Halloween Writting Contest Entry 09
The following story was submitted as an entry in The Wanderer first annual Halloween Writing Contest.
The winner will be announced in the October 25, 2007 edition.
Stories will be posted on-line as they are available in print.
Root
On a dark, dark, dark night of 1992 in Mattapoisett, there was a girl who went to a cemetery. She did this every night. She went to the cemetery to knock over the gravestones and visit her mother who had died about three years ago.
But this night was different. It was Halloween. The girl named Julia went to the cemetery and started knocking over the gravestones. She felt the wind in her face as she knocked over Will Hartsom's gravestone, he had died at the age of 22 fighting in the war. She knocked over Calene Vertas' gravestone, she had died of old age. She knocked over five more gravestones and then she stopped.
The wind had picked up by at least 10 miles. Her shirt was flapping harshly in the breeze to the point that it slapped her stomach and her stomach turned bright red. She was going toward the exit when she got her foot stuck in a root that came up from the ground. She looked at the tree that root belonged to. The tree had a face. It was staring at her with red blazing eyes. She looked around her, the leaves were forming a small tornado.
Julia looked back at the tree in horror. She did not want to die. The tree was slowly opening its mouth. Finally the tree said, "you have dumped over our graves, you have upset the wind, and most of all, you have stepped on my root. The spirits say this is enough."
"Please do not hurt me," Julia cried out. "Please, I mean no harm."
The tree opened his mouth once again, "you do not mean harm now, but you have done harm to us every night. We cannot take this anymore. You must die. You will most certainly not go to heaven. You will be cursed forever. Even when you are done for," and with one move the tree took out a root from the ground and pulled tight around Julia's neck. The tree pulled tighter and tighter until she fell to the ground with no heartbeat and no pulse.
The girl lay dead on the ground until the next morning when her body had fully disappeared and nothing was left at all. Not a necklace, not even a piece of clothing was left. So remember this, if you ever tip over gravestones on purpose, or upset the wind or step on that one tree's root, be prepared for what will happen next.