It was on one Halloween night that an old man sensed
something existed in that dark space between here and
nowhere, as the memories of the something screamed in
the dark corridors of his mind like wounded ravens in
the night. The something lived in the narrow gap
between dark concealed moments in time with other
depraved, malignant spirits, who with their cold breaths
coated the color of each hour with death’s shadows.
The hours whirled around in the abandoned cemetery
like a maelstrom as the something screamed from under
a crumbling tombstone. The shadow of the something
hid in the emptiness of a grave sinking into the blood-
soaked soil, where at the bottom, only evil existed.
Cold were the cemetery paths on that Halloween night,
when fiends roamed in their ebony robes, searching for
little victims. Cold was the old man’s heart when their
screams carved miseries on his future tombstone.
Winter gales, with an icy absurdity, caused his fears to
expand into hopelessness, as he felt innocent children were
walking in a cemetery of darkness and death. He
perceived that the little minds of children were going
numb from poisoned candy, and the thread of each of
their thoughts was unraveling as their little brains were
crawling into the shadows of death. Then he heard the
something laughing in the gloom of the malevolent
Halloween night, and he recoiled in fear.
James, a poet and novelist, lives in Santa Ynez, California, with his wife Sandy, and a dog named Scout. He has published five collections of poetry, The Silent Pond, Ancient Rhythms, LIGHT, Solace Between the Lines, and Serenity, over 1790 poems, five novels, and forty short fiction stories in scores of national and international literary journals. He is a twice Best of Net nominee and a four-time Pushcart nominee. He earned his doctorate from BYU, and his BS and MA from California State Polytechnic University, SLO.
Published 10/31/23
Leave a Reply