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It was the Halloween night of all nights. The one I had been waiting for. I didn't quite know it yet, but this night was sure to be something to remember. One can do a lot when they're young. Make mistakes... a lot of mistakes. But that's okay. Doing these things helps us learn, even if it takes a while.
My friends have always considered me the rather naive type. I'll just jump into something and not realize the danger of the situation essentially until it's too late. Perfect horror movie cliche. I guess that's why I'm here then. In Salem. I'll be honest with you. I'm not really sure why I'm here. Something happened very recently and well, I can't seem to remember. I'm just glad I at least remember who I am, my family, and my friends. It seems my Long-term memory is in good shape. It's the short-term stuff that I just can't seem to retain. Like the night of the incident... whatever it was. All my parents tell me is that I completely blacked out. No memory, nothing. They won't even tell me what happened, any of the details. Not very helpful, but I imagine it's to protect me or something. They are very careful now about having me be near anything, and I mean ANYTHING, that could be remotely dangerous. Even crossing the road. I remind them, Mom, Dad, I'm literally 23. I can do these things myself. But for whatever reason, it's not enough. They keep a careful watch now. With anything. I'm grateful for them. Sometimes, I just wish I had more freedom. But how?
It was as if an angel heard my prayers. The night of Halloween in 1993 felt like any other night. Except it was the spooky occasion. And my parents were lenient in letting me out of the house. It was rather strange. Their behavior was not like them at all. They seemed completely unconcerned with the potential danger of the haunted night. They knew I was going to be hanging out with Alex and Buffy. They met them before during my off days from college. Mom and Dad knew my friends were down to earth and just really genuine gals. I guess they felt safe with the idea of letting me go out and do things. This was such a relief. It felt like I could breathe without them constantly on me about every little thing I need to do. And for tonight... I need to have fun. So here we are, walking the streets of Salem. Most of the cars were parked and you could see children scrambling left and right from house to house, digging into giant candy bowls and squealing with joy. It makes me wonder if I'll ever have kids. I try not to think too much about that stuff now. Especially after my last relationship. Let's just say the guy was not husband potential. And I, sadly, had to learn the hard way. He broke my heart. Only in it for the feel of the relationship, not the full commitment. Guys kinda get that pass. It's the girls that always get the blame in these things. Girls need to settle down, have the kids, raise the family. Guys can do whatever they want. But it's more than that. I definitely get it now. Who needs full commitment when you're young, right? We're trying new things, discovering ourselves. We don't have to commit to anything yet, even though society makes it seem that way sometimes. Maybe it's just a generational thing. Maybe everyone feels this way sometimes. Who knows.
So there we were, I was a little witch, one of those little purple dresses and hats that you can find at your local Halloween store, Alex as a giant cookie, and Buffy as a Mailman. This year, we really didn't plan out a theme for our costumes so this year was as random as it could be. As you can imagine, some people did tease us for dressing up this year.
"Aren't you a little old to be trick or treating?" "You do know the candy is for the kids, right?" "Shouldn't you be taking your OWN kids out to trick or treat?"
The list goes on and on. But we didn't care. These people couldn't tell us how to live our lives. All they could do was poke fun and tease. That was just it. It felt good, having some sense of control in our own lives, even if it didn't always seem this way.
We each had our own pillow bag and had only started the house runs for candy. Buffy looked at me and Alex, but the look in her eye screamed mischief. She smiled a smile only I knew as "Who wants to break all the rules tonight?" and Alex laughed. "So... What is it this time? What abandoned house or graveyard are we going to this time?" Alex asked, brushing a leaf out of her face. It was a rather windy evening. And chilly. I couldn't really feel the chill until just then. "No, No, not an abandoned house or graveyard. I found something BETTER. Much Better. I think you two are going to like it." Buffy said, looking at me with a look of excitement. I was game for it. "This sounds good! I'm up for anything. ANYTHING." I said, readjusting the witch hat on my head.