Katie

Katie grew more and more excited. It was Halloween once again and her favourite time of year. She couldn't wait until it got dark so that she could go out; she had been looking forward to this for such a long time.

Finally, the sun began to set. She watched it through the window as it disappeared behind the buildings at the other end of the gardens at the rear of the house. The light began to fade rapidly and the darkness descended, removing the last vestiges of the day. It was time.

She walked through the dark wooden front door of the house and down the overgrown garden path to the gate. She quickly stepped through it onto the sidewalk and turned right to head down to Main Street.

Setting off, she smiled as she travelled. She watched the other children 'Trick or Treating' and mostly being given sweets by the neighbouring residents. Katie didn't Trick or Treat herself, but loved to watch the others doing it. She stood beneath an old tree and watched a while longer.

She continued on, down past the pretty, brightly coloured houses. Lots of them had candlelit pumpkins outside and decorations at the windows. She felt so happy that she began to skip along until she finally reached Main Street. At the junction she turned right. The streetlights here were bright and she was surprised at how many stores were still open at this time in the evening. She smiled with glee because it gave her a chance to see the beautiful things for sale in the windows.

Katie stopped to look and marvel at so many things, many of which she simply didn't understand the purpose of, but they looked so pretty.

As she reached the end of a row of businesses she met a young couple as they strolled around the corner towards her, arm in arm. The girl let out an involuntary shriek and took a step back away from Katie. The boy laughed at his partner and said to Katie, "Hey, that's really cool kid. Nice outfit. It's really very scary. You deserve to win a prize."

The girl on his arm grinned sheepishly, but still seemed nervous. Katie gave them both a sweet smile, waved goodbye and continued on her way.

The town had changed a lot. The shoe store that she used to enjoy looking at was now selling videos. Some of the pictures on the packaging frightened her, so she moved quickly on. The lovely old grocery store on the corner had been pulled down and replaced by a newer, more modern property with large, brightly lit windows. The food sat in long rows upon the shelves, stretching back away from the storefront.

At the end of Main Street Katie came to the old Picture House. It looked sad and forlorn. The signs displaying the last film were broken and the neon lights were off. The paint on the doors was peeling and the windows boarded up. The concrete structure was damp and crumbling. It had closed down and was now derelict. Nobody seemed to think that the building was worth using, or keeping, or even demolishing. It just stood there, gradually decaying. Katie remembered seeing lots of movies there, including her favourite film; Snow White.

As a group of people crossed the road to the other side Katie followed them, she then turned to walk back along Main Street.

Walking east, she shortly came across a small group of teenagers gathered at the next corner. They looked at her and moved aside to let her pass through them. She heard their voices as she walked away. Katie appreciated their admiring comments, although she wondered about them a little as they all seemed to be dressed very oddly. Each of them wore very dark clothes and make up. Most of them appeared to be adorned with bits of metal.

Katie felt sad now, because she was coming to the end of her walk. She followed another group of people as they crossed to the North side of Main and then turned the corner into the street in which her family's house stood.

She walked back up to the dark building, once again admiring the pretty decorations on all of the other houses.

Turning through the gate she walked up the path to the front door. She stepped through it, upset that Halloween was over for another year.

Katie had always loved Halloween. Always. Ever since the baby-sitter had put the razor against her throat and cut her from ear to ear.