Halloween by EdenAdvance
Author's notes: Just a little story, since it is Halloween today. Not that we celebrate it over here, so I have plenty of time, to write something. I have absolutely no idea what month it was when Devon and Friends stopped at the Biodome, so I'm assuming that they were there in October. This will probably be the worst thing I've written :-)
Disclaimer: I don't own these people, but I wish I did, just loaning them, when I'm done playing, I will return them safely in one piece. (I hope) So don't sue me, there's no money here. I also don't own Halloween (the tradition, not the story), wouldn't know who does. All I own is my name *sniff*.
All characters are owned by Amblin, however, the story is all mine. (Oh look, I own something more than my name)
Devon looked at the blue sky. A few months ago, a blue sky promised a warm day, now it promised a very cold one. Shivering, she entered the Biodome. Oh, how she missed the stable temperature on the stations. She never would've expected days this cold.
Uly and True were running around the Biodome, having given up their VR-games. During their trek across the planet, they hadn't had much time to play, but now they had plenty of time. They had played them all, during their stay in the Biodome. Now they were bored and did what most children did when they were bored: teasing eachother, running around. It was fun. Their parents, however, didn't see the fun of it. The dome was already small, for a group as big as theirs, they didn't need two kids running around, making a mess of things. They understood that Uly and True were bored and Devon had asked Yale to find old games for them to play. So yesterday they had done hide-and-seek all day, but in the end it became just as boring as VR-games.
"Yale, have you found anything new?" Devon asked, looking at Uly. She had already told him at least five times that he should stop, but it lasted for only a few minutes.
"Yes, but it's not a game actually. It may be something for the entire group, although it's a celebration for children." He said.
"Well, what is it Yale?" Devon asked.
"I've counted the days we've been on this planet. And I've found out that, by the old Earth-calendar, today is October 31st. Halloween." Yale said, looking at Devon, waiting for the question he knew was coming.
"What's that, Yale?"
He smiled, knowing this was going to be a very long day.
"Halloween is a feast celebrated on the evening of the 31st day of October. It originates from the ancient Druids, who believed that on that night Saman, lord of the dead, called forth hosts of the evil spirits. Now, the Druids lit candles, in a way to ward of those evil spirits. Among the Celts, Halloween was used to examining the future. They also believed that their dead visited their 'earthly' homes on this night. Of course, when the Romans captured Britain, they changed the feast, using it for their goddess Pomona, she was goddess of the fruit of trees. Now over the years, Halloween changed, since it became a feast for children, receiving candy, dressing up and playing games. But they still light fires, the concept of ghosts is still there, and the fruit of trees is used as well. When the people moved to the stations, they forgot about it, having no time to celebrate whatsoever." Yale explained.
"So, you think the children will like this?" Devon asked.
"Of course, Danziger could tell some ghost-tale, Bess could help making costumes, but of course, some rags would work as well, and I will research Halloween further."
"Okay, I will get the group together. And do we tell the kids too?" With Yale's nod, she got up to get the group together.
After Devon had told the group what Yale had come up with, they started discussing it.
After a while they came up with a great plan for that night. Since there wasn't enough time to make the costumes, they settled with games and ghost stories. Since Uly and True weren't supposed to know what games, they had to go search for wood with Zero and Yale, while the rest of the group got to work.
It was getting darker and the children weren't back yet. Devon was getting worried. She had been checking the doors for at least an hour. Danziger got up and walked over to her.
"Relax, Dev. Yale and Zero are with them, nothing will happen. They're probably..." he was interrupted when the door opened. "Just on their way back." He finished, but Devon had already ran to Uly and had him in her arms.
"What took you so long?" she asked Yale, who was carrying a bag with contents.
"I've found something else about Halloween. It seems that they used to light candles in fruit called pumpkins. Since we couldn't get them, I asked Bess for some of the fruit we found a while back, and we picked up some small hollow logs and we carved a face in them. I'm sorry if you got worried, it wasn't my intention." Yale explained.
"I understand." Devon took the bag from Yale and emptied it on the table.
"But, Yale, what will we light? We don't have candles."
"No need to worry." Devon looked as Julia walked towards them. "Yale contacted me on gear, asking me if I could find something that would be able to be a alternative for candles. And I've found something. It's actually very similar to a candlestick." She explained.
When Devon looked at her, not fully understanding what she was talking about, she explained further.
"I research the chemical build of a candlestick and, well, I asked Alonzo if he could ask the Terrians." She said with a smile. "And they actually knew what we were asking." She showed Yale and Devon what the Terrians had brought them.
"Amazing, this is very similar to a candlestick indeed." Yale remarked.
"So, now we're ready to begin." Devon said and left to gather the group once more.
"Okay, listen up. This is a story from ancient times. People were still living on Earth, and they enjoyed listening, and watching these stories." Danziger said and he looked around. They were sitting in the Dome. It was very dark, except where they had placed a 'pumpkin' from either wood or Bess's fruits. Since Danziger and Alonzo knew most horror stories, they had agreed to tell some of them to the children, as long as they didn't get to scary.
"A long time ago..." he started the story. "there was a house, it had been abandoned for a long time. But then a couple moved in. The next morning, when the couple woke up, the wife noticed red spots on the wall. She cleaned it, but the next day, it had returned. Not knowing what else to do, she cleaned it again and again. But every time it returned, and one night, they heard things moving." Suddenly a table was pushed away. Danziger smiled, he and Alonzo had discussed this and for effects, Alonzo had given the table a push. He could feel True moving closer to him and Uly was doing the same between Yale and Devon. He continued, "They contacted ghost-hunters and they said they would have to leave the house alone for a few days, to see what happened. So after a few days, the couple returned, with thee ghost-hunters, only to discover that the entire wall was covered in blood. The house was abandoned again, but now forever. No one ever figured out what was happening in the house." Danziger finished. Everybody looked at him, caught up in the story.
"Okay, everybody, children. I believe it is time for some fun?" Yale said. The children quickly got up, already forgotten about the story, and both got a bag from Yale.
"Now, it's time for trick-or-treat. Everybody has to put something in the bag for the children." Yale explained. After they passed everybody, they quickly looked at the contents.
"Semolina bars!" True and Uly remarked at the same time, causing the adults to laugh.
"Sorry, but we didn't had anything else. But there fruit in the bag too." Bess said.
Then it was Alonzo's turn to tell a story, this one about old legends, about people who suddenly went missing, only to be found dead later, killed by evil spirits or ghosts. The rest of the evening was spent, playing games or scaring eachother...
The End.
Endnotes: All the info about Halloween was taken from an encyclopedia, are mistakes are my own. The story Danziger tells was told to me once by a friend. I have to tell that it scared the hell out of me. All mistakes in remembering it are my own as well. Alonzo's story... well, it could be anything, but the idea came from Urban Legends. Also thanks to Percy, who was so kind on telling me again what you do on Halloween.