggled to keep up. Tauntaun’s weren’t meant for forests.

“Help me!” Dan screamed.

Aaron and I stopped and looked back. We saw Dan, his cardboard spacesuit punctured by a tree branch, as he desperately tried break free. I looked behind him to see the figure gaining on us.

“We can’t save him,” Aaron said as he grabbed me by the arm.

“Don’t leave me!” Dan begged.

“Let’s go,” Aaron said, as he pulled me away from Dan.

“Please Guys! Guys! GUYS!”

“I’m sorry!” I said, as Aaron and I ran away. I wanted to help him, but we all knew if we did, none of us would have made it. Dan’s cries for help echoed through the forest as Aaron and I continued down through the thick, unforgiving forest.

Aaron and I sprinted forward and in moments we could see a house through the forest.

“Quickly,” Aaron yelled as he pulled farther ahead of me. We ran up to the back of the house and knocked on the walls of the house as we approached the back door.

“Let us in!” Aaron said as he pounded on the door. I followed behind him and also pounded on the door. I kept looking back, but I saw nobody behind us. He was probably eating Dan like he was a candy bar. Aaron turned the doorknob and we fell forward into the house. Aaron jumped to his feet and pulled me up. Once I was up, Aaron slammed the door.

We took a breath and looked around the dark house. Not a single light was on, even darker than the night. The house had a musty pepper smell that burned my nose.

“Let’s look for a light switch.” I said. Aaron ventured off to the left while I bumped aimlessly around to my right. My hand guided me across the wall, it smooth surface changing to a rough wood every couple of steps.

After a few seconds, I called out to Aaron. He didn’t respond. I looked back, unable to see, as the creak of the doorknob slowly turned. I frantically moved my hands around, looking desperately for somewhere to hide on the wall. My fingers brushed up against a cold steel handle. I grabbed the handle, pulled it open and quickly tucked myself inside; the roof of the cabinet pushing my cap off my head. I closed the little door behind me just as the door opened.

Lights filled the room as I peeked out the crack in the door. Across from me I saw another cabinet with a sink on top. I hoped that Aaron was hiding in there. The heavy steps and a muffled voice crept closer to my hiding spot. I held my breath, holding my hand over my mouth, as two legs swept past me cabinet. I felt my heart thump with fear as another pair of legs came closer to my spot, stopped a moment, and then left from my limited sight.

Then, the worst imaginable thing happened. My white furry foot slipped forward, kicking the door open. I tried to reach for it, but my Tauntaun’s neck was wedged inside, making it impossible for me to move. I waited; hoping and praying neither figure heard or noticed my kick of the cabinet door. I listened as the footsteps turned back inside, walking closer to my once hidden, hiding spot. It was the end for me and I knew it. I was never going to see my Mom…or Aaron…or anyone every again. The footsteps stopped and the creaking of wood rang above me. He was going to crush me inside!

“Who’s in there?” The deep voice asked.

I said nothing.

“Come out of there, please.” The deep voice said again, this time friendlier.

“I can’t…I’m stuck.”

The figure leaned down and looked at me. It was Mr. Roberts! He grabbed the neck of my Tauntaun and carefully unstuck it from the top of the cabinet. I walked myself out like a crab and stumbled to my feet. I looked behind him and saw Aaron and Dan standing behind him, their candy bucket (and lunchbox) in hand.

“Why did you boys run from me?”

“We thought you were a monster.”

“Gavin thought you were a monster,” Aaron said.

Mr. Roberts turned to Aaron, “Then why did you all run?”

“You scared us,” I said.

Mr. Roberts chuckled.

“I guess I should have not snuck up on you three.” Mr. Roberts said as he handed me my candy bucket, a few twigs and leaves mixed in with the candy. Dan walked into the living room and put his lunchbox down on Mr. Robert’s table.

“You do have candy in here,” Dan said. Aaron and I walked into the room and stared at a small plastic bowl of candy with fake fingers sticking out.

“That candy is for me,” Mr. Roberts said as he lifted the bowl up and out of the reach of Dan’s hand. As he lifted it, one of the fingers fell out. I picked it up and rolled the rubbery finger on my fingertips. It was much more realistic than other fingers. The cracked lines in the skin were eerily accurate and the painted plastic fingernails gave it a perfect creepy Halloween look.

I handed it back to Mr. Roberts.

“Why don’t you put that outside for everyone to see? Its’ really cool.” I said.

“And spooky,” Aaron added.

“It would send the wrong message to the neighborhood,” Mr. Roberts said as he walked toward the front door, “And I don’t like to share my candy.”

I didn’t like sharing candy either, so I could understand that. Mr. Roberts opened the front door and we started to file out the door.

“Where did you get the bowl?” Dan asked.

“From my son, years ago.”

“You were married?” Dan asked, dumbstruck.

He nodded, “Yep.”

“Is your son our age?”

“No, he’s much older. Has his own house now.”

“Can we meet him?” Aaron asked.

Mr. Roberts looked out, as if distracted by something in the distance, then back to us. Mr. Roberts smiled.

“How about I give each of you one piece of candy?” Mr. Roberts said as he dug into the bowl.

Mr. Roberts placed one large candy bar in each of our buckets, “This is our little secret, okay?”

We all nodded in agreement. We said goodbye and raced over to Chad’s house, hoping he knew where Ms. Andrews went. Chad was sitting on his chair, fixing a wheel on his skateboard.

“Do you know where Ms. Andrews went?” I asked. Chad looked up from his skateboard.

“Yea, Alice … I mean Ms. Andrews went that way,” Chad said, pointing down the long row of houses. “She is probably at the end by now, but if you hurry you might catch them.”

“Great, thanks!” I said as Aaron and Dan raced off in the direction of Ms. Andrews and the rest of her group. Chad returned to working on his skateboard, using a screwdriver to take out the screws.

Before I left with Aaron and Dan, I noticed that Chad was missing his pointer finger … but it was probably part of his costume.

THE END

LOLO’S LABORTORY

“Subject test number fourteen thousand fifty-five. Alteration: Extra water,” Elo said, holding the eyedropper over the petri dish. Elo’s metal fingers pinched the rubber end and a drop fell into the dish. The water droplet splashed onto a small flaky brown disk. Nothing happened. Elo let out a vibrated sigh.

“Maybe add a little more,” Lolo said, her static voice echoing over the intercom into the test chamber.

“You think that will help?”

“It has too. We must be close. My calculations are always correct.”

“Not the first fourteen thousand fifty-four,” Elo muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Elo held the eye dropper over the dish again and added another drop. Nothing happened.

Elo placed the eyedropper on the table and looked up, “Alright, time to give up. I’m ready to have my drives formatted. How about you?”

Lolo shook her head from behind the glass viewing pane, overlooking the chamber.

“I won’t give up and I’m not letting you –”

“Too late,” Elo said as it pressed the off button on the side of its neck. Elo’s head hung down and his body stayed rigid in place.

“How did I program it to think like that?” Lolo said as she hopped off her chair and walked down to the testing chamber. Her feet pattered down the flight of spiral grated stairs and stopped at the bottom. A metal door slid open to the sanitized testing chamber, the stifling smell of bleach and cinnamon wafting in the room. Lolo’s nose wrinkled at the smell and breathed through her mouth.

While she did, Lolo realized what she was forgetting. She went over to Elo and click its power button again.

Elo’s head shot up straight, its body shaking side to side.

“Where am I? Am I dead?” Elo said, before looking down at the petri dish in front of it. “Oh, I’m still here. Great…”

“You are not giving up,” Lolo said.

“It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”

“It’s not.”

Lolo pulled out from the table’s drawer a small steel blowtorch and handed it to Elo, “We’re going to apply heat next. Once the disk starts to raise, then stop. That should be what we were missing.”

“Okay, but if it doesn’t, I’m formally requesting a formatting of my drives.”

“Fine.”

Lolo stepped back and Elo tapped the trigger of the blowtorch. A small, needle-sharp, blue flame emitted from the blowtorch. Elo carefully hovered the flame over the disk, moving in a circular motion. In seconds, the disk began to expand and puff up, leaving cracks darting around the surface.

Elo released the trigger and observed the disk. The once bland disk was replaced with a sparkly rough texture and defined cracks. Elo looked over at Lolo, her smile glowing.

“Is this what it should look like?”

“Yes, that is it. Now all we have to do is have him test it,” Lolo said.

Lolo took the brown puffy disk off the dish, its body still hot to the touch, and carried it out of the room. She walked down a narrow white corridor and opened a worn wooden door at the end. It opened to a well-lit, marble tiled room. At the granite bar table, in the center of the room, was a little boy spinning on a leather stool.

“Anthony,” Lolo said, holding out the disk. “Here you go.”

Anthony stopped spinning, jumped off the stool, and took the disk from her hand. “Thanks, Mom.”

He threw it into his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed.

“That was pretty good! Do you have anymore?”

Lolo smiled, “I’ll get some more for you.”

Lolo went back into the corridor, closing the door behind her. She had done it. She had created the perfect snickerdoodle cookie.

THE END