Emma Sharp - December 13, 2024
2024 Spooktober Contest - 2nd Place
Artwork: Cammy Maymon
“It was a dark and scary night. The moon was full, yet overshadowed by clouds that etched across the sky.” Autumn sat on her bed facing her two best friends. She almost looked like a ghost in the dim lighting, the only light coming from a flashlight she held beneath her face, which bathed her pale skin and hair in an eerie glow.
“Ooooh, dark and scary,” Her friend Gwen said with a grin, waving her hands like claws. Autumn nodded, the light around her flickering.
“It was the perfect time for mischief. The time of night when ghosts start roaming the halls, and zombies crawl out of their graves.” She lowered her voice to a hush as she continued, “And to Kat Gates, it was the perfect time to find a lead to her story.”
“Who’s Kat Gates?” Gwen interjected.
Autumn sighed. “I made her up. She’s a woman who writes blogs on supernatural occurrences."
"Ooh!" Gwen exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Cool. She kind of sounds like you Autumn."
"Sounds like she's about to get herself killed," noted Hazel, the thoughtful girl who sat beside Gwen.
"What? How do you know that? Autumn hasn't even gotten that far in the story yet!" Gwen asked, her brow furrowed. Hazel opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Autumn.
"Gwen's right, I haven't gotten that far in my story yet. So can you two just listen?"
"I was listening," Hazel said. She sat up a bit straighter, her attention once again focused on Autumn. Autumn opened her mouth to say something, but shut it a few seconds later, shaking her head.
"Okay, anyways, Kat had heard of a haunted forest nearby where she lived. Fueled by curiosity, she drove out to the forest. But when she stepped out of the car, she was displeased to see that it looked like a normal forest. She was about to turn back to her car when the car suddenly turned on and started driving away, with no driver!" Gwen let out a gasp, while Hazel's expression stayed thoughtful. Autumn waited for one of them to say something, but when neither did, she smiled and continued her tale.
"But Kat wasn't afraid. She was ecstatic! Finally, something she could write about. She pulled out her notebook and pencil and started wandering into the woods, leaving the road behind her. As she did, the trees closed around the path, creating a cage out of the woods. Kat continued her walk through the forest, observing everything around her. Her pen trembled in her hands with excitement, of course, ready to write down anything mysterious that she saw. A shifting shadow out of the corner of her eye? Written down. A faint howl that echoed through the woods? Written down. Strange prints in the ground—"
"Why doesn't she just use her phone to write stuff down? It would be faster, and easier to convert into a blog, wouldn't it?" Hazel said, leaving Autumn's story interrupted, again. Autumn would have been frustrated, but Hazel did have a point. As she sat there, contemplating, Hazel added, "I'm just saying, the smallest things can lead to the greatest downfalls." Autumn wasn't really listening, but she nodded anyway. Then she let out a long sigh.
"Well, it's too late to change it now." As she thought about it though, maybe there was a way to include it in her story... A small smile crept on her face, but she didn't tell either of the girls her plan. "But, okay, anyways, Kat kept seeing strange things on her walk through the woods, which kept on getting stranger. Claw marks on trees, a mist that started to surround the area, the sound of a heart beating coming from. Right. Behind. Her." She thumped her hand on the bed like a heartbeat as she said the last words, which didn't have the exact effect she was going for, barely making any of the foreboding sound she had intended. Well, that was disappointing, but the show had to go on!
"Kat turned around; her hands clutched around her notebook, her eyes wide with anticipation. But, when she turned around, there was nothing there; even the heartbeat had disappeared, leaving an eerie silence." Autumn stayed silent for a few seconds more than necessary, prompting Gwen to speak up again, even though at this moment, she didn't actually have any questions.
"Where did it go?" She asked.
"That's part of the mystery," Autumn said with a grin, waving her hands in the air. Hazel nodded at this, but Gwen simply frowned. She only wanted to hear the rest of the story and didn't care much about dramatic effect. Luckily, Autumn started to continue the story a moment later.
"Kat was now slightly uneasy about her situation, but she continued on the path nonetheless. The experience had filled her with an anxious sort of energy, pushing her forward on her quest. She turned at every sound but always found her surroundings empty. Still, she made her way into the heart of the forest, where there lay a misty river encircling an ancient graveyard." At this statement, Gwen actually did have a question.
"How is there a graveyard in the middle of a forest?"
"Er—" Autumn hadn't thought of a reason for it. She waved a hand in the air dismissively. "Don't worry about it. There are graveyards in the middle of forests all the time."
"Maybe it shows how the deeper you go into the forest, the stranger things get, leading to this at the heart of it all. Or that death is at the heart of the mystery of the forest. There are any number of reasons why there could be a graveyard in the middle of the forest, especially since it's a story." Hazel remarked.
Autumn nodded. "That's why," she said. Hazel frowned at her.
"I didn't actually say what it was, I just listed off a few things that could be the answer." Then she smiled. "But you're the one telling the story, so does that mean one of them was right? I always love figuring out the puzzle."
"Uh... Yeah." Autumn said, giving Hazel a smile. Gwen seemed satisfied with this answer as well and was waiting patiently for the story to continue. Autumn cleared her throat and continued.
"Kat walked into the graveyard disappointed to see that it seemed like a normal one. A bit run down, but not too different from any of the other ones she'd investigated in the past, all of which had been false leads. She started to lose hope in this escapade. She realized that she had no way back home and no way to know how to get back. In short: she was lost, lost real bad." Autumn saw Hazel shiver out of the corner of her eye. Gwen just stared intently at the storyteller, now deeply invested in the plot. Autumn had been waiting for someone to interject, but when neither of her friends did, she continued with a smile. She quickly remembered she was telling a scary story and tried to make her expression more serious. This just made Gwen laugh, and when she laughed, it was hard not to laugh with her.
Soon the girls had been laughing for so long they had forgotten what they had been laughing about in the first place. Autumn wiped her eyes, calming down. Gwen was still trying to hold back bursts of laughter, and Hazel giggled with her whenever she failed to. "Okay, okay," Autumn said, collecting herself. "We need to stop laughing or we'll never finish the story."
Hazel turned back towards Autumn, once again attentive. Gwen put a hand over her mouth and gave Autumn a thumbs up. Still, Autumn paused for a moment before starting again, mostly because she had to catch her breath. She picked up the flashlight, which had fallen on the bed when they had started laughing, and held it back up to her face.
"Kat turned around, deciding that she couldn't do anything but try to find her way back. But just as she was about to step out of the graveyard, she heard a snapping sound from behind her. Kat turned around, pulling out her notebook again. Another snap. She started scribbling madly. A thump. The heartbeat returned. She heard a scream. Kat barely looked up from her notebook, too busy writing down what she was hearing."
"You see?" Hazel whispered to Gwen. "This is what I was talking about." In response, Gwen just gave her a nod, clearly not paying attention to what Hazel was saying. Autumn continued her story as if she hadn't heard, though she looked so invested in what she was saying maybe she really hadn't.
"The sounds kept getting closer until all she could hear was the sound of a heartbeat and breathing from behind her. Right behind her. She turned around, staring into the face of an eyeless monster. It had large, rabbit-like ears, and a long pointed nose. But that was all Kat Gates had time to write. There was no account in her notebook from that point on; the only thing that had been found to signify that the woman was ever there. What happened to Kat Gates after that remains a mystery." With that, Autumn ended her story. She looked at her friends with a grin, waiting for their responses. After a few moments, Gwen started clapping.
"Wow Autumn, that was a great story! I was a bit disappointed that there were no ghosts in it, but it was really cool anyway. I can't believe all that happened to her," she said.
"I know, and it was all because her curiosity got the best of her," Autumn said, nodding. She glanced over to Hazel, still waiting for her reaction.
"So curiosity killed the Kat..." Hazel mumbled under her breath. Then she let out a laugh and exclaimed, "Oh, Autumn that's clever!" Autumn beamed under the praise.
"I know right?" Autumn said with a grin, glad Hazel had picked up on it. "Do you want to tell a story next?"
Before Hazel could respond, Gwen jumped in with, "Oh, I do, I do! I've got the perfect story to tell!"
Autumn glanced between her friends, frowning. "Would that be alright with you Hazel?" Hazel shrugged and nodded. Autumn handed the flashlight to Gwen and slid off the bed, making room for her friend to clamber on. Gwen sat with her legs crossed on the bed, picking up the flashlight Autumn had given her and holding it up to her face. Gwen cleared her throat before staring down at the girls who sat below intently.
"This is a tale that has been passed down from generation to generation. Our tale takes place far away, across rivers, across mountains, and deep within the sea. It is the tale of the Pirate’s Eye." Gwen looked from Autumn to Hazel with wide eyes before turning her gaze to the ceiling as if she could see her story being played out there.
"The power granted by the Pirate’s Eye varied based on who you asked, likely because no one actually knew what its true power was. Answers varied from the eye letting you see into the future to it acting like a compass to guide pirates to treasure. Some even said that it had the power to create storms. But there was one thing that everyone could agree on: they wanted their hands on this glass eye.
"One of the most infamous treasure hunters was a pirate by the name of Daphne Blythe. She sought treasures of all kinds, but her eye had always been on the Pirate’s Eye." Gwen let out a small giggle at the sound of that before putting back on a serious expression. "She had searched for years, but even she couldn't find it. Until one day, when she found a lead that looked promising. A map, traded to her for a family heirloom. A difficult choice, but one Blythe was willing to make if it helped her find her precious treasure.
"So, now she had a map! If it really lead to the location of the Pirate’s Eye, everything from that point on should be smooth sailing." Gwen paused for a second before saying, "You know, like how pirates sail, on a boat?" Hazel let out a small chuckle while Autumn just sighed and rolled her eyes. Gwen shook her head. In her opinion, it had been an amazing pun.
"But something Captain Blythe failed to realize was that she and her crew would have to sail through the raging seas and past the Prisoner's Sky. The raging seas were known for being a treacherous part of the ocean that ships were rarely known to survive through. And the Prisoner's Sky could be an even greater trial. A spell had been cast over the expanse of water, and, though invisible to the naked eye, its sea acted as a wall to anyone with ill intent. But that would only prove to be a problem later in Blythe's quest. She still had to pass through the raging sea.
"Blythe knew she had made a mistake when the sky suddenly turned dark and gray." Gwen clicked off the flashlight, bathing the room in darkness; the only light coming through the shutters of the window. Autumn let out a small shriek, nearly toppling over.
"Thunder boomed in the distance followed by flashes of lighting." She flicked the flashlight on and off in different directions in an attempt to imitate lightning. "The waves were large and choppy. Captain Blythe and her crew worked tirelessly to steer the ship through the storm, even as lightning flashed and waves crashed into them." Gwen flashed the flashlight a few more times. "And rain and salt water flooded onto the main deck.
"Several hours went by and things still seemed grim. The crew was beginning to lose hope in being able to make it through the raging seas, but Captain Blythe would not give up. She had already made it this far, and there was no turning back now. She hollered commands from dusk to dawn as she steered the ship. By the time morning came, they had made it out of the raging seas, which came at the cost of Daphne's voice for the next few days.
"But they had gotten through the first trial!" Gwen exclaimed, flicking the flashlight back on as she raised her arms in the air. She brought it back down in front of her face before continuing her story, the mood of the room once again becoming ominous. "And yet they weren't done yet. They still had to make it through the Prisoner's Sky."
"Gwen?" Hazel said, speaking up for the first time during this story. Gwen turned around with a curious expression.
"Yeah?"
"So," Hazel fidgeted with her fingers, frowning. "You said the Prisoner's Sky acts as a wall to anyone with ill intent, but what exactly does that mean? Like, the wall part. I get that the ill-intent means anyone who is trying to do anything bad, but how does it act like a wall?"
Gwen grinned, pointing to her with one hand, the other still holding the flashlight. "Okay, yeah, I was just about to explain that. Basically, it acts like a physical wall." Gwen scooted back, patting her hand against the wall behind the bed. "So basically, anyone who wants to do something bad, or anything they're sailing on, won't be able to pass through. They'll be stuck."
"But what's the point of that?" Autumn asked, frowning at the explanation. "Why would someone put up an invisible wall right there, couldn't you just sail around the other way?"
"Well, no, there's one on the other side. It's a portion of the ocean that's inside of the wall." Gwen explained. Autumn still looked confused but didn't ask any follow-up questions. With that, Gwen cleared her throat and started to continue.
"Despite this, Captain Blythe wasn't concerned. She was confident that she and her crew would be able to make it through easily. She had done extensive background checks for all of her crew before they boarded her ship, so she wasn't worried about any of them having bad intentions. Unfortunately, once they reached the Prisoner's Sky, they were stopped, as if by some invisible force. Fortunately, despite her confidence, Daphne had made a plan for if this happened. Unfortunately, it was something she had hoped not to have to do.
"She had smaller boats that had been attached to the ship released into the water. Giving each of them provisions and a pouch of gold coins, she ordered her crew to leave the ship. Some were more hesitant than others, but eventually, they all obeyed their Captain's orders. Once all the crew were off the ship, Daphne was easily able to steer the ship through, as if the wall had never been there in the first place. She continued her path following the map, never once glancing back at who she'd left behind. But after a while, it got lonely on the ship, even for Captain Blythe." Gwen blinked, wiping her eyes in a motion that could either be genuine or for dramatic effect. "She had to keep going forward though, she'd come too far to stop now. Only a few days after passing the Prisoner's Sky, she reached a lonely island in the middle of the sea.
"The island had a mountain in the middle of it, which was Blythe’s final destination. It was covered in an expanse of jungle, which didn't slow Blythe down. She had traversed many islands in her search for the Pirates Eye, and this one was honestly one of the least rigorous she had been to. She just had to get to the top of the mountain, and there it would be. The Captain nearly teared up at the thought that she was finally here, so close to the end. She scaled the mountain until she made it to the peak that was marked on the map with an eye. She assumed that was where the Pirate’s Eye was hidden. She looked around, and found it after only a few minutes, her eyes keen from sailing and looking for treasure.
"She found it hidden in the hollow of a tree. When she pulled it out, she found it was smooth and surprisingly warm to the touch. The iris was a bright blue. Blythe carefully tucked into her satchel before making the trek back down the mountain. She boarded back onto her ship and walked towards her quarters. Her pace managed to seem both hesitant and impatient. Blythe stood in front of the room's mirror, gingerly lifting the eye patch off of her right eye, revealing an empty eye socket. She pulled the glass eye out of the satchel, holding it in her hand and staring at herself in the mirror for a long minute. Then she slowly lifted the glass eye up to her right eye socket, pressing it inside. She stared at herself in the mirror for a while. Then, uncontrollably, she started crying." Gwen went silent, sending a hush over the room.
"That was it?" Autumn exclaimed.
"Yep." Gwen said, scooting off the bed, flashlight still in hand.
"But that wasn't really even an ending!"
"I thought it was very poetic." Hazel said with a nod.
"How?" Autumn asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, the ending is up for interpretation. Personally, I think she started crying because she realized that she had sacrificed so much for something so miniscule," Hazel explained.
"Okay..." Autumn said. She was still frowning, but seemed less confused. After a few moments, she started nodding. "Yeah, okay! But I think it makes more sense that she was crying because of the power of the eye, and that it was too powerful for her to handle."
"Huh." Gwen said, making both of the girls turn back to her. "I always thought it was because she was so happy to have her second eye back. You know, because she sacrificed so much for it. It must have been important to her."
"Aren't you the one who made up this story?" Autumn asked. Gwen shook her head.
"No, someone told it at the camp I went to last summer." Gwen said with a shrug. After that, no one said anything for a while, until Gwen turned to Hazel and asked, "Do you want to tell a story now?" Hazel smiled and nodded, taking the flashlight from Gwen and sitting on top of the bed. She turned the flashlight on and cleared her throat before starting.
"Once there was a bat, and that bat loved to wear hats. Rat hats, cat hats, flat hats, gnat hats— Splat!" Hazel raised her hands in the air. "The bat wore so many hats that his hats went splat, and you know what a bat does when his hats go splat. He puts the hats on his head with a pat." She finished her story with a nod, folding her arms around her chest. Autumn and Gwen stared at her, blinking.
"What's that story supposed to mean?" Gwen asked, after a while of silence.
"It doesn't mean anything." Hazel said simply. The room stayed silent for a few more moments before Autumn suddenly stood up, clapping her hands.
"I like that!" She said with a grin. "A perfect way to end our spooky story saga."
"Autumn! Are you girls ready?" Her mom's voice came from the hall. Autumn glanced at the door before looking back to her friends.
"And perfect timing too!" She grabbed a white sheet that had been sitting on her bed, draping it over herself. She adjusted the sheet until the two holes she had cut in it were positioned in front of her eyes. Autumn turned back to her friends, who were both putting on the accessories to their own costumes. Gwen's, a pirate's hat, and Hazel's a witches' hat. She wasn't actually dressed as a witch, her costume was a bat, but she insisted that the hat was an essential part of it. Neither Autumn nor Gwen argued with her logic.
The trio rushed out of the room, nearly on top of each other. Hazel bumped into Autumn, who stopped for a moment, trying not to let herself fall. Gwen, who had been looking out the back window as she was walking, tripped over both of them, sending the girls tumbling into the hall.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Autumn's mom asked, "Are you alright there?" At which the three girls erupted into a pile of laughter. After a whole minute of laughing, they stood up and adjusted their costumes, grinning. Autumn's mom smiled and started walking down the hall, the girls following her.
"Stay safe out there." She said, handing each of them one of the pumpkin-shaped baskets that had been sitting on the shelf by the front door. They all nodded, making various sounds of agreement. Autumn's mom smiled, opening the door for them. As they ran out, she called after them, "And have fun!"
"We will!" They all hollered back at the same time. The three girls shared a laugh before running off down the street, the trio of matching pumpkin baskets clutched in their hands. None of them would remember the stories they told that day years later, but they all remembered one thing: it had been the best Halloween they ever had.
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