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They took off running, not
stopping until they were at the bottom of the mountain. Each of them broke
off a chunk of the sweet candy corn to take home. “Do you think she’ll
stick to her part of the deal? I can’t believe how gross that was. Mr.
Death actually thought she was beautiful.” Poe stuck his finger down his
throat.
“He’s no catch himself,”
Drake said.
“She thought he was nice.
Mr. Death nice? Weirdest couple I’ve ever seen.” Prysm giggled and turned
to the werewolves. “Conri, Leeloo, you can go home now. Give Candi a big
kiss for me and tell her we miss her. You can come to our house for a
visit any time you want. I imagine you’ll have to stay near your cave from
now on, except on Halloween night. I’ll miss you both too.” She hugged the
werewolves.
“Stop being so sappy,
Prysm,” Shayde said. “Thanks for your help.” He shook Conri and Leeloo’s
paw.
“It was fun going for a
ride on your back.” Drake nodded thanks to the two of them.
Poe stroked Leeloo’s fur.
“You’re so nice and clean and smell good. Anytime you want some shampoo,
come to my house. I guess we’ll have to pay the pet store back for what
they borrowed last night, but I’m sure either my mom or their mom will pay
for it. They will be happy when they hear what we did and how we saved
Misty Valley.” After hugging both werewolves, the kids bid them farewell.
Both creatures let out a loud roar and ran into the forest. “Well.” Poe
took a deep breath. “I guess the only other thing we have to do is make it
back to our houses without being attacked by a zombie.”
“Or a vampire,” Prysm
added.
Shayde put his hand on
Prysm’s chest to stop her. “We’re going ahead of you guys. You might be
heroes, but Drake and I can run faster than you two runts. See you at
home.” The two older boys disappeared.
“Look at the sky, Poe. It
will be sunrise in a few minutes. Let’s run. I’d like to be home in time
to see my mom’s face when all of this changes.” Prysm grabbed Poe’s hand.
“Come on. I’ll race you.”
Poe chased his friend
through the trees, jumping over logs and fallen tree trunks, darting
around gigantic boulders and leaping over the blood river. When they got
to their street, they watched in surprise as the pumpkins sank into piles
of mush. “Wow! This is unbelievable.” They reached their front doors.
“There’s Bella. She’s waiting for you. Talk to you later, Prysm.” Poe
burst through the door. “Mom! Dad! Come and see. Quick. It’s amazing.”
Mr. and Mrs. Merlin rushed
down the stairs and stood at the front room window. “You did it, Poe! The
grass is turning green. The leaves on the trees are golden and rust and
orange and red and lime green. No more black cats, no more bats. Poe!” She
wrapped her arms around her son. Bruja came running up from the basement,
leaping at Poe and licking his face.
Mr. Merlin pointed at the
sky. “It’s blue and the clouds are as white as snow. This is marvelous.
The curse is over! How did this happen? Where have you been and why are
you coming home at six AM?
Poe smiled. “Boy, do I
have a story to tell you.” As they sat on the couch and listened to their
son, people all over Misty Valley came out of their homes to enjoy the
rainbow of color around them. Children ran about and played with their
cats. They marveled at the autumn foliage growing on the mountainsides.
Instead of seeing the haunted house at the top, all they could see was the
sun’s rays pouring down on their valley.
The rivers flowed once
again with crystal blue water. The cemetery went back to normal with all
the headstones in the proper place. The curse was broken. Nobody knew how
it had happened or why it had happened; they were relieved it was over.
When they sat around the
dinner table that night, Mr. Merlin grinned. “Did you hear there is going
to be a wedding at Misty Valley Old Folks Home?”
“No. Who?” Poe swallowed a
bite of mashed potatoes.
Mr. Merlin continued. “It
seems that Witch Lilith has decided to hang up her broom for good and is
moving in with Mr. Death after the wedding.”
“Ew! Gross. They’re
getting married?”
“Poe, what a horrible
thing to say. We should be glad they’ve found happiness together. Maybe
we’ll get an invitation.” Mrs. Merlin giggled and finished her slice of
meatloaf. Mr. Merlin and Poe started laughing, thinking of the odd couple
together.
From then on, Misty Valley
celebrated Halloween on October 31st. Only on that one night a
year did the zombies, vampires, Frankenstein monsters and witches roam the
streets and they were all children dressed in costumes. |
