Unfinished: The Howling Flame.

Pride Ed

"Nothing but weeds, of course!" I laughed. But then again, maybe I was tempting fate for not coming during the day. After all, coyotes are most certainty proven to be real. But so far it was just me up there. All alone! The only sounds I could hear were the crinkling of dried grass under my leather dress shoes and the now almost incessant sound of me tapping my flashlight in an effort to keep it on. "Should have gotten the name brand batteries," I muttered to myself as I kept walking. By the time I felt myself to be in the middle of the field, distant lights appeared and twinkled like stars on the blackened landscape. The lights looked like they could have been from either candles or lighters. Before the lights appeared, the only other light source was a small slit of the full moon just now coming out over the horizon.

"Kids," I sighed, annoyed. But of course, I had to venture out to the moor on Halloween night. As I walked a bit closer, my flashlight flickered more and more. I hit it once, and it ceased working. That is when more points of lit flame dotted the blackness up ahead. With no light source of my own, I decided to press forward to see if possibly I could get some kind of torch. Hell, even a lighter would help! As I got closer, figures started taking form out of the darkness. I noted that this gathering was the strangest party of teens that I had ever seen.

Traditional Jack-O-Lanterns and candles were lit while figures were crying at the moon, which at this point has came half way above the horizon. It was a deep red/orange color, like the dying leaves of trees during the fall. Taller, darker silhouettes seemed to taunt and scare the figures. I stood watching for a few moments to see exactly what was happening. Three minutes into watching, I felt someone seize my arm. I turned around quickly and saw a hooded figure wearing the most realistic mask I had ever seen. It had no eyes, and the effect of a decomposing face was captured perfectly. The figure itself even smelled like something rotten. However, I was far from amused.

"Let go of my arm, kid," I said, making a jerking motion.
"Leave," the figure hissed in a tone that made it hard to identify a possible gender. I laughed at them.
"Alright, kid. Take off the mask and cut the crap. I'm busy."
"LEAVE!" The figured growled louder, and an even more putrid smell wafted my nose.