Halloween inspired short story

He was about ready to burst with excitement. Jack was getting ready for the best night of his life. He still couldn't believe Candace had agreed to go out with him. He'd been trying to ask her out for years and finally got up the courage to ask her this past Wednesday. She'd said yes almost immediately. Afterward, it was everything he could do not to jump up and do a fist pump. or pass out. at least until she was out of sight and earshot. He finished brushing his unruly ginger hair back from his face and made sure there was no food stuck in obvious places in his braces. He was hoping to get as far as second base tonight, and he wanted to be ready. Contrary to the teasing from his friends, he'd been on dates before, but never with a cheerleader with an awesome body. Who cares if it was a pity date? A date was a date. They had also teased him about the fact that her last boyfriend had disappeared, calling her a black widow and applying other less than imaginative labels. Her previous flame was the quarterback of the football team and had not been seen in months. No one knew what happened to him. He shook that thought out of his mind and tried to mentally prepare himself for his date.

Candace slipped her up dress over her hips and pulled the zipper up the side. She pulled her sandals onto her feet and put the final touches on her hair and makeup. Eyes as yellow as her blond hair stared back at her from the mirror. She dabbed a little bit of perfume on her neck and wrists and blew out a puff of air she'd been holding in her chest. Tonight was her date with Jack. He'd been bugging her for months, years really, but it had really started to bother her recently. Over the last few weeks, he'd been following her around like a forlorn puppy, asking to carry her bag to practice, her lunch tray and anything else he could do to just talk to her. Even if she was interested in him, which she wasn't in the least, his desperation made him extremely unattractive. She finally agreed to go out with him to end this annoying chapter of her life. He had finally arrived pick her up and knocked on the door. She heard him enter and her dad and brothers were giving him the business in the front room. Her mother had never been a part of her life. She'd been gone since Candace was small. Her father and brothers were very protective of her as the only girl, and truthfully, she liked it that way.

She walked into the living room and everyone fell quiet and looked at her as she entered.
"You look great, Candace. Are you ready to go?" asked Jack.
"Yeah. Let's go, Jack. Dad, I'm sure I'll be home on time. In fact, I promise." She cut his admonition short before he could say it out loud.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't." her eldest brother quipped.
She rolled her eyes and dragged Jack out onto the porch. The full moon shone brightly. She shivered slightly and walked through the shadows it cast on the sidewalk to Jack's car. He opened the passenger door for her as she expected, and she experienced the first stab of guilt. He really was working hard for this date. She steeled her resolve. She couldn't have him following her around like he had been.

He took her on a typical high school date. They ate dinner at the local hangout and then saw a movie. It was October, so they decided on a slasher flick. He made the choice hoping if she was frightened, she would jump and hide her face in his chest or shoulder, or at the very least, press herself against his arm. In actuality, she seemed to thrive on the gore as the characters were picked off, in increasingly fantastic fashion.

At the end of the movie, it was Candace who suggested they drive up to Sandy Mountain. Sandy Mountain was where all the kids went to make out. As he drove, he became increasingly aroused and became anxious he would get too excited too fast. He needn't have worried. As soon as he parked and turned off the lights, she pounced on him. Her hands worked inside his shirt as her tongue lashed into his mouth. He tasted blood as she mashed his lips into his braces, and that only seemed to fuel her excitement. His hands found the hem of her shirt, moved under it, and his hands cupped her breast over the satiny material of her bra. He squeezed and kneaded and pinched and she seemed to lose herself, growling as he worked his hand under the material to touch her skin.

Her hands came up to his neck, and she was scratching him as she clutched at him. He was too aroused to care. It happened in an instant. Candace snapped his neck back quickly, he almost didn't hear the snap of the breaking bone. She drew her hand across his neck opened a large gash with her fingernail. He couldn't feel it because his spinal cord had been severed, but warm, rich blood flowed down his arm and chest and pooled in his lap in the bucket seat. His head drooped awkwardly against the window as his unsupported muscles failed and the blood drained from him. As his life dimmed, he saw a dense shadow in the woods, a pair of eyes reflecting the moonlight. With his final breath, he rolled his eyes to the passenger seat and saw Candace was gone.

****************

Candace padded into her living room just before midnight. "See, I told you I'd be home on time." she said with a smirk. 

"Did you finish your date?" her dad inquired, his yellow eyes gleaming.

"Yes of course. He tried to get fresh with me at Sandy Mountain. You'll find him there."

Her padded out of the room, sniffing the air as he did. Her brothers followed him single file, and they all disappeared into the night.

*****************

The next morning, the police found Jack's car on Sandy Mountain, covered in blood, but there was no sign of Jack. Local law enforcement said the amount of blood they found in the car ensured Jack would not have survived whatever happened. His body was never found. They found the quarterback's letter jacket in the trunk of Jack's car. It was supposed Jack was responsible for the quarterback's disappearance-an act of jealousy, and a vigilante exacted vengeance for it. Due to lack of hard evidence, including either body, nothing was ever confirmed. Over the years, there were others, mostly young men, who disappeared in that area. It was assumed they were either hunting mishaps, or a bear or a very large wolf was responsible, even though no animal or den was ever found close by. Only Candace and her family knew the truth. 

Am I cursed?

I included this picture from my husband's recent hunting trip. That's right, a bull snake. A wild one-not a pet. IN THE JEEP! Yes, it was somebody's fault for leaving the door open, but still.

Now that your skin is sufficiently crawling, I can say this: I think someone is trying to tell us something. In the last 5 years or so, we've had more than our fair share of run-ins with snakes. Ok, we live in the country, so that allows for more than the average, but I still think it's been excessive-some were harmless, but some were venomous. For example, about 5 years ago, we had a rattler coiled up in the darkest corner of the yard by the house. Turns out, he had a friend under the house with him.

Then about 4 years ago, the first bull snake fried himself on our transformer. at 11pm. on a weeknight where it was still 100 degrees. Thank goodness the electric company fixed it by 2am.

Shortly after that, I'd say probably a month, we were walking at the outlet mall in San Marcos and ran across a snake on the sidewalk in front of one of the stores. Same kind as at our house-a bull snake, I think. Incidentally, the security guard at the mall wouldn't do anything about it, so Clint got one of those expandable hanger things they use to hang clothes up high and took it out to the field behind the mall. He looked like the pied piper with all the people following to get a look at the snake.

About a month after that, there was another bull snake stretched out on top of the chain link fence in our back yard. Through an unfortunate series of events, Clinton ended up jousting with it in the front yard with a leaf rake. Quality entertainment for the neighbors, for sure! That was a really bad season.

The next spring, we were able to hear the snake that took up residence in our attic sliding around. He's been up there since. Fun. NOT!

Pretty much every year since then, we've had a snake blow out our transformer. This year, we had 2.

We hosted a crawfish boil earlier this summer where a guest killed a little rattler in our garage.

Since they excavated the toll road behind us, we've killed several rattlers, a couple per year, by running them over with the car down the road, close to the creek.

Then the snake in the jeep, above.

We could get a barn cat to take care of the snakes around the house. However, the neighbors dogs would see to it that cat didn't last long since they run loose in the neighborhood. Or sulphur. Or any number of things you can do to your house to make it less desirable for snakes to visit or live. That begs the question, though, why do snakes find us EVERYWHERE? I'm convinced there is no solution. We are just plagued by snakes and there's nothing we can do about it. Just call me Medusa (without the whole 'turning to stone' phenom).

Transition and new beginnings

In June, I made a rather abrupt transition from working full-time to full-time child-rearing and homemaking. I'm not going to lie-I'm not that good at being a full-time mom. I get frustrated easily and am not good at being consistent ALL day. Plus, I miss my work friends, the company, and the work itself. I miss the time it afforded me away from household chores and responsibilities (even if I still had to look at the piles of laundry and listen to the baby's screams and Colton's attitude because I worked in my bedroom.) I'm making progress, but it's been a little rough in places. You know, like the place where you haven't had a second to yourself in three days because the hubby has worked through dinner/bath/bedtime, and then he says he's leaving for a weekend with the boys (adult friends, not our kids) at the end of the month. I've slammed a few doors, shed a few tears and would give up just about anything to shower or potty or eat a full meal without interruption or at least while it's still warm. In the end, though, it's been the most rewarding job I can think of, even if it is also the most stressful. My career has been in education and also customer service, so the fact that I think it's more stressful than that is saying something. The extra stress is worth it to see my happy, growing children, even if I want to strangle them sometimes. C'mon, though-let's be real. Who hasn't entertained the idea of strangling their employees, co-workers or boss at some point?? I am so glad I now get to have conversations and take nature hikes with my 3 year old and sing with my 7 month old. Colton has learned how to push my buttons, but he's also learned a few other things from me too. He may not prefer to perform on command, but he knows several letters and numbers by sight, how to use scissors and beads, and "reads" to Lincoln at bedtime. I missed a lot of that with Colton by working nights starting at 6 months of age. I was so tired for most of his life, I couldn't enjoy him as much as I wanted to. Now, if I miss a couple of hours of sleep overnight, I don't have to worry as much as if I also had to juggle a job. I take things in stride a lot better and am infinitely less stressed than I was for the one month I tried to go back to work after Lincoln was three months old. Clinton is less stressed too.With him working days and me working nights, we had zero together time, and almost no social life or free time. It was starting to grate on both of our nerves. Now we have the freedom to enjoy our kids and enjoy each other. Clinton has also commenced taking classes again so I am alone one night a week.

With all that extra free time (?!) I am starting to look for something more. I believe after the middle of the month, I will begin working on Christmas presents and plans. I know that seems early, but everything takes twice as much time when juggling two kids. I never knew it could take me 2 hours to cook a simple dinner or bake a cake, but with Colton's help and Lincoln's distraction, it is the norm now. Plus, sometimes, things that are finished or almost finished either get taken apart or ruined by said help and distraction later in the process. I am also thinking of planting a fall garden in the next week or so, some pumpkins and such.That is to say, I will plant a garden in the spring instead, since I'm pretty sure I'm not going to actually get a garden in the ground in time for fall. It's a nice thought though. With next year's crops, I'd like to do more canning and freezing so I have some of our stuff leftover for next fall/winter. All of these things, however, require no new skills. After the first of the year, I may try something I've never done before, like knitting or crocheting (I have crocheted before, but only simple stuff) or some more complicated sewing than curtains or skirts. I have not yet decided what new project I should learn. I have enjoyed cooking, so I might take a class to learn more about specialty culinary arts or something. I could do a little bit of all those things too. Maybe I'll scrap all that and work on writing. Who knows what I'll eventually decide? Many parents, including myself fear losing their personal identity once they have kids. Maybe I'll find a new one I like better. Maybe I'll just add another one I like as much as the "old me" to make me more well-rounded. Either way, I am excited to start getting reacquainted with myself and continue growing as a person and a wife, mother, and homemaker. Here's to the next chapter in my life!