JAMES' HALLOWEEN STORY
Jacob was skeptic. So when his friends told him he must be in
bed asleep by midnight on the Eve of All Souls' Day, he scoffed at them. (All
Soul's Eve, as you know, is the night souls living out their remaining
punishment in Purgatory, are released of their bounds, and allowed to wander
earth, if only for a little solace.) Jacob's friends were especially troubled by
his claim he would stay up that very night--which just happened to be All Souls'
Eve! As he stayed in bed with a flashlight, he watched the hours tick away.
First the old grandfather clock chimed 11, but nothing. Then 11:30. Still
nothing happened. Finally it chimed 12 midnight, and Jacob rejoiced. He had
proved his friends wrong. But just then, in the shadows of his room, he saw a
small figure off in the corner. Shining his flashlight over, he saw it was a
little man. Alarmed at first, Jacob soon noticed this small man had a large
ornate hat on. Hmm, he mused to himself, must be one of my friends playing a
prank. So, with a fit of laughter, he snatched the hat off his head, and sank
into the floor laughing hysterically. Just then, he realized the dwarfish man
was no longer there. Must've gone home, he mused, as he sank into bed, the hat
still in hand, and fell asleep. The next day, he asked his friends which one of
them played the prank. They all looked at him with surprise. They were all
asleep that night. Besides, the man he saw was a dwarf. His friends were all
normal height. Now Jacob was worried. What should he do? That night he lay in
bed, hat still in hand again. Then he turned off the light. Just then, a voice
came out of the darkness: "Give me my hat back!" Jacob turned on the light. No
one was there. He turned it off. Again the voice said: "Give me my hat back!"
Now Jacob was petrified with fear. What could he do? His friends warned him. He
must've disturbed some ghost on its nightly journey. Finally Jacob resolved: if
he gave the specter its hat back, all would be peaceful again. The next night he
lay in the darkness again. "Give me my hat back! Give me my hat back! Give me my
hat back!" "Here!" Jacob cried, "Take it! Take it!" Just then, a arm reached out
of the darkness, and grabbed the hat. Jacob sighed with relief. But just then
another arm reached out of the darkness--and grabbed Jacob! And he was never
seen again.