On the 30th of October, Santos, Alex and Dori were preparing their Halloween costumes while discussing where they would go Trick or Treating the following night. Alex was very keen to go to the curious house up the road.
“It’s haunted. Everybody knows that.” said Santos.
“I agree,” commented Dori “and I’m not going there,” she added.
“You must be kidding!” Alex laughed it off. “Who told you these spooky tales for little kids?”
“So you think we should go there?” asked Santos, a little offended to be called a little kid. “What if it’s really haunted?”
“You are such chickens! I can’t believe you are scared?!” said Alex.
The disagreement turned into dare daring. At last, they decided it was safe to test it before Halloween came, so off they went before it got any darker to inspect the house.
The street was already empty with only autumn leaves being swept up and down by the howling wind. The house appeared deserted and seemed to dominate their close with its dark gloomy facade. Its stairs were filled with carved lit pumpkins that gave it an eerie atmosphere as if something sinister was about to happen. As they approached the steps leading to the front door, one of the Jack O'lanterns suddenly started shaking and the kids panicked, screamed and ran away.
“I told you it was haunted!” commented still panting Santos when they all got to the safety of his home. “I don’t want to go there ever again!” he insisted angrily.
“Yes, that house is spooky,” Dori nodded in agreement. “I heard the neighbours say an old lady used to live there but nobody had seen her in years. People say she died and was eaten by her five cats. Now she haunts the house and can be heard laughing on windy autumn nights.”
“Nonsense,” commented Alex.
“Really? So why were you the first one to run?” Santos challenged him with a smirk.
“Because I didn’t know what was happening. But I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for this and I still would like to go Trick or Treating there tomorrow.
“Are you crazy? After what we have just seen? I’m not going there for sure,” Dori responded firmly.
“Aren’t you even a little curious to find out the truth?” tempted Alex.
Halloween came at last. The kids got really excited as this was their favourite holiday and they have been preparing for it for two weeks. Their costumes were hand made ever since they got big enough to make them. They were unique in every way. Santos didn’t really like to make his but not to be a spoilsport he always unwillingly joined Dori and Alex, and ended up having more fun than he would ever admit. This year Dori was dressed as a Corpse Bride, Alex turned himself into a devil and Santos would become a Frankenstein for a night. The kids were very proud of their costumes and they admired each other's outfits taking lots of photos before they went Trick or Treating.
Let’s be honest! Santos was in it only for the treats. Alex, on the other hand, loved the excitement and scaring people in his costume even more than sweets. Dori, on the other hand, was always up for a bit of wandering around the neighbourhood unrecognised. They had a tremendous time, each in his own right and ate lots of sweets in between visits to various houses. At last, there was only one house left to visit, the haunted one. It was a very dark night and even the full moon decided to hide behind the clouds. The wind hauled, the owls hooted and the kids all had goosebumps but none of them admitted it in fear of being called a chicken again. The old house was only lit by jack o'lanterns scattered all over the stairs and looked more spooky than ever.
Dori, Santos and Alex carefully climbed the stairs and each step moaned under their weight. Suddenly a jack o'lantern closest to them started shaking and swaying sideways again as if it was possessed and horror painted on the kids’ faces. Ready to run, they suddenly saw a squirrel pop its head and tail out of the pumpkin. They all burst out laughing in relief and at their own fearfulness. “It must be the Halloween spirit that spooks us so much,” concluded Dori.
“I told you there must be a perfectly good explanation, didn’t I?!” triumphed Alex with a big smile painted all over his face. They turned towards the door ready to knock and ask for a treat when they saw a shadow approaching the door. All the lights were off and even the daredevil Alex got pale. The door knob started turning. The kids turned on their heels to flee the spooky house in fear, despite their laughter just minutes earlier. They forgot their gruesome costumes, making them look so scary themselves and prepared to run for their lives. The door opened and the old lady switched on the main light and called after the kids who were already at the bottom of the stairs: “Trick or Treat?”
Her voice was so soft and cordial, if a little strange, that they suddenly stopped and turned to look at her gobsmacked.
“We… we are sorry to have bothered you.” replied shily Alex.
“Not at all. I was just resting,” replied the old lady. “Would you like some treats? After all, that’s why you are here, isn’t it?”
There was something unsettling about her toothless smile but the kids had been brought up well so timidly, yet politely, they nodded and climbed the stairs again.
“Thank you,” replied Santos who didn’t want to come across as rude so he scooped some chocolates offered by the kind lady.
Then, Dori and Alex collected their share of treats and withdrew, still a bit overwhelmed by the situation.
The old lady smiled again saying: “I love your costumes. Have you made them yourselves?”
“Yes, we did,” Dori smiled shily.
“They are exquisite,” complimented the lady turning towards her door smiling. “Do visit me sometime again.”
“Thank you, we will,” the kids agreed in unison and left while the lady closed her front door.
The next morning Santos’s mum asked them about their Trick or Treating rounds the previous evening and the kids told her how many houses they visited and how many sweets they ate.
“I hope you left some for me?” asked their mum, teasing.
“We haven’t, actually,” Santos looked apologetically at her now. “We got a bit frightened after the visit to the house at the top of the hill where the old lady lives and we ate all the sweets afterwards to calm our nerves,” explained the boy.
“She was awfully nice though,” smiled Dori, remembering the kindness of the lady.
“Yes, and she loved our costumes!” Alex added excitedly.
“What old lady? Nobody lives in that house any more,” she replied.
The kids froze and looked at her each in disbelief whilst she continued. “The old lady called Ada who lived there died when I was your age. She was very nice but no one knows what really happened to her. It couldn’t have been her.”
Alex, Dori and Santos looked at each other rather pale now, too stunned to say anything else.
