Morton’s Halloween Visitor
The night was still; the streets of Watford are filled with kids in costumes, ringing doorbells, and receiving candy.
“Trick or treat”
Mostly everyone gave out candy to the kids, except for Morton. A stubborn old man who hated Halloween. He locked his doors every night and left a massive sign on his door written in sharpie that said ‘GO AWAY.’
The kids called him madman Morton because he was like the town’s crazy man who believed in crazy superstitions, especially ones about Halloween.
Morton heard a knock at his door, annoyed he limped over to answer it. He opened the door; he stood a tall slim man with a bald head and long silver beard. His clothes were faded, and his boots were scuffed up and dirty.
“Can’t you read?”
He pointed to the sign.
“I can’t find my mommy.”
He looked at the little girl in the princess costume. She stared at him in sadness, hoping he would help her. She was adorable, too cute, and young to leave all alone.
Morton sighed.
“Okay, let’s go find your mommy.”
The little girl smiled and skipped to the front gate waiting for Morton to catch up.
He noticed the girl had a stain on her dress, and he assumed it was chocolate. He went back inside to grab his coat, but when he walked outside, the little girl was gone.
“Now, where did you run off to?”
Morton looked up and down the street, seeing all the kids passing by but didn’t see anybody that looked like the little girl.
Morton’s neighbors noticed him looking confused and asked if he was okay.
“Mr. Morton, are you alright?”
“Did you see a little girl in a bright pink princess costume?”
His neighbors shook their heads no and proceeded to go inside.
Morton didn’t understand where she could have gone that fast and why she would leave without him.
He decided to go for a walk and see if he would see her safely with her parents.
Morton was uncomfortable walking past everyone in costumes. Halloween was troubling for him; he never liked it as a kid. The whole idea of dressing up like monsters and begging strangers for candy was unsettling for him.
He stopped at the police station to ask if they had found a missing little girl.
Once inside, he asked the deputy about any lost little girls; The deputy said no. Morton felt responsible for the little girl’s safety and continued to ask the other officers.
“She’s about this big, pink princess dress, a stain on the front, brown curly hair, and holding a pink basket full of candy.”
Unfortunately, no lost kids showed up there. The officers looked confused, as if Morton spoke a different language. He didn’t want to cause any more confusion, so he left and headed toward the park. He figured maybe some kids were there that saw her.
After the short walk, he arrived at the park, but no one was there. He sat on the nearby bus bench across the street; next to him sat a woman sobbing. Uncomfortable and hesitant to ask if she was okay, he managed to work up the nerve after a few minutes of hearing her crying.
“Miss, are you alright?”
The woman lifted up her head and wiped her tears.
“Yea…. every year on Halloween…. I just… miss my daughter.”
“Did something happen?”
“Yes..she died”
Morton rubbed his hands on his legs. They started sweating from the awkward conversation.
“I’m sorry.”
“They never did catch the guy”
“Oh…”
“Look, this is her”
She showed him the picture she had been holding.
Morton gasped.
It was the little girl he had seen earlier.
“This is your daughter!”
The woman looked at Morton, confused.
Morton immediately got up from the seat and walked as fast as he could home.
He slammed his door and locked it behind him; he grabbed all the salt from his cabinet and poured it at every door and window.
“I fucking hate Halloween.”
Soon as he was covering the last window in the living room, he heard another knock at his door.
“Go away!”
“I need to find my mommy.”
Morton froze in fear.
“Please help me find my mommy.”
“No!”
She kept knocking on the door, then started banging. Morton grabbed the rock salt-filled shotgun and pointed it at the door.
“Last year was fucking vampires, now ghosts! I’m moving out of this town!”
