The Writers' Block Anthology

Winter is Here

 It all started around a month ago when the autumn air was finally getting crisp. Everyone woke up one morning to checkered leaves and a woman claiming a winter-death goddess was coming to town on national news. Ever since then, mainstream media, discussion/blog forums, and news sites have blown up with different theories about what the woman said and the interpretations thereof. Many dismissed her claims as it was now Halloween and nothing seemed to come of them, just black and white leaves as opposed to the reds, oranges, and yellows everyone was so fond of. Up until tonight, I had also dismissed her crazy claims.

I was sneaking out, as all teenage girls should when forbidden from going to their best friend's Halloween party. It seemed only natural and I'd apologize later, that is, if my father ever found out. He worked the graveyard shift at a of the local cemetery starting at eleven. As security, it was his job to make sure there were no antics to 'disturb the dead', and October, especially around Halloween, was always a busy time of year. With any luck, I'd get back to the house long before his shift was over.

I draped a scarlet cloak over my shoulders, twirling in the mirror to admire the satin ripple. The mirror reflected a girl who looked like Little Red Riding Hood grew up to be Morticia Adams. I looked fantastic. I smiled, revealing my glued-on vampire fangs. This costume is everything I could have ever wanted and more. It was perfect for an entrance at the Halloween party, and it might just be enough to catch Cannon's attention.

Cannon, my best friend and long-time crush, has been begging me to find a way to come to his party for weeks. Up until high school, he was known as the kid who always hung out with the weird girl, but when high school came around he became quite popular. As a member of the football team, the status came with certain perks and he had no need to remain friends with me with his newfound posse. This is how I found out he genuinely liked my company. He never left. He never let his popularity change anything about our friendship, if anything, we had gotten closer because there was no longer a 'need' to remain friends. We were no longer the two outcasts who bonded over solidarity. We were friends who enjoyed the time we spent together no matter how the world kept spinning. My father, however, didn't like Cannon's new popularity and thought he was doing me a favor by trying to intervene like, say, forbidding me to go to his Halloween party. For the third year in a row.

So, my scheming began. It was about a quarter till eleven, my father would be leaving soon. I made my way to my window which gave me a wonderful view of the front entrance and lawn. I'd just wait for him to leave and then--. I froze, was that Jesse walking out the front door in his pajamas...well, boxers? Is he crazy? It's freezing outside. I opened my window and called, "Jesse!"

He didn't answer me. I watched as my little brother stumbled over his feet, shuffling down the front sidewalk away from the house. He looked zombie-like, almost as though he was sleepwalking. Jesse hasn't done that since he was in elementary school.

"Jesse!" I called again, trying to keep my voice down. If my dad heard, he'd come outside and see me in my costume. And if dad found him while getting ready to go to work, there's also a good chance he'd enlist me to keep an eye on Jesse for the rest of the night . . . which means he'd see me . . . I climbed out the window and into the bushes that lined the front of the house.

"Jesse!" I hissed as I crawled out of the bushes, watching as he turned the corner and began following the sidewalk down our street.

I peered over at the front door and quickly scanned the other windows I could see, trying to figure out how close my father was to leaving. The kitchen light seemed to still be on which means I may still have enough time to run, grab Jesse, and sneak him through my window before my father opened the front door. I bolted across the yard, instantly regretting the satin cloak as the wind tried to use it as a noose. Grabbing the front of the cloak with one hand to keep myself from choking, I charged Jesse who seemed to stay the same distance away no matter how hard I ran.