A Ghostly Halloween

Tracy Meadow sat in her apartment waiting for the next ring of the doorbell. It was Halloween and the children were out in full effect. There were all kinds of beautiful costumes that just filled Tracy with joy; and the thought of giving treats to them made her feel good inside. Halloween was her favorite holiday because she had a secret event that happened each year on October 31st at 11:59 p.m. This was something that she prepared for and looked forward to throughout the year. The children had until 10p.m. that night to collect their treats but after that, her apartment would be off limits.

It was 9:30 and Tracy started to decorate her apartment with dimmed orange lights, cutouts of pumpkins, goblins and ghosts that hung from the ceiling, and a projector that showed horror films on the wall. After she was done she looked out of the window into the dark black sky and sighed. She wished that she wasn’t the only one that survived that awful crash that took 80% of her family a few years ago. They were in a mini-bus on their way to a family reunion when another driver cut them off. Their vehicle flew off the highway into a ditch and everyone aboard was killed except her. It was a horrible pain to deal with but Tracy continued to push through it. Halloween was also a favorite of her family.

She put on some music and poured herself a glass of wine. She danced around her apartment and sipped her wine as she waited for the clock to strike 11:59. She decided to pull out the old family picture album and cruise down memory lane. As she started to look through the album a figure appeared before her. It was a man that she had never seen before and he looked angry.

She asked the man if she could help him and what was he doing in her apartment. The man looked sternly into her eyes and told her that her uncle got away with murder. Tracy was confused and didn’t understand what he was talking about or why he was there. He explained to her that a few years back he was the man who was driving the other car that was in the accident. He said he knew for a fact that her uncle was a police officer and he was responsible for that accident because he had been drinking. He said that before he died he saw how the police department started to cover it up at the scene. As Tracy covered her mouth and looked into his eyes, he politely stepped back and disappeared as if he were never there. She didn’t know whether to be shocked about the information or the fact that a stranger appeared and then disappeared in her apartment.

As the clocked stroked 11:59 pm on October 31st, Tracy turned around and looked into the kitchen to see Aunt Carla, Uncle John, Uncle Francis, and Aunt Mary, her mom and dad, her brother Buddy and her cousins. The family started talking to each other and complaining about the heat in the apartment as Tracy walked around basically in shock. Her uncle John asked her repeatedly what was wrong but she chose to ignore him. Taking the word of a strange ghost over her uncle was a hard thing to do but she had to find out the truth.

Tracy stood back in a corner and watched as her family interacted with one another. They laughed joked and acted like she wasn’t even there. She let them have their moment and then gave out a loud whistle. Her uncle John had his flask midway to his mouth, her aunts were stuffing themselves with treats, and everyone else was sitting down staring at her.

Tracy asked everyone else to have a seat and then she started to speak. She explained to them about the man who came to visit and told them what he said. Her uncle John started to bend over in a coughing fit, the aunts started choking on the treats and the rest of the family just stared at her. Tracy asked why she was the only one that didn’t know about this. Uncle Francis tried to act like he didn’t know what she was talking about. But when she raised her voice and looked him square in his ashy face, he hung his head. Her aunt Mary explained that after they were all dead uncle John explained that there was indeed a cover up and how it was best for the family's reputation. Tracy looked at all of them and said she strongly disagreed.

She told Aunt Mary that Uncle John committed a crime and he should’ve paid for it before he succumbed to his injuries. She said he should’ve died in jail. The family started yelling and screaming but she was finally able to calm them down. Tracy told them that she loved Halloween and loved seeing them each year but now she wasn’t so sure. That family secret really took its toll on her and she told them that she didn’t want to see them next year. She kissed them one by one and watched as they all disappeared into thin air. Her eyes filled with tears but she swore that rather than waiting around for the dead to appear every year on October 31st at 11:59 p.m., she would find other things to do. She would of course continue to fill her neighborhood children with the treats that they loved so much.


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