a short story in the spirit of the season...

I'm putting on my writing hat. How about a short story? I will write one in the spirit of the season.

First a little background...
Halloween originated from a pagan holiday which honored the dead. It was believed that on this particular night (October 31st) the boundaries between the spirit world and our world would be blurred. On All Hallows Eve people dressed up in masks so that angry spirits who would come out on the eve of All Saints Day would not recognize them. They also left treats for spirits to ensure a good harvest in the next year.  If you are interested in reading more about the history of Halloween here are a couple of interesting links:
http://www.halloween-website.com/history.htm
http://www.novareinna.com/festive/symbol.html

 Now on to the story...
The double doors loomed large and solid in front of her. They were hand carved with etched glass panels beside them. She reached for the bronze knocker and tapped it loudly several times.  As she stood on the porch in the cover of night the door began to swing open slowly revealing a man who appeared to have lost his desire for life many years previously.  She peered up into his hollow eyes with expectation as he motioned her to come in.

As she stepped in from the portico she took her jacket off and handed it dismissively to the man. "Where is he?" she asked with a genuine sense of eagerness.  His reply was flat and disinterested, "follow me". He gave no indication of where he was taking her. She took a glance around the open foyer trying to let her eyes adjust to the surroundings. It was dark inside the mansion and only the moonlight streaming in through the lace covered windows gave light to the mausoleum like interior. This mansion was not familiar to her nor was the man that she was following, yet...somehow that didn't matter. He knew exactly who she was looking for and where to find him.

 She peered up at the man as he ascended a large spiral staircase. It must have been carpeted because she couldn't hear his foot steps.  He glanced back at her as if he instinctively knew she had fallen behind so she began to walk toward the unlit stair way. 

As suddenly as she had taken a step toward the stairs she found her self standing in a corridor just outside a chamber where she imagined she would find who she was looking for.  She waited expectantly as her guide began to open the hand carved, solid mahogany door. As she stepped into the room she looked around. There wasn't much more light in this room than there had been on the lower level, but she could see the moon shining brightly through the large french doors that led out onto a balcony. The bedchamber was furnished with fine tapestries and rugs, beautifully ornate hand-crafted solid wood furnishings including a four poster canopy bed and the finest silk draperies; which flowed softly in the breeze. Her long hair tickled her nose as it brushed against her skin softly.

Alarm shot through her as she realized that no one was in the room. She turned suddenly with dread pumping through her veins, thick like blood.  The guide stated absently, "just lie down on the bed". He seemed unaware of her discomfort and turned to leave closing the door behind himself. She felt dazed and confused as she turned back toward the bed. It looked so soft and inviting, but she trembled with anticipation and fear. Lifting the downy soft coverlet, she began to climb up into the large bed. She lay on the bed listening to soft music, which hadn't been there before, and feeling the silky softness of the pillows beneath her head while a fragrant breeze ran across her face until...

The breeze began to pick up and was turning into a raging torrent of wind that seemed to be filled with an angry passion of it's own. The wind became so loud she could no longer hear the sounds of music lilting in the air. As quickly as the wind had picked up the bed began to turn and the floor fell away revealing a seemingly bottomless pit which surrounded her.  Terror welled up inside her as she realized that the bed was no longer a place of comforting respite, but rather a thin slab of concrete just wide enough to accmmodate her thin frame.  The cold, course concrete felt rough and un-giving beneath her back. She was laying on an alter!

She glanced around but couldn't see anything but the ceiling. All sides of the alter were surrounded by a deep dark crevice that seemed to lead all the way into some sinister dimension. There was no telling how far she would fall if she moved. She realized the wind was coming from the depths of the gaping crevice that surrounded her.  She closed her eyes tightly praying that her guide would come back, find her and put everything right.

Panic welled up inside her like a sea heaving beyond it's bounds as she opened her eyes and saw a mist of darkness directly above her. It was cognizant of her fear and feeding off of it. This dark energy was taking pleasure in her misery and she was well aware it wanted to make her suffer. "I've got to get out of here!," she thought frantically. She could feel the terror trying to break free from her lips.

Although there was no where for her to go but down she leaned eagerly to the side of the alter and realized that not only was she no longer on an alter but she was on her own front room couch!  She shook from head to toe, too terrified for sound to escape, she knew all she had to do was get off the couch and she would snap out of this terrifying reality. She knew this HAD to be a dream.

She could see the room she had fallen asleep in, the stereo still playing music she couldn't hear, the front room door, the window which let soft moonlight flood into the room.  She could still hear the terrible wind that was gushing up around her. It seemed so loud and deafening, but she had no choice she had to get up to get away.  As she moved to sit up she felt a hand around her neck and fingers tangled in the back of her hair. She couldn't get up she was trapped by this dark specter.  She attempted to throw herself off of the couch by rolling her back leg over the front one to role off, but to no avail. The fiend had a steely grip on her and it wanted to hurt her.

Her mind raced and her heart was pounding ferociously. She knew she was going to die if she didn't get help fast. There was only one way to get out of this so she prayed and pleaded for a deliverer. "Please God help me!" she plead desperately. Over and over and over again she cried those words in her heart and mind until she noticed that the wind start to die down. Just as swift as it came it was gone and the soft music had played continuously in the background. It was the same song playing that she had been listening to in the strange room at the mansion.

She sat up suddenly with her heart racing and her throat dry to the point of pain. Tears started to stream down her face. She could still feel where the fingers had been wrapped in her hair and where the hand had held her throat.  She quickly walked over to the light and turned it on eagerly then continued on to the bathroom.  Her hands trembled as she splashed cold water on her face. As she was drying her face she looked into the mirror and felt astonished by her reflection. Her eyes were so dark they were almost black and her skin so pale she appeared to be an apparition her self.  She ran her fingers over her face and down her arms. Her flesh was cold and she was shaking from fear.

She walked back to the front room where she had dreamt that horrible vision of evil. As she sat back down on the couch she looked around slowly wondering if the room she was looking at was real. She could feel pain, a tightness in her throat and the sensation of pulled hair. But how could that be? It had ONLY been a dream right?....



 

We had a piece of Heaven...

In 2004 I was in the middle of earning a double bachelors at the University of Utah. I had been a single mom of four and had just remarried. My life was full of new beginnings and moving forward from some of the most difficult times I have ever endured.

I had been waiting for years to go back to school and be able to become self reliant. I wanted to get to a point where I never needed to lean on someone else financially again. This goal was my ultimate dream. It was my way to ensure that my children and I would never have to go with out because of someones bad financial decisions.

In the summer of 2004 not many months after my marriage I found out that I was pregnant. I was a mass of mixed emotions. Joy and delight with the idea of having a new person enter my family. Fear and reticence because I knew I was not in a position to support one more person and I was in the middle of trying to get my bachelors so I could improve my families financial position.

Looking back I recall sitting in the doctors office, receiving verification that I was expecting. I was overwhelmed with emotion and tears streamed down my face. It was the first time in all my pregnancies that I had a sense of hesitation and a desire not to be pregnant. How was I going to make it through school with another child on the way? How was I going to take care of her when I couldn't even take care of the ones I already had.

I had no idea that God was about to change my life forever. I had no idea that God had decided to send a piece of heaven in to my life even if it was only for a brief time...

Kendra was born on March 3rd 2005. I recall looking her over as she lay in my arms for the first  time. She was so tiny, just 5 lbs 14 oz. I was amazed at the fact that somehow nature had seen fit to give this tiny little angel a double chin to match her grandmothers!

As I held her I looked at the shape of her face, her mouth, her nose, her arms and legs, her feet and her hands...As I ran my eyes across her hands laughter escaped me as I noticed how very square they were. They literally looked like little squares with one uneven edge where her finger tips were.  I had no idea at the time how much I would come to absolutely love and adore those precious little hands.

I have two casts of her hands and I still look at them everyday and think how perfect her little hands were and how much I wish I could hold them again. One of Kendra's favorite things to do was to paint her fingernails. She liked pink but I loved red on her. She had the most perfectly shaped fingers and finger nails. When I painted her finger nails a particular shade of red they reminded me of cherries.  We laid her to rest with a light shade of pink on her nails and a brand new tube of pink lip gloss in her hand. She was the ultimate girl and loved having glossy lips and painted finger tips. Lip gloss, fingernail polish and Barbie cartoons were her tools for passing the time while she spent two months of her life in a tiny room up at Primary Children's Hospital.

She couldn't leave her room; which was pressurized to keep the air from the hall way out of her room. The air in her room was filtered for her protection. Flowers were not allowed on the unit where Kendra stayed because they were invariably crawling with germs that could prove fatal to a child with no immune system.

As I contemplate my life I can't even imagine what my life would be like now if she had not come in to it. I didn't want to be pregnant when I found out I was having Kendra. I was filled with dread for how another child could prevent my progress. Now I realize how she helped speed up my growth and progress and I would give up EVERYTHING I own to have her back!