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Printed from https://shop.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/759405-The-Spirits-Within
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by fregin Author IconMail Icon
Rated: ASR · Short Story · Other · #759405
halloween, spirits
The dignified parting of the leaves in the fall marks the beginning of death. They bow out with grace and maturity, both poignant and somber, no whimsy, only wistfulness for what once was. Their beauty is greater than even in the spring. They've grown from their green starting place to become individuals, with startling charcteristics. The inhabitants of the land feel the peace and serenity of the trees and the land as the cycle of nature completes its journey, and hope for new discovery lies in wait.

A presence beyond the realm of this world lends a hand to ease the passing of time and to bring whimsy back into the life of those who will be left behind in this small passage of life.

The good spirits of the night conspire to discover what will bring back life and to determine what makes the inhabitants feel most alive. They think of the children and the joy they see and how adults thrive on that joy. The young ones feel so many emotions that verify life, love, fear, desire, and hope. The dilemma is how to incorportate all of these emotions at once to bring ultimate feeling back to the people and shock them once again into the uniqueness of being alive.

The spirits consider what might be accepted in the primitive society. They know the inhabitants are basically ignorant to concepts beyond their reality, but they can use that ignorance to inspire awe and hope and fear.

They decide to create a day filled with adrenaline and horror and joy, but the premise must be that the primitive people are flirting with the dark side out of a desire only for fun. They must feel fear, but the very safety they depend upon must be present. They can pretend for a day that they are whatever they want to be and the world contains mysteries that may upset their very being, but their safe world must continue the next day.

The bad spirits get wind of this plan to bring joy to the inhabitants of this world and decide to make their own plans. While the good spirits are designing pumpkins to plant, scary costumes to wear, haunted houses for a thrill (but safe from real evil), and treats to please the children, the bad spirits hover in the nearby covering of the forest and decide to send down their withces and warlocks when the tunnel is opened. They will make the day so much more memorable than the good spirits ever anticipated.

In order for the good spirits to do their work in the land, they must use their key to pass through the tunnel that will connect them to the other world. As the bad spirits do not have the magical key, they plan to attach themselves to the safety wire the good spirits connect for their safe return to their mystical realm.

The planning continues, and the good spirits organize everything down to the last detail. They are a bit worried about introducing into society even the thought of real evil, but without any real power, they decide that those who decide to take up the evil practices cannot do any real harm. The attempt to discover the root of dark forces will just increase the anticipation for the next year's Halloween day.

Once the good spirits begin their descent into the primitive lands, their anticipation is high for the good deeds they have planned. They are also excited to once again try their wings at some of their mischievous behaviors that have been suppressed in their peaceful world.

About halfway through their journey, they experience some turbulence. They're used to a little bit, but the shaking is so bad this time that they become a bit concerned. And then, SNAP! They start falling at a speed they've never experienced before. They brace for impact and panic about what has gone wrong.

The evil spirits added too much weight to the safety wires. They were falling right behind the good spirits, and none of them had a way to make it back to their own worlds now. They were all going to be stuck in the primitive land. Both the good and the evil is left behind to roam the earth until their people can find a way to save them.

Once the good spirits arrive, they assemble to get ideas on what is to be done. They knew the dangers that existed before taking on this enormous task, and they know now that they have to keep faith that their people will find a way to get them back. They decide to continue on with their activities of the night and hope that when they reassemble for a safe return that a solution will be presented to them.

The bad spirits are not nearly as desolute about this dilemma. Once they arrive, they realize that their lives have taken on a whole new meaning. They have a whole planet to corrupt, beginning with this night.

The good spirits present themselves in their costumes to scare the inhbitants but provide treats as a balm to bring delight on the heels of horror. They parade themselves as ghosts and make dour predictions that delight and frighten the people. After sufficiently scaring the people with their presence, they offer glimpses of the afterlife to provide hope. They are pleased with the emotions they bring out in the people, unaware of what is to follow in their wake.

After the good spirits have nicely inspired faith that the world is safe and good and mysterious, the evil spririts follow behind with their nefarious deeds. They whisper into the ears of children ideas for pranks that the little ones can perform. They create haunted houses with dangers unknown, where the spirits are lying in wait to take the souls of those who dare to enter.

The gullible inhabitants gobble up the danger and the risk. Some have been soothed by the presence of the good spirits; others are just so arrogant that they feel they can conquer the evil.

The good spirits cannot leave the primitive people with this problem they have brought down. Instead they must find a way to rid this world of the evil and take the evil-doers back where they belong.

The good spirits assemble at the end of the night and mourn the passing of their chance to go back to their peaceful harbor. Their people did, in fact, find a way to get them back, but they must stay behind to fight the evil they have exposed.

It has been years since their night of good intentions, but the good spirits have not given up hope.

They studied the cycles of the universe and found that evil is drawn to the light of the moon amidst the darkness. They brighten the moon on those nights in order to capture the evil at its worst. However, some of the primitive people have adopted the evil ways, so their task is much larger that they ever thought before. They can't always discern true evil from humanity anymore. But, they won't give up.

Halloween marks the night of sadness for the good, but it also brings back a determination that makes them stronger than ever before. They refuse to take the magic that they created away from the innocent, but the struggle with evil is always most fierce on that night. The bad spirits delight in the havoc they wreck, and the good spirits fight against the havoc just as determinedly. Amidst it all, the inhabitants of the primitive, ignorant land continue to embrace both the good and the evil of this night of mystery.



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