(Click the picture to read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow*)
This is the beginning of a three-part short story Halloween collection. What this post contains is the premise behind the stories, or in other words, this is the story in which lie three stories.
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Pumpkins lined the pathway up to the door. They lined the entire yard one right after another. Some even rested on the roof of the house. On the stairs sat three people – Jeffrey in the middle, his girlfriend Megan to his right, and his friend Stephen to his left.
“Man, this is going to be a great Halloween,” Jeffrey said. “Thanks for helping guys. I couldn’t have gotten everything set up without your help.”
“You know it’s not Halloween until we tell scary stories,” Stephen said. “You can’t have it without them.”
“Oh yeah?” Jeff laughed. “You’re just dying to tell one aren’t you?”
“Well not particularly, no,” Stephen said. Yes, Stephen told a lot of stories, but he didn’t enjoy sharing his own with others.
“Haha,” Megan laughed. “Coming up with ideas, but just as usual you don’t want to follow through on them.”
“Hey,” Stephen said, “that’s not fair. Someone’s got to be the idea creator. It’s up to others to run with the idea. Besides, there are loads of books with spooky stories.”
“Whatever you guys,” Jeff laughed again. “You think we need stories?”
“Of course!” Stephen said. “It’s not a haunted house we’ve put together – it’s a Halloween house.”
“What do you two say we each tell a story then?” Jeff asked.
“That sounds like a good idea to me,” Megan said.
“I guess if you insist,” Stephen said.
“So what’s yours?” Jeff asked Stephen.
“I don’t know. We just came up with the idea.”
They sat on the porch stairs for a minute before Stephen began telling the story of the “Ghosts of the Cave.”
*A Jack o’ Lantern made for the Holywell Manor Halloween celebrations in 2003.
Photograph by Toby Ord on 31 Oct 2003.
Photograph by Toby Ord on 31 Oct 2003.