"Painted Red," A Short Halloween Themed Story
Hello again, I hope you all started your week off on the right foot!
I present to you a very short story, both characters (I am counting the cat as a character), remain unnamed. However, I do have a name for the girl that you meet and it's possible that you will meet her and her cat again very soon, maybe even her Mother and Grandmother too.
Enjoy!
It was that time again when the days were accompanied by a perfect breeze yet the nights with a startling and unexpected chill.
I had left the house, enjoying the breath of air on my bare arms, and returned by grabbing the first blanket I could see and wrapping it around my shoulders.
"I'm home! Kitty?" I called into the dark hallway, I am not exactly frightened of the dark but it was unsettling, seeing nothing but a hollow black hallway ahead. I grabbed my Halloween witch hat, which I added a thick and flowy orange ribbon to (I had been working on a couple of Halloween crafts before leaving the house, my witch’s costume as well as painting pumpkins) and shoved it on my head before continuing to the light switch.
As soon as the hall and living room lit up, my heart dropped to my knees. I stumbled back, dropping the blanket from my shoulders, not knowing what to make of the room beyond.
Footprints, I couldn't tell where they started, filled the wood floor. Not muddy or wet footprints, but red. There were other red spots beside the footprints too, mingled around. I didn't want to think about what that red substance could be, about what my mind went to.
Pushing my hat far back on the crown of my head I straightened my shoulders and became resolute to find the source and to not think about all that red.
Tiptoeing, I peeked around the corner to find the streaky red more prominent and sporadic here. Almost as if someone has rapidly whipped a towel around the floor with the substance soaked on the end.
I got the feeling that someone or something was here somewhere and my mind clouded. I could no longer think straight, my head was fuzzy, but there was a noise somewhere.
I felt as though I was walking blindly even though I could see as clear as possible in the dim light. My head throbbed and my heartbeat wildly and my legs ached from nerves. I couldn't imagine what disastrous thing I would do if I saw someone there when I rounded the corner. Looking back, I was so scared that I should have stopped, left the house, and called someone. But I wasn’t thinking straight and my aching feet went on, one in front of the other.
Around the corner, the sporadic movements of the red on the ground continued and I could almost find where it twisted and turned around, back into the hall.
My pace quickened as I found the trail and I subconsciously stopped trying not to step in it. The trail went, around the living room, my left-out pile of books on the couch, the kitchen, the table, even partially into the bathroom. Until, at the same time, I found where the trail went at last and where the faint rattling I had heard before, was coming from.
Though I tried, I couldn't stop my legs from advancing into the sunroom, the last room. Where I kept many school books, plants, blankets, and a sofa, it reigned as my favorite place in the house. I was near to tears now but none came streaking down my cheeks while my feet wouldn't stop progressing.
"Kitty?" I couldn't breathe when the first thing I saw was his tail. It was covered in streaks and clumps of, I was sure of it now, the same substance that covered the floors. He was licking his tail when I saw him but he started forward while letting out a small cry as he saw me.
"What happened to you?" Shrieking, I fell to my knees and the tears decided now was the time to fall. I could hardly see through them as I groped around for him.
I had to stop to breathe and I tore my witch hat from my head and used the flowing ribbon to wipe my eyes.
My perfect, hurt kitty didn't seem so bad off but really just concerned. He stood up on my knees and pawed gently at my face. His meow was almost normal, just a bit lower and quieter but not the strange yowl that he made when hurt.
I held him to me and frantically smoothed my hands over his tail and face that had turned very red from licking it. I couldn’t find a scratch or wound anywhere.
Desperate for the source of all this I looked, at last, at the room beyond us. The room was a mess. Did I mention I had been painting pumpkins? A big can of red paint had tipped and rolled over and the contents were now in a puddle and on every floor in the house. The pumpkins were overturned and the designs were muddled and smudged but I didn't care.
Releasing a gasp as a sigh of relief washed over me, my vision seemed to clear as I rolled back, kicked my legs, and let out a short witchy giggle, matching my character. It only resulted in scaring my kitty more. He dashed away from me and once again through the puddle of paint. Starting the process over again, he frantically dashed through the house, painting the floors red twice over before, again, he realized it would not come off that way.
It seemed as though I could either laugh or cry with relief. So I grabbed my witch hat, forced it firmly on my head, rolled on the floor, and cackled.
Thank you for reading!
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