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“And that's the true story of Halloween,” said the young counselor, and the children sitting in front of him looked at him with wide eyes and whispered among themselves.
“This is spooky.”
“Really?” Luz hastily covered her mouth with her hand; she hadn't meant to say that out loud.
She had actually planned to meet her friends here at the pumpkin patch, but when she saw the group of children in costume sitting in front of a man wearing a witch's hat, she couldn't resist and had to listen. In the past, stories of evil spirits or headless horsemen would have scared her, but since she had met Eda, who often lost her head or other limbs, the whole thing had lost its spooky vibe. In general, life in the demon realm had toughened her up to the spooky stuff her world had to offer. For better or for worse. But perhaps she shouldn't discuss that with a bunch of kindergarteners who looked at her with big, expectant eyes, as if they were waiting for a big explanation.
“Forget I said anything. Happy Halloween.” She actually wanted to slip away, but one of the children held her hand while the others surrounded her. “What’s scarier than a ghost?” asked one of the children, and another raised his arms excitedly, “ and darkness!”
The supervisor tried to shoo the children away, but without success. So Luz began to tell them a few stories, for example about a harpy who fought purple abominations, fairies who were baked into apology pies, monster rabbits who tied you into a book, and of course worm demons who could make an entire house move.
She tweaked a few things, left some stuff out, but the kids were still hanging on her every word and listening to her like they were spellbound.
That was new. Luz was used to people not listening to her when she talked about witches and demons, even telling her to stop, and now there were 10 children sitting here who were sad when she had to leave. “What do we say to the nice girl?” asked the counselor, and the children replied in unison, “Thank you for the stories.”
“Oh, you're welcome,” Luz said, delighted. The children were really cute; it was a shame she didn't have more time for them. “You should write that down,” the counselor said to her. “The stories were really cool and creative; it seemed really real, as if you had actually experienced it.” Luz swallowed, “Oh, I just like to talk.”
“Think about it,” he encouraged her. “Especially that Hooty guy, I don't know if I should find him creepy or cool,” he shuddered, “but that voice of his, it sends shivers down my spine.”