|
Halloween Stories
Strangers
A man and a woman happened to sit next to one
another on a train. The woman took out a book and began reading.
The train stopped at half a dozen stations, but she never looked
up once.
The man watched her for awhile, then asked,
"What are you reading?"
"A ghost story," she said. "It's
very good, very spooky."
"Do you believe in ghosts?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," she replied. "There
are ghosts everywhere."
"I don't believe in them," he said.
"It's just a lot of superstition. In all my years, I've
never seen a ghost, not one."
"Haven't you?" the woman said ...
and vanished.
The
Death Waltz
Years ago, when all beyond the Missouri was a
waste, the military post at Fort Union, New Mexico, was the only
spot for miles around where any of the graces of social life
could be discovered. Among the ladies at the post was a certain
gay young woman, the sister-in-law of a captain, who enjoyed the
variety and spice of adventure to be found there, and enjoyed,
too, the homage that the young officers paid to her, for women
who could be loved or liked were not many in that wild country. A
young lieutenant proved especially susceptible to her charms, and
devoted himself to her in the hope that he should ultimiately win
her hand. His experience with the world was not large enough to
enable him to distinguish between the womanly woman and the
coquette.
One day messengers came dashing into the fort
with news of an Apache outbreak, and a detachment was ordered out
to chase and punish the marauding Indians. The lieutenant was put
in command of the expedition, but before starting he confided his
love to the young woman, who not only acknowledged that she
returned his affection, but promised that if the fortune of war
deprived him of life she would never marry another. As he bade
her good-by he was heard to say, "That is well. Nobody else
shall have you. I will come back and make my claim."
In a few days the detachment came back, but the
lieutenant was missing. It was noticed that the bride-elect
grieved but little for him, and nobody was surpirsed when she
announced her intention of marrying a young man from the East.
The wedding-day arrived. All was gayety at the post, and in the
evening the mess-room was decorated for a ball. As the dance was
in full swing a door flew open with a bang, letting in a draught
of air that made the candles burn dim, and a strange cry, unlike
that of any human creature, sounded through the house. All eyes
turned to the door. In it stood the swollen body of a dead man
dressed in the stained uniform of an officer. The temple was
marked by a hatchet-gash, the scalp was gone, the eyes were wide
open and burned with a terrible light.
Walking to the bride the body drew her from the
arms of her husband who, like the rest of the company, stood as
in a trance, without the power of motion, and clasping her to its
bosom began a waltz. The musicians, who afterward declared that
they did not know what they were doing, struck up a demoniac
dance, and the couple spun around and around, the woman growing
paler and paler, until at last the fallen jaw and staring eyes
showed that life was also extinct in her. The dead man allowed
her to sink to the floor, stood over her for a moment, wrung his
hands as he sounded his fearful cry again, then vanished through
the door.
A few days later a troop of soldiers who had been
to the scene of the Apache encounter returned with the body of
the lieutenant.
The
Call from the Grave
One time there was a little girl whose
grandfather had just died. She has loved her grandfather very
much and she missed him a great deal. He was buried in the
cemetery just a few hundred yards from her house, and she could
see his grave every evening at sunset when she looked from her
bedroom window.
One night her parents were going out and the
babysitter hadn't arrived yet. They knew she was a very reliable
babysitter who would probably arrive just a few minutes later, so
they kissed the girl good-bye and drive off.
Hours passed and the babysitter had not yet come.
The girl began to be afraid.
A storm was brewing outside and thunder and
lightning moved closer and closer to the house. Suddenly there
was a bright flash of lightning without any sound and the power
in the house went off. The wind blew the trees around and
branches broke off, crashing against the house and falling to the
yard. Alone in the dark, the girl became very scared.
Then the phone rang.
The girl went to the phone, hoping it was her
parents. She said hello, and waited. The line seemed dead. Then,
sounding far, far away, a voice came over the phone.
It was her grandfather's voice.
"Don't be afraid, honey. There's nothing to
fear. You'll be safe in the house. The storm will pass over."
Then the phone was silent and dead.
The girl went to bed, calm and happy. She slept
well in spite of the storm.
The parents came home and found their daughter
asleep, and, unwilling to wake her, they left their questions
until the morning. They were horrified when the babysitter called
the next morning to explain that she had been in a wreck at the
leading edge of the storm. She was unhurt, but what had their
daughter done alone in the house?
When they woke her, she told them what had
happened. And when they didn't believe her, she smiled and
pointed out her window to what she had seen the night before.
The phone line from the house was intact out to
the first pole, but then it was broken by fallen limbs, and the
cable drooped into the cemetery.
The end of the broken line lay across her
grandfather's grave.
The
Strange Mass
Marie Cornic, from Brehat, had married a sea
captain, that she loved with all her soul. Unfortunately, by his
profession, he had to spend most of the time away from her. Marie
Cornic spent her nights and days thinking of her absent love. As
soon as he was gone, she shut herself in her home, not accepting
any company other than her mother, who lived with her, and who
even mocked sometimes her love for no other but her husband.
The only time the young woman would leave the
house was the morning, to go to the church, where she attended
all the masses, praying that the Holy Virgin and all the saints
of Brittany would keep watch of her husband and bring him back
healthy and safe to Brehat.
One night, she awoke with a jump, she thought
that she had heard a bell ring.
"Could that be the dawn mass?" she
asked herself.
The bedroom was lit by a vague glow. As it was
winter she took this to be the beginning of the dawn. She rose,
dressed in great haste and hurried to the church.
She was surprised to find the nave full of
people, more surprised to see a visiting priest taking the mass.
"I didn't know it was a special day today.
But why so solemn? I don't remember being told about a special
occasion this week."
Her neighbour was so engrossed in her thoughts
that she didn't hear her words, in any case there was no reply.
The plate was passed round the church carried
round by someone Marie Cornic, didn't recognise, he chanted in a
sad voice:
"For the souls in purgatory, for the souls in purgatory."
When the plate came to her, Marie Cornic fumbled
in her pocket, but in her hurry to reach the church had forgotten
her purse. The man holding the plate rattled it.
"For the souls in purgatory, for the poor
souls in purgatory."
"Goodness, blurted Marie Cornic, I don't
have a penny on me."
"At this mass you do not omit to give for
the souls of the dead."
She turned out her pockets to show they were
empty.
"You must give me something."
"But I have nothing," mumbled Marie, at
her wits end.
"You have your gold wedding ring. Give it
for the dead."
She could not refuse and wept, without the
strength to return home.
When the rector came he was surprised to see one
of his parishioners so early in church.
"Marie Cornic, what are you doing here?
"But I was here at the mass."
"The mass!!... At least you can wait for me
to start."
Marie Cornic, looked about her. The numerous
audience that had filled the church only a moment ago had gone,
there was nobody. Together they searched for her wedding ring and
found it on the altar.
Fifteen days later, Marie Cornic discovered that
she was a widow. Her husband's boat had sunk, the night of the
strange mass, at the same hour that she had given her ring for
the souls of the dead.
The
Bus Stop
A fellow was driving home from work in a
rainstorm. While he waited for a traffic light to change, he saw
a young woman standing along at a bus stop. She had no umbrella
and was soaking wet.
"Are you going toward Farmington?" he
called.
"Yes, I am," she answered.
"Would you like a ride home?"
"I would," she said, and she got in.
"My name is Joanna Finney. Thank you for rescuing me."
"I'm Ed Cox," he said, "and you're
welcome."
On the way they talked and talked. She told him
about her family and her job and where she had gone to school,
and he told her about himself. By the time they got to her house,
the rain had stopped.
"I'm glad it rained," Ed said. "Would
you like to go out tomorrow after work?"
"I'd love to," Joanna replied.
She asked him to meet her at the bus stop, since
it was near her office. They had such a good time, they went out
many times after that. Always they would meet at the bus stop,
and off they would go. Ed liked her more each time he saw her.
But one night when they had a date to go out,
Joanna did not appear. Ed waited at the bus stop for almost an
hour. "Maybe something is wrong," he thought, and he
drove to her house in Farmington.
An older woman answered the door. "I'm Ed
Cox," he said. "Maybe Joanna told you about me. I had a
date with her tonight. We were supposed to meet at the bus stop
near her office. But she didn't show up. Is she alright?"
The woman looked at him as if he had said
something strange. "I am Joanna's mother," she said
slowly. "Joanna isn't here now. But why don't you come in?"
Ed pointed to a picture on the mantel. "That
looks just like her," he said.
"It did once," her mother replied.
"But that picture was taken when she was your age - about
twenty years ago. A few days later she was waiting in the rain at
the bus stop. A car hit her, and she was killed."
| 
