The Costume
By Melanie Treweek
The boy fell into the snow, his face landing on the bear's claw, a low moan escaping his lips. He curled over, his face half buried in the blood red snow, his eyes skirted to a log cabin. A scream echoing through the air and the sound of pounding feet was the last thing the boy heard.
It is said that your life flashes before your eyes when your life is at an end. In this case, that is true.
Johnny slowly picked up the bear costume his mother had made.
'It looks so real, thanks so much Mum.' Johnny gasped.
'It's only for Halloween darling, I'll need it back.'
Johnny pulled on the costume and picked up the candy bag. He spun around with his arms out, almost knocking over his Dad's hunting rifle. He ran out the door to join his friends.
'See ya!' Johnny yelled to his friends as he ran across the road into the crisp Canadian snow that covered the forest floor. Johnny heard quiet footsteps behind him, he quickened his pace. The footsteps grew closer and Johnny glanced behind him. Six boys were following him, one of them yelled,
'Come 'ere kid!'
Johnny turned and started to run away.
'I said come 'ere, I want some candy!'
The boys ran at Johnny and tackled him to the ground, the boy who had yelled out grabbed his candy bag and rummaged through it.
'It's all bloody rubbish, didn't you get any money?'
He threw it into a nearby tree. It caught on a high branch and hung there. The boys let him go and walked off snickering. Johnny picked up a rock and threw it at them. It hit one of their shoulders. He spun around and ran towards Johnny. He thumped him hard in the stomach. Johnny crouched over, the wind knocked out of him, the boys started to laugh as they sauntered off.
Johnny's older brother, Ben, stared out the cabin window, in the distance he could faintly see a small bear crouched over in the snow. He raced to the family room and grabbed the hunting rifle off the wall.
Johnny stood up taking a deep breath and started to try and climb the tree to get his candy back.
Ben crept out to the mound he liked to shoot from; the bear was now attempting to climb the tree. He figured it must be injured, because it kept falling off the tree. Ben positioned himself and took aim, his finger quivered over the trigger. The bear slid back down the tree and stood still. Ben pulled the trigger and the bear fell to the ground. Lifting the binoculars to his eyes, Ben stood up slowly. The bear curled up and faced the cabin. Ben took a look at its face.
The binoculars shattered on a rock as a scream pierced the night.
