It's 1944....she is 25 and pregnant with her first of ten children. She truly believed her role in life was to mother....and she took her job very seriously. Every example she set was good, and she rarely negotiated when your safety and wellbeing were at stake. She gave birth to me - her baby - at the age of 44, and over the course of my life's trials and tribulations, her love for me never faltered. Ever.

I married in 1988 and within 5 1/2 years suffered the loss of 5 pregnancies...including a set of twins - one lost on a Tuesday...the other, sadly, the following Saturday. I was beyond devastated...but because of my mother, her love of mothering and her belief that I, too, would be a great mom someday....I carried on.

Although that marriage didn't last, I did...and so did my faith that being a mom was still an option. I luckily met my second husband when I was 36, and miraculously gave birth to my first child when I was 39. Following 3 years later, came my Little Lou, who completed my puzzle.

Luckily, my mother lived long enough to welcome both into the world and see me mother, a job she believed I was destined to have.

Finally, a job found me!

It was the socks, in the end, that concluded their love story.

Betrayal: such a bitter word, seemingly so unjust when confronted with something so mundane as the laundry. Yet there they were, the dagger in her side, hiding in plain sight.

After years of marriage, she had thought her husband to know all her haunts and habits, specifically a hatred of bright accessories.

Perhaps the God's stirred up a neon pink concoction in their laboratory to warn her of his infidelity.

If not, the discovery of the other woman's gaudy socks so unlike her own was a remarkable coincidence.

I feel bad for the pumpkin jack-o-lanterns that dot our street. Gouged by overzealous parents, their vegetable mouths have already started to pucker. Life in the natural world is kind, though. Tossed out like garbage and abandoned in land fills, those Jacks will return to the earth. Eventually.

I exchange laughs with the great big fat ones across the street. Their owners use electric candles that blink like strobelights. We place a bet for which kid will fall down in a seizure. It happened once years ago but I'm the only one who remembers. My plastic memory last longer than my batteries.

Quiet! A little girl approaches.

I flash my lights a little brighter. I take pride in being a good performer.

She gingerly takes a step. She's dressed as Little Red Riding Hood.

I wonder where her parents are and make out a disheveled shadow standing back on the sidewalk, hands glued to his phone.

I shine my light a little brighter. Some kids need more encouragement than others.

"Daddy?" the little girls squeaks.

Daddy keeps staring at his phone. It casts a ghostly pall on his already pale face.

"Daaaaaddy?"

I hear a grunt. We both take this as a yes.

The little girl crouchs over her candy pail, making herself small. She looks around the dark entryway. My owners usually go overboard with the holiday and turn the whole front yard into an animatronic scarefest. The porch would normally be lit up like a dozen Christmas trees haunted by ghosts and goblins and sometimes my owners disguised as scarecrows waiting to pounce.

They're getting divorced this year. All my Halloween friends languish in storage, their fates unknown. A plate of candy on a chair and I are all that's left to tell the world this household is celebrating.

The clouds advance quickly, smothering the moon. It's dark. I suck out more juice from my batteries and glow brighter.

The little girl looks behind her and sees her daddy still looking at his phone. He looks up, we can both sense his scowl in the dark.

"C'mon, we have the whole block left," he bellows.

She nods bravely.

A small hand reaches out for the candy dish. I shine as bright as can. My owners should have change my batteries. I will forgive them more than they've forgiven each other.

The little girl grabs the first piece of candy she can and runs back to her father. In her rush she stumbles down the stairs, taking me with her. As she hits the pavement, so do I.

My light goes out.

Face down I can still hear and feel the ground beneath me. A rush of heavy footsteps is followed by gruff words. I see the little girl out of the corner of my eye being lifted up and away.

A sneakered foot kicks me away.

At least now I can gaze up at the stars and wait. I wonder where my owners will carry me off to.

Without change, Matilda and her mother Linda would put my family members in front of their home for what the humans call "Haloween". Every year, Linda would bring Matilda and they would walk around and pick the largest pumpkin they could find. I realize that this may seem crazy to humans, generally you sorts don't eagerly anticipate your death. I saw a human die once. He was hit by a car right next to my pumpkin patch. He squirmed around as if he was in bed with an invisible lover.

Pumpkins are much more dignified. To be chosen for this ritual is an honor, it is seen as the final right of passage. Matilda and her mother picked me this year, I could finally count myself among the lucky pumpkins. I could see the jealous glances from my cousin, Theodore (I call him ass-hole for short).

The car ride home was painfully long. They seemed to stop every hour or so. Eventually, they returned home. They both were quite tired from their excursion to my patch of the woods, so they went to sleep.

The next day, they eagerly discussed what I would become. They ran through all sorts of ideas. The first was to have me become what they called "Frankenstein". I thought my cousin Theodore would serve as a more suitable visage of pure and grotesque horror. However, they did not seem able to hear my protest, so they began shaping me.

At first, they cut a hole at the very top of my body, they then removed a sizeable piece of me and emptied my insides. It smelled sweet and sickly, I could hardly keep from fainting, however, I allowed them to continue. Then, they took a knife to my face. Oh, the pain remains indescribable it continues to refuse to subside. They then continued the barbaric and disgustingly cruel ritual by placing a small piece of wax inside of me.

This feeling is that of pure and violent violation. They placed me outside where I could see that I was not special. My entire patch was placed in front of me, each one suffering a fate as unfortunate as mine. I could hear some crying aloud some, however, had already succumbed to the pain.

Later on that night, children came. We shrieked and cried out, however our begging fell on deaf ears. We were truly alone that night. I will never forget that feeling of betrayal. My story ends as all of my fathers' have. Alone and scared.

My fellow pumpkins, do not allow this plague to come to your patch. Fight Haloween, it does nothing but bring pain and misery to your homes.

All the folks of Halloween land had heard the terrifyingly saddening news. Jack Skellington was ready to call an end to his reign over Halloween land.

Then they heard a loud screech of hot wheels racing around the land. Those in their houses peeped through their windows to see what the commotion was all about. The ones moving in the road tried to move out of the drivers way. Whoever was in the car was a driving menace.

Finally the car came to an abrupt stop and out stepped a young, tall being with flaming eyes. The people of Halloween town soon heard her speak.

 ´I, Miss Mnezz, may come from the human world, but I heard the great...(clears throat), I mean really crazy news. Halloween land is in need of a new ruler. I am willing to be the new leader. I have several years experience with this scary, or terrifying, time of the year. As a human that doesn’t mean I will go easy on the haunting. No. I am ready to take Halloween land’s scariness to another level much greater than the really frightening period you all had during the Grim Reaper’s reign. Just a quick note, I am actually only a half-human from one side of the family. It’s a long story. In short, you must know that I am the Grim’s first-born daughter. I am here to carry on the legacy of my father. He passes his greetings to you all. He´s been quite busy as of late with you know, the usual soul reaping business. I am ready to rule Halloween land with a fiery gaze.´

#Halloweenland

#TheGrim’sDaughter

#Frightober

Watching the first scenes of the movie, I thought that would not be so bad. The little boy was having a great time, and then he meets IT. I did not know what to expect next. This thing\IT started talking to the kid and then....I could feel my heart beating almost wanting to escape from, & jump out of my chest, as the scene progressed. What a nightmare!

The poor kid, fell into IT’s trap. I felt like I was not going to last seeing all the movies. But I gathered all my fear and put it aside. Oh Stephen King that was terrifying, so creepy? If he is making a sequel, I hope I’ll be prepared/ready for whatever IT does next time.

N.B. Whatever you do, don’t ever engage with any strange clowns in sewers, or that look & act like Pennywise.

Kara lay on her regular sized feather bed. She felt like ending her life because of all the pain she felt. All the kids at school were mean to her. She wished she could disappear off the face of the earth.

And she was living with a foster parent. Her parents had died on their way to a health conference when she was younger. It had been raining a lot and had lost control of their vehicle. They ended up sliding across the road, drove off it and went flying over the side of a hill. The car was found the next day with no survivors.

Her foster Dad did not treat her well. He shouted at her because she spent too much time in her room. Where else was she supposed to be, or go? The other children in the neighborhood did not like her. They thought she was a strange kid.

Kara liked to talk to animals. She cared for them. No one else did that. They all would pass by and if they saw even a baby deer, it was killed and eaten for the lunch/dinner. She tried to tell folks in her communtiy about protecting the forest & animals. But no one wanted to listen to her words.

She spent most of her days in her room. Even though her room was in the attic, she made it her own personal, comfy and a lovely place. It had stars hanging from the ceiling. A bonsai tree by the window sill. She even placed some pictures of birds, animals and flowers on the walls.

Later in the night, Kara heard a loud thud right around the house. She went all the way to the living room and peaked around the house through the windows.

Kara could not believe her eyes. Standing outside was an elf. He was planting seeds and inspecting the plants around the house. She quickly run to the front door, and went outside.

Jay~ You do not have to hide. I can sense when someone is watching me. I’m Jay. What’s your name?

Kara moved away from the rose bush and approached the stranger.

Kara~ I am Kara.

Jay~ That is a wonderful name. Kara. I really like it.

Kara~ Thank you.

Jay~ I noticed that you like nature.

Kara~ What? Have you been following me?

Jay~ No. (Laughs) I am not a stalker. I promise. I can tell from the health of these plants that they are being cared for quite well.

Kara~ (smiles) They are. I water them and feed them everyday.

Jay hands Kara some seeds and heads into the forest. Kara looks around her to see if anyone was around. The cost was clear.

She was drawn to the forest. A part of her wanted to be there forever. She did not feel like going back in the house. What about school? She didn’t even like being there.

Kara slowly walks towards the forest and then stops in her tracks. She takes one last look at the house, and then goes further into the forest.

She followed the tracks of the stranger she met. The more steps she took into the forest, the less her sadness became. She glanced around her and saw evergreen trees with deeply grounded roots. Kara also knelt down and smelt the flowers around her. There were roses, dandelions, tulips, gardenias, petunias and lilies & so many more.

Then she heard a branch snap. She looked at where the sound came from. It was only a brown beaver collecting twigs from the ground.

Kara soon heard chants and voices singing. The sound and noise was not too far away from her. She walked towards it.

Soon she found a grand gathering of elves in the forest. Kara joined the mingle and made herself at home. The elves were dancing and being merry. They were celebrating the lives of the trees that had past and we’re looking forward to the coming of the new life.

One of the elves gasped when they saw a human in their midst. Who was this stranger among them?

Kara~ Calm down. I am not here to hurt you. Believe me. I mean you no harm.

From the crowd, a familiar face approcahed Kara. It was Jay. She was glad to see his face again.

Jay~ I see you know your way around the forest.

Kara~ I guess I do.

Jay grabbed Kara’s hand and pulled her closer to him. They were soon twirling and dancing to the beat of the maracas.

After their dance, Jay passed a plate of food to Kara. She ate all the great tastes of the fruits, rice and meat provided to her. When the festivity was over, she told Jay about her life.

Jay~ If you want to stay here with me, I mean us, you can. What do you say?

Kara~ I do not know. Maybe. Why not? It does seem like a fun place.

Jay~ Do not worry. I can show you all the parts of this great forest.

Kara then hugged Jay and he gave her a tighter hug too.

There with the elves Kara stayed. & Not once did she ever feel like leaving her new home.

My dear Minnie

We were born around..

The same time-

Side by side

Ever since birth..

Very first pet-

You loved your

Fish flavored biscuits..

And some human food-

You always liked to play

Even had a day..

Just for stretching about-

We watched movies

In a blanket snug..

As a bug-

I miss your purrs

& all your meows..

My dear Minnie-

Oh creature from the Black Lagoon

I swoon like a bafoon,

For I am the night and you are my moon

You engulf my soul like a prayer in a tomb

Your beauty is endless like a buffet at noon

The sight of your gills gives me cheap thrills

The touch of your scales result in shakes and wails

So please,

Carry me

Into the sea

So I can be

Swept like a broom

By my creature from the Black Lagoon.

#Monster #Love #Is #All #You #Need #Fish #Face

I am ready for the show

Waiting to listen to her flow

The Lady of the Opera

And sound of the orchestra.

Listen to the songbird

What a grand moment

Hear her sing every word

Of the Opera sonnet.

Lady oh sweet goddess

Your voice rings in my ear

I love being in your presence

Her beautiful melody, I hear.

No other place I’d rather be

I could sit and watch all day

Such a dazzling beauty I see

Like a sunbeam, bright ray.