Dance Macabre

Something big was going to happen in this town, something atypical for the South American countryside, but you could feel it in the air, in the playful smiles of the young ones (and those who felt like that), and in the orange and black decorations. Halloween was coming to Paura Valley!.

But if at a certain night before the harvest of lovely juicy pumpkins, you could go and see their fields, you would notice something that wasn’t supposed to be there, or better said, someone.

Oh yes, this is going to be a very special year, you and your sisters are going to make me proud… said a figure, a man, while softly caressing the biggest pumpkin in the fields. But he was alone, because at that time, even the harvester drones were still off.

Morning came, and with it the city became alive. During the minutes while the residents were inside their homes and business, making coffee and preparing for a busy day, all store fronts and front yards changed. The usually morose countryside town finished flipping its mood and switching its colors, and putting on spooky music was part of the finishing touch. The people were of course, waiting patiently for the messenger androids to bring everyone their favorite –and still organic- decoration and food: pumpkins!.

After receiving a package with three big ones, a certain shopkeeper asked to his wife if they had bought enough candy, and she just pointed towards the giant sacks of various sweet goodies.

That should be enough… I swear, kids this days are becoming too greedy, what happened to the healthy fear of diabetes?

Well honey, I think is still alive, in old guys like you

So funny, haha… let’s just hope that they accept it, houses don’t look good as toilet paper mummies…

The conversation was left there, but they and other residents knew the traditional mischievousness that the younger ones were capable of, which had its peak 15 years ago with the Faustino Incident. A shudder ran down their spines at the memory, and so their brain decided to block it, and instead concentrate on the growing buzz outside, a mix of mechanical gadgets flying around, kids laughing and thinking about their costumes for the night, and vehicle drivers screaming playful curses at each other. Ah the good stuff in life!.

Night came around and with that yet another shift in the ambient, the best way to call it?: Merry Shadows!. Little demons and ghost running around, grandmas giving out homemade pie and other pumpkin-based food in the town’s main square, even the messenger androids were dressed as some old cartoon skeleton and dancing and singing more comically than funny. And amidst all of that, very few paid attention to a lone man, walking around dressed like a scarecrow in a lab coat, refusing any free treat with a smile that reminded the old ladies of past tricks played on them… had they seen him before?, he appeared to be from out of town, but something felt familiar.

The man danced with the androids and gave out compliments on best fake blood and the loveliest glittering wings before sitting down in a stone bench. Just minutes before midnight, and the science scarecrow only needed a fine mustache to twirl around and accompany his eerie smile. Three, two, one… a bell rang and its sound carried across all the stone-paved streets, and each and every inhabitant of Paura Valley stopped moving for some seconds.

It wasn’t slowed time or stopped time, their brains just paralyzed before functioning again, differently this time. Shadows were deeper, music sounded distorted, animals were monsters and the skeleton-dressed androids suddenly became the real thing!, and the demons, the evil fairies, the ghosts and every other little horror grew in reality!. Screams now filled the air, and some people that ran away from such despicable images got face to face with pumpkin creatures in their own homes, furious at being mutilated and now wanting to get revenge.

Only one creature seemed to be quiet despite its horrific visage: a lone scarecrow clad in a bloody lab coat. He went through the streets as if it was supervising the chaos, and presented every terrified face a smile of pointy teeth. It danced its way towards the town’s hall, across its confetti and candy-filled hallways, and ignoring a few trembling figures hidden in some offices. Its goal was the communications office.

Morning came, and despite being a rainy season, this sun felt as the most bright and warm anyone could remember. The streets were dirty, and cluttered with what could only be called remnants of a battle, but between whom?. There were no infernal beings, no children of the darkest nights, the skeletons were just a pile of broken metal, and the pumpkin beasts were mashed and splattered everywhere, no signs of teeth or digested victims.

The people were just slowly coming out of their shelters, still prey of memories from the previous night, when the speakers in every corner of town started transmitting something, a voice, singing a folk tune of the festivities…

“Oh little ones don’t be afraid of my old friend the night, but beware the lies your eyes can tell…”, I hope you all had a great Halloween!, it was really hard for me to modify the pumpkins so they could give you all a “funny eyesight”, take it as a second part of my “Trick” from 15 years ago, bye…!."

Now the grandmas and other adults could recognize that voice: it was Faustino.