Author's Note: A bit late for Halloween, I realise, but better late than never! :)
Of Monsters and Men
There are monsters on the streets of New York tonight.
One is a vampire. He walks with his head down, false fangs sticking out of his mouth. He shakes his bucket, listens to the meagre rattle of the candy he's collected. He watches as a group of kids across the street knock on a bright yellow door. They are welcomed with a cheerful smile and fistfuls of chocolates. "Halloween sucks," he mutters.
One is a witch. Her face and arms are painted green. Her stockings are purple and striped, poking out from under a tattered black dress. She stands back from a house. She reaches into her cauldron and throws an egg at the window.
One is a mummy. He's wrapped in crisp, white bandages. He has a purple plastic bucket hooked over one arm. His little sister's hand is held in his own. She's wrapped in the same bandages he is, and with her free hand she's clutching a stuffed toy cat close to her chest. She digs in her heels again. He yanks her forwards with little effort. She's scared of all the costumes, no matter how crappy they are.
One is a werewolf. He wears a plastic painted mask with eye-holes that is scary in all the wrong ways. His pack of werewolf pupils stick close together, and yet he ends up walking backwards most of the time to keep a closer eye on them. He counts them off in his head. One, two, three, four, five... damn. He glances around. "Where's Sophie? Oh, there you are. Where have you been?"
One is a ghost. She is in her father's arms, her head pressed against his shoulder, as colourful fireworks explode overhead.
One is man in a suit.
THE END