(13)-Dark Thoughts.
As Tommy walked through the neighborhood of his suburban street, he reflected on the day's strange occurrences. While doing so, he observed a group of kids walking down the street in their goofy store-bought costumes, carrying their Trick-or-Treat pillow sacks, and wondered where it had all started. Halloween. Witches, goblins, pumpkins and black cats. And he had to admit he knew no more about Halloween than he knew about the Boogyman, despite the creature terrorizing him in his nightmares since he was 4 years old.
Then he realized that the celebration must go back to the medieval times when the existence of monsters in the world was acknowledged by both children and grown-ups. He had seen a lot of monster movies and paranormal films/TV-shows and he knew it was possible that monsters, ghosts and witches really existed. But he'd never met any grown-ups that truly believed it and deep down, he knew his parents and the school counselor didn't believe it themselves. But what had changed since the medieval ages? The times when grown-ups knew and believed that monsters were real. Had he ever known anything truly monster-related? Except for Miss Sherman's math tests, Tommy couldn't think of a thing.
Yes, there was one thing. Something genuinely monstrous had happened in this very town 15 years ago...in this very neighborhood on Halloween night-1963. There was no other way to describe the horror of a sweet little 6-year old boy stabbing his 17-year old sister until she was dead. That was monstrous. There was no other word for it.
Tommy soon arrived at his house and saw that his parents' car was not in the drive-way, indicating that one of them was not home. He walked up the steps, onto the porch, opened the door, went inside, and closed the door afterwards. "Hi, i'm home from school."
"Hi, Tommy." Came the voice of Stephanie from inside the kitchen.
Tommy went into the kitchen where he saw his mother standing by the counter, making candy-apples. "What are you doing?"
"Making candy-apples for the Trick-or-Treaters. Don't worry, i'll make sure to save two for you and Logan." Stephanie said.
"Thanks, Mom. Uh, where's Dad, by the way?" Tommy said.
"He's still at his job. He had to work an extra shift today. Don't worry, he'll be home in time before Laurie gets here. How was your first day of therapy? Did it help any?" Stephanie said.
"Yeah, it did. The therapist helped me to see that monsters don't exist." Tommy said. He knew this wasn't true, as he had seen the Boogyman outside his school and saw the creature follow him for a brief moment on his way home in a brown station wagon. But what did it matter if he voiced these fears to his mother? Much like his father, his mother would shoot down every fearful thought of the Boogyman he'd voiced into existence since he was 4 years old with the assurance that the Boogyman and monsters didn't exist. There was no reason to think that this time would be any different. His Dad always told him that he was a man. And he was a man. A very brave man. And he needed to handle this problem on his own like a very brave man should. Not running to his parents, asking them to protect him from the dark and the monsters that lurked in it.
"That's good to know. I'm sure your Dad will be real proud of you." Stephanie said.
"Mom...have you ever been afraid of monsters?" Tommy asked.
Stephanie stopped working on the candy-apples and looked at Tommy. "That's quite a question. Well...well, i was afraid of monsters in my closet when i was little, like ages 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. I outgrew it once i turned 10, of course, but-"
"So you believed that monsters were real at some point in your life." Tommy said, cutting his mother off.
"Well...yeah, but...i've never been afraid of monsters in my grown-up years, if that's what you're getting at." Stephanie said.
"I think it is." Tommy said. "What about the awful stuff that happened in the old Myers house?"
"You're certainly thinking some dark thoughts today, young man." Stephanie said.
"I know." Tommy said.
"But it's interesting that you mentioned it. If you watched the News, you'd understand why." Stephanie said.
"Huh?" Tommy asked.
"Yes, you see...the Myers case was mentioned on the Haddonfield News the other day while you were at school." Stephanie said.
"It was?" Tommy asked.
"Uh-huh. A male News anchor started out reminding everyone that Halloween was coming up this week and he said some real interesting things about the origins of Halloween. About how it goes back to festivals and warding off monstrous creatures way back in the day." Stephanie explained.
"What does that have to do with the awful stuff that happened in the Myers house?" Tommy asked.
"Well, the anchor man said that the Myers case, which happened on Halloween, reminds us that bad people still exist in the world today. He said that like everything else, we've tried to de-odorize criminal activity and put it in a bright new package and you can buy it at the store for five or six dollars. Then along comes something like the Myers case and...we're left with our mouths open, looking into the...What did he call it? Oh, yeah. The minds of criminals. Maybe that's why bad people exist. To keep us aware of the criminal side of human nature. And maybe you oughta get ready to go bike-riding through the neighborhood with Logan so you can get back here, get your costume on and get Trick-or-Treating out of the way before Laurie gets here." Stephanie said.
"Thanks, Mom, that's real interesting. What you said." Tommy said.
"Yeah, right." Stephanie said, not believing her son's words.
"No, i really mean it." Tommy assured.
"Are you sure you're not coming down with something?" Stephanie asked.
"No, just a minor case of the spooks. But i guess that's to be expected. I mean, it is Halloween after all." Tommy said. He exited the kitchen, went past the dining-room, and headed upstairs.
...
Tommy entered his room and made a B-line for his window to look out at the neighborhood for a bit before Logan arrived for them to go biking together. The his eyes went wide with shock and fear. He was there. Outside, on the front lawn, was the Boogyman, who he had seen outside his school and briefly followed him in a brown station wagon as he left school for the day. He stood there looking up at the boy's window. His face was flour white, his hair was brown, and his eyes were completely black. The texture of his skin was rubbery-looking, but it was still impossible. Impossible to tell if he was wearing a mask.
Until this moment, Tommy had had a sneaking suspicion he was seeing things or that it might be some immature teenager or grown-up playing a prank on him. If ever there was a day or time for playing pranks, Halloween was it. But no. This person was different. He was taller than any of the teens and grown-ups the kid had seen in the neighborhood or around town and there was something about the way he just stood there, staring, instead of taking off his mask, revealing himself, and confirming that the joke was over, the way any normal prankster would. And this supposed person was so illusive. If one looked at him, he was there, but if they blinked, he was gone. And that station wagon. Tommy had never seen it around and he and the other kids knew every car and other vehicle in town for sure. He had noticed some kind of symbol on the driver-door earlier when he was at school. Next time he saw the station wagon, he would look at it carefully or try to get the license-plate number. The way a brave man should. But now...now he was gone.
Tommy then moved away from the window and paced around the room, wondering what to do. Thinking the Boogyman was back outside, the 8-year old boy went back over to it to catch him off guard, but...he was still gone. He began to doubt his senses.
"Tommy! Logan's here with another boy named Timmy!" Came the shouting voice of Stephanie from downstairs, making Tommy jump as if a shot-gun had gone off at his feet.
"Coming!" Tommy shouted before rushing out of his room to head downstairs and leave with Logan and the other boy that was with him.
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