The Halloween get together

 Page 2. 

The Halloween get together was just an hour away as Penny's mother braided strands of gold and silver thread into her daughters hair putting the finishing touches on a beautiful Prairie Princess. Nelly watched intently while laying across Penny's bed and wondered if she would be next in line for the hair treatment? At last they were done giving Penny the first real opportunity to take one last look at herself in the mirror before leaving. Penny closed her eye's for a second and then quickly opened them as if awaking from a dream. Her reflection from the mirror was radiant from this child's point of view wearing a loose fitting shirt with matching pants that seemed to flow and swirl like prairie grass in the wind each time she made the slightest movements. Her shirt was the color of the darkening night sky and her pants were a deep forest green giving her the appearance of a sunset especially after her mother draped a silver silk cape across her shoulders. Penny's parents smiled at one another as Penny, Mark and Nelly piled into the families truck and headed out to a Halloween party that would be like no other!

Well, the High School gym was packed with demons, goblins, and witches not to mention every super hero on the planet including Mars and the Moon? One parent was Freddy and three others were Micheal Meyers and one person wore a presidential mask and he spend the entire evening in the back of the Sheriffs patrol car just for his own safety? Anyway, the older kids had a water balloon fight in the parking lot until Mark decided throwing an egg at the mayor was funny and he ended up in the back of the Sheriffs patrol car with the president for the rest of the night. While inside the gym spooky music drowned out the laughter as well as screams of terror mostly from the little ones who weren't really sure why they had to be frightened just for a piece of candy? Most the treats and the candies were home made with some store bought stuff but one rancher brought several gallons of what he called clear water that only the adults could drink?

Penny's costume was the talk of the town but not for the reasons you might think. Some folks took offense still believing in the curse of the dead oak tree while others asked Penny's parents to leave. Fear and superstition is a powerful emotion causing the weakest of human beings to make the worst choices and it was for that very reason the old oak tree still stood. There was however one thing our fear stricken town folk didn't know and that was the fact that the dead oak tree sat directly on the far east corner of James property. Penny's father had seen and heard enough and it wasn't the first time the thought had crossed his mind of cutting down the dead tree once and for all. Like any good rancher worth his sand he never left home without his trusty rifle and chainsaw and tonight he would change a few minds and perhaps put an end to a hundred years or so of bad thinking?