{"id":44,"date":"2022-10-31T19:04:34","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T19:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/?p=44"},"modified":"2022-10-31T19:04:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T19:04:34","slug":"halloween-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"Halloween 2022<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I awake on the couch, unaware of the hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually rising, I see moonlight coming in the front windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time for my annual Halloween walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding a sweater, putting on shoes, I anticipate the cool pleasant evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children may still be out, but perhaps it\u2019s too late. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It makes no difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as I open my door, the breeze brings change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things are not as they were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The street is my street, but the glow from the lamps is odd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yellowish, like gaslamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one is about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I step from my porch and set out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All is eerily silent around me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My feet crunch leaves, and I hear my breath.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sudden gust brings paper curling around my ankle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I bend to grasp it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In charcoal scrawl, a line of doggerel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Home awaits, but you must win it;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Find it first, and then get in it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly, all light is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 A dark cloud must have covered the moon, but what of the lamps?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In blackness I stumble on, the crunch beneath me the only sound, except my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, the cloud passes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am on a hill, above a valley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stones and dead trees here and there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A distant yowling, growing closer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owooo! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like a wolf \u2013 there are no wolves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What must I win to; what must I find? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My home must be behind me, but I dread looking back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is this hillside? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How have I come here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, the darkness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another cloud, perhaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the blackness I see nothing, but then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two bright green dashes, near my feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light returns again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a cat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black, of course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My guide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know how I know this.
It brushes my legs once, then sets off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the light returned, I saw I was in the valley below the hill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trees loomed darkly overhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their dead branches splintered the moonlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had stopped feeling the breeze, but I could hear it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the cat, I treaded over leaves and stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dry streambeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than leaves crunching down there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, the Fantasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dark again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cloud, moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dimmer light, and I am not alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rank upon rank of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arms raised, heads lifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skeletons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their bones gleam whitely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dark returns, but I can see the bones, phosphorescent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am paralyzed, but my guide strides through them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home awaits, but you must win it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light returns, dimmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I start again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My arms brush them, but I feel nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their heads turn as I pass, so close they could bite me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or kiss me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dark again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s even dimmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I begin to know where I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I begin to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see it ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cat nuzzles it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before it, the fresh turned earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find it first, and then get in it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t feel the damp or the cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The light had almost faded away, anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I awake on the couch, unaware of the hour. Eventually rising, I see moonlight coming in the front windows. It\u2019s time. Time for my annual Halloween walk. Finding a sweater, putting on shoes, I anticipate the cool pleasant evening. Children may still be out, but perhaps it\u2019s too late.  It makes no difference. As soon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45,"href":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/45"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalandabsurd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}