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“OMG I love fall!” I sit around the circular table drinking a low fat mocha with my 4 best friends. Currently, we are Located in Downtown Las’s Classy Shoppe, which has the best mochas in the whole world. It is a perfect day and the wind blows through the parallel doors blowing my frizzy hair. Alyssa, my best friend since 1st grade, winds her hand and leans forward on the table popping her gum. I already know that she is about to talk about her Halloween plans. Alyssa loves sharing so much that attention is her energy. Sure enough, she says “Carl and I are going to Fright night this weekend.” “NO way, me too!” My friend Hazel screams. All of a sudden, I find myself gazing off as my friends discuss costumes, guys, and their Halloween plans. Suddenly, the conversation bubbles to a silent cry. “What are you doing on Halloween?” Blue asks me, her red lipstick popping. Blue is another one of my best friends. She got her name in 5th grade when she decided to dye her blonde hair a blue color. Now, it is brunette, but she is obsessed with red lipstick. “I can’t go to fright night because my mom says it’s too far away.” I suddenly flash back to my mom yelling at me and the scared faces of my little sisters Zen and Patsy, who haven’t seen my mom yell since dad left. “Oh come on,” Hazel said shaking my arm. “It will be fun and there will be a lot of cute guys.” “But I already have a boyfriend.” I whine. “Oh come on… We all know that Charles is such a spoiler.” I sigh and take a deep breath. Did I really want to be a spoiler? It only takes one more second. “Ok, I will go.’’
Fright night is an event located on the top of Cherry Mountain on a golf course. There is said to be ghosts lurking everywhere but mostly there is just a lot of partying. I have been wanting to go to Fright night ever since 7th grade when I was too old to trick or treat but too young for high school parties. Still, I was afraid to ask because at that time my parents were always in some kind of fight or war. This time would be different. Now, with my dad out the house I did not have to worry anymore.
October 31
I stand in front of the mirror and I feel like crying. My face is beautiful. I am all made up in a long hazel coconut dress a pair of giant aviator sunglasses and 3 inch heels. However, through all of this, I know this is not the real me.” I am about to grab my jacket when my little sister Zen busts through the door almost making me crash to the floor. Her hair is frizzy and she looks excited as if she just won a pony at the fair. “You have a phone call!” I lean down and grab the classy phone, my hand still shaking from stress. “Hey Berry its Alyssa, are you ready?” I give myself one more glance and sigh. “Yeah I’m coming out.”
The kitchen is usually quiet and empty so I am surprised to see my mom cutting a pumpkin on the kitchen counter. “Hey Berry your friends are outside.” She says not turning around. “Oh yah, we are going out to eat today.” My mom is silent for a moment and I am so afraid she will turn around, see my outfit, and cancel my whole evening. I hear her lay down the knife and sigh. “Ok, be back by nine.” And with that I am out the door.
The moon is bright as I step into the red Maserati . “OMG I am glad you came!” Alyssa says kissing my cheek. I smile and squish between Blue. I am ready.
The mountain roads wind and as we descend into the hills I feel myself getting dizzy. We drive and drive for what seems like hours, not seeming to go anywhere. After about an hour Hazel looks up from her dictionary. “Where are we?” Porsche, the driver, is silent. I feel the quiet murmuring bubble to an end. “Honestly, I don’t know. The Gps doesn’t work up here so we could be going anywhere.” “WHAT!!!” I literally almost jump out of my seat. “SO we are lost in the dark on a mountaintop?” Hazel touches my arm in a way that makes me calm down. My heart stays beating out of my chest. All of a sudden, I hear a blasting horn and the car slams to a stop, throwing a sleeping Blue into the car’s dark glass window. “What happened?” Alyssa asks, her calm demeanor clearly gone, “I think I just saw something glowing on the street. Porsche jumps out the car and opens the car door. Nervous, I climb atop Blue who is still snoring like a car horn, and look out the window. Porsche is holding a glowing object that has teeth. And suddenly it disappears into the night. “Did anyone else just see that?” I whisper scream to Alyssa? She nods and I know something weird is going on.
After what seems like forever, Porsche jumps back into the car, locking the doors behind her. “What did you see?” Hazel and I yell simultaneously. Porsche looks shaken. “There was this gnome and it left me a note. She hands me the shiny blue piece of paper. I scan the note quickly. “Keep going and you will be sorry.” And suddenly a light shines upon the car “Porsche I think we should…” it only takes a minute before the gas pedal is down and we are speeding up the mountain. 30 minutes ,of terse silence, later I yawn and look out the window. “Have we lost them?” Alyssa has been watching the windows, which used to be clear, fill with rain. “OMG I see another One!” “Another what?” But Porsche doesn’t answer because the road answers for us. Before I know it, we are off the road and tumbling down the mountain.
‘BEEP” “Hello my MS Mack, yes, I was wondering if you had contact with the girls.” Ms. Pumpkin rests on top the kitchen counter her dress falling below her knees,. “No they went out a while ago and they left their phones her with me.” The phone cascaded to a troublesome silence and MS Pumpkin felt dread creep into her skin. “I never should have let the girls go out.” With that she grabbed her car keys and the refrigerator magnet that read fright nights.
BOOM Boom with a crash the car came to a stop. I sit up and look around. I am no longer inside the comfy interior of the Porsche I am splayed on the squishy green grass of a “golf field?” I sit up abruptly and look over at the miles and miles of rolling green hills. Everything looks normal but the flags. Hanging there, are bodies. These bodies look fake but their proportions are too real. I step back and squish. Under my foot is the body of a gnome. It looks at me with its emerald green eyes and smiles. I scream.
My mom always told me to avoid pumpkins. She said that gnomes and pumpkins were the signs of the devil and that if ever encountered with one you should toss it into the nearest hole. I look at the gnome, Then I take it and throw it into the nearest golf club. Suddenly, I am engulfed in the green fields and in an underground cave.
“Hello? Anybody home?” I wake up to see that there are gnomes everywhere. And in my hand is a message.
here in this cave
will be your friends’ grave
if you’re not brave
you will surely cave
and die
under no one’s eyes
save your limbs before it’s too late
or have yours and your friends be eaten by a snake.
I drop the note and take off running, Poomp, I run into something soft and squishy and I realize that it is a pumpkin. “Lookup.” It says. On top of the ceiling hanging like butterflies in a chrysalis are a million glass bottles. Each with what looks like a teddy bear in them. “Why hello my darling.” I turn to see a giant mouse-like animal staring back at me. I feel my heart beating out of my chest. “Hi..” “I am your friend and I will help you with your mission.” I frown, my mouth falling open in disbelief. “How can you, help me?” The animal smiled, it’s sharp teeth dripping with moss?’” “These are my friends you know.” he reaches up to one bottle and wrenches it open. Out flies an animal like a mix between a moth and a butterfly. Suddenly I know this guy is my ally
“So why am I here? What do I do? How do I get out of here?” I gesture to the cave labeled with stalactites. “All good questions my dear. I am afraid that the people are in trouble everyday a new person gets hung outside on those long golf poles. And before you know it there will be no one else left. But you can save them.” The animal lifts my chin in his paw. “OK but what is this about losing my limbs?” The bear sighs a long deep sigh. “Every time a new person comes they are introduced to the gnomes. These gnomes once touched, begin to take over the person’s body. And if they do not do what the gnome says they lose 1 limb. I do some quick calculating, “My friends will be hung in 24 hours!” the animal tends to the crackling fire and nods. “Unless you play and win 20 Halloween games with coordination cardio and win every one. You lose 4 and you get hung.” His green eyes glint. “Well that’s not too hard.” “Oh yeah, did I mention you will have the Argos Gnomes coming after you?” “What are those?”
All of a sudden, I got a picture of an ugly beast tall as a building with feet the size of 4 wheeler and whiskers long as 20 foot steel poles. “OK, this just got hard.”
Alyssa sat on the golf court. Everyone was there except for Berry. Haley, Blue and Alyssa sat dizzy but awake. “Where did Ber go?” Blue shrugged. Suddenly, out the air fell a gnome. Quickly and carefully, Hailey dissected the animal
play 30 holes and you will win
back the life of your old friend
with them you’ll earn bottles too
and save the life of me and you
‘But I don’t even know how to play golf. All of a sudden, golf clubs rained from the sky like candy. Along with instructions. Hailey stood on the court in front of the first hole and sighed. “I guess I better do this.” With that she launched the ball and it was caught by a fuzzy orange monster. “This may be harder than I thought.”
Berry
I stand in front of the wood door and sig. My breath is now coming in short breaths. Mouse animal told me to go to the man at the desk to try and get into the game. Before, i can knock a 2 foot woman will huge red hair and a squid tattoo smiles and welcomes me in. I hear a crunch and realize with surprise that it is a skeleton. Heebie jeebies skitter up my arms. The wood desk is 20 times my height and the man behind it is even bigger. SO big that his stomach would fill another house. “Oh another human. Goodie!” He leans over his giant desk and looks upon me. I stand up on the chair they gave me. “I need to start the maze.” The man laughs so hard I am afraid rain drops would flow out his nostrils. “Now look here, HUMAN, I don’t give my key to just anyone. I believe you owe me something. Suddenly, a key materializes around my neck. “Give me the key.” I pick it up and inside I see colors like a rainbow.’ ‘These are the souls of all of your friends give it to me and you give me permission to have them forever if you lose.” i swear thunder rumbles outside. And just like that, I hand over the key. The games begin.
Bam! Out on the golf field thunder crackles like rice Krispy treats in your mouth. Just as the Alyssa made the move towards the pole, a tornado appeared sweeping time back.
Berry
I wake up in my bed. The purple comforter tickles my nose and Tommy my white bear is smiling at me. “Where am I?” I pick up my cell phone. To my surprise, the display reads November 30th. “Wow that was all a dream.” The wall phone rings interrupting my thoughts. “Hey Ber, its Haley are you going to Fright night?” Thoughts flash through my head like lightning bolts. “No thanks.” I swear the suns shines a little brighter.
Gabrielle Carter's blog 