AN: Just popped into my head, while I was reading a fan-theory about the movie.
"Dark was the night, when our tale was begun..."
She looks up from the dishes she's washing, into the living room where her sick child relaxes. Poor thing had the flu. He was so jealous of his younger brother and sister, how he'd miss all the trick-or-treating tomorrow night. To make him feel better, she'd put on one of his favorite Disney movies. It kept him quiet, yet her own mind was anything but. For some reason, that one lyric pulled up so many images from the back of her mind. It was surreal, thinking that her firstborn was the same age she'd been, when the greatest and scariest adventure of her life had taken place. Her gaze drifted out the window, watching as leaves fell down against the sunset backdrop. She remembered choking down her dinner that night: Gorton's fillets with mac-and-cheese. She then bolted into the bathroom, happy to finally have one all to herself in their new house, and she put on her costume. If only she'd known how different her life would feel, just twenty-four hours later.
Everything had changed. She had a niece and nephew, who lived in New York. It was still funny sometimes, when she considered the fact that Jerk-Face was a dad now. Yes, she still called him this, the term of endearment that always made him smile. She often wonders how many things from that night linger with him and his wife. They've certainly never left her. They return, when her youngest gets too fussy, when only the dark and mournful "Come, Little Children" will make her sleep. She's never told anyone the image that crosses her mind, as she finishes that song: a maniacally-cackling red-head picks up the toddler, sarcastically asking her if she was "looking for this", before flying out the window. The images return whenever she passes the old cemetery, and she thinks she sees a teenage boy in a white shirt and brown pants, smiling and waving at her from within the gates. She wonders what her guardian angel would think of her oldest, who shares the closest she could get to his name, without sounding weird: Zachary. And of course, the images return whenever she hears or sees the words "Happy Halloween".
That infamous Halloween, her first ever in Salem, was far from happy. But it had taught her so much. She never took anything for granted now. She lived life, as if every moment were her last. She knew all too well, a knowledge carried on a cool breeze, with the first whisper of autumn's spice, that it actually could be. Coming out of her musings, Dani tucks a stray lock of dirty-blond hair behind her ear, and she returns her attention to the dishes. Although she was making new memories now, they'd never completely replace the old ones.
"Dark was the night, when our tale was begun..."
AN: Since today IS the day before Halloween, it made sense to place this story on October 30th. Have a fun, safe holiday tomorrow, everyone.