Hello. My entry in the Halloween Contest. Thanks in advance for reading and for any comments. Please enjoy.
*
Tyler lifted the top of the last illuminated Jack-O-Lantern and blew out the candle. He held the pumpkin up and smiled. He liked the way the smoke seeped out through the carved out facial features of the gourd. Placing it back down at his feet, he stood on the steps of the now much more darkened porch to his house. In fact, all of the houses on the street were a lot less bright, the height of the trick-or-treating ending a couple of hours earlier.
Only a couple of stragglers in homemade costumes were running down the deserted street, possibly chased by some haunting forces seeking to reclaim the night for their own. More likely, they had ventured too far in their quest for sweet treats and now were rushing back home before curfew.
Off in the distance, in the cool, dark night, he heard a dog howl. Perfect. That was a wrap for this year's Halloween, he figured.
Back inside his house, Tyler walked into the living room and dimmed the lights, letting the fireplace cast a flickering glow around the room. He still had one small Jack-O-Lantern burning away on the mantle, its wicked eyes and sneering mouth glowing a fiery yellow. He picked up a pillow case and paused, surprised by the weight of it. He took a peek inside and whistled, impressed.
His wife, Sora, came down the stairs looking at the little halo and feather wings she carried in her hands. She had a melancholy look about her as she held up the costume and pouted, "Our baby's first Halloween."
Tyler smiled. They had somehow managed to wait until their daughter, Jamie, had turned 2 to take her out trick-or-treating. They both agreed it was ridiculous to see infants being carried around by their parents on Halloween night just to get some free candy. But it had been certainly tempting to do so.
Tyler walked over to his wife and took the small, golden halo from her. He grinned and asked, "So any comments about our little angel being led around by a hot She-devil?"
"Oh yeah," Sora winked. She returned a coy smile and stepped back. She brought her chin to her shoulder and struck a cover-girl pose, fluttering her eye-lashes. The dancing colours of the fireplace cast the perfect effect. Her red satin devil costume looked like it had been vacuum sealed over her skin. It covered her body from her ankles to her neck accessorized with spiked heels, dainty little horns on the top of her head and a full length tail at the back. Tyler liked the way it highlighted his wife's long, slim body, and hugged her round bottom like a glove.
Sora laughed as she straightened the headband that held her horns in place and fixed her neck-length chestnut hair. She reached back for her "tail" and then twirled it around. "Do you know how many fathers said that they wouldn't mind playing with my tail?" she remarked, "And right in front of their kids, too. It was embarrassing."
She didn't really believe that. Her pleased grin made that obvious.
"Dirty buggers," Tyler squinted. He indulged in the image of the many husbands and dads in the neighbourhood his wife had titillated that night.
"And you, Mr.Greek god," she nodded towards him, "How did Zeus fare minding Olympus this evening?"
Tyler shrugged and adjusted his laurel and toga. "It was kind of cold," he said, noting his one exposed pec and legs.
"Tell me about it. I probably should have had a sweater out there," Sora remarked. She looked down at herself and blushed, thinking about the likelihood that her "headlights were on high beam" beneath her skin-tight costume all evening.
They both laughed. Sora asked, "So no kids made a comment about a man being in a dress?"
"Nope," he said. A satisfied grin affixed over his jaw. He raised his arms, flexing his muscles. The rowing team did wonders for his physique. He inhaled and added, "Though Janice asked if she could take a peek under my skirt."
He froze in mid-pose and looked at his wife. Sora, her arms folded, didn't appear amused. Their neighbour, Janice Kimball, was at least 10 years their senior but she still had a body, and a sex drive, that could do much damage.
Hesitantly, Tyler eased from his posing and looked downward and away in silent, sheepish apology. It was probably a good thing that he didn't bother to mention that Janice had come around in a faux-fur Wilma Flintstone costume.
Sora arched a fine-trimmed brow. "As long as you don't act the same way as your over-sexed, Father-of-all gods counterpart," she chided him.
"Nope. This Zeus kept his lightning bolts in his pants," he said smiling as he walked over to her. He pinched the horns on the top of her head then took her in his arms. He added, "Besides, I'm only horny for one sexy she-devil."
He pulled her in close and locked his lips over hers. They embraced closely, the very little they were actually wearing barely separating their skin.
They parted slowly after the sensuous kiss. Tyler grinned at her and asked, "So is the angel asleep?"
"Passed out on her cloud." She threw him a seductive wink.
"You want to do this now?"
Sora nodded slowly. She said, "Been waiting all night long."
The two pushed aside the coffee table and sank down onto the rug. Then Sora dumped the bag of collected candy onto the floor between them into a huge heaping mound of sweetness. The couple stared at it with curling grins on their lips.
"That," Tyler declared as he arched his eyebrows upward, "Is a huge pile of bellyache and hyperactivity."
Sora rolled her eyes. Her husband was ever the health nut. She selected and unwrapped a molasses taffy and popped it into her mouth. She spoke as she slowly chewed, "Now, now. Everything in moderation. It'll be fine."
She picked up another piece of licorice and unwrapped it as well.
"Moderation, huh?" Tyler snickered. He could see the difficulty she was having chewing the sticky candy. He could also see that she was clearly enjoying the sugary sweetness.
They began to sort through the loot, tossing aside open wrappers, putting the chips into separate piles. The more they separated, the more they found lying underneath. This was a bounty.
"Jeez, this is a helluva lot of candy," Tyler remarked.
"We picked the right neighbourhood to live in I guess," his wife said playfully. She was right about that. There were no dark houses in their area that night. Every home was decked out with jack-o-lanterns, scarecrows, tombstones, bats, cats, rats...and every neighbour seemed to dump handfuls of candy into each trick-or-treat bag that passed their doorstep.
"Hey, candy corn! And Twinkies! And Pixie Sticks! And candy cigarettes!" Tyler exclaimed revelling in childhood memories of the various confections. He picked up a piece of sponge toffee and eyed it.
Sora leered at him. "You
know
you want it," she cooed.
Tyler looked at her then back at the candy, an anxious expression on his face. Finally he tore off the little piece of plastic and tossed the whole chunk into his mouth. He chewed and smiled like he had just been pumped with morphine as it crunched and melted and stuck to his teeth.
"Told you it was good," Sora giggled.
He shook his head. "You
are
the devil," he sighed then nodded towards her, "What're those?"
Sora held up a couple of little tubes shaped like baby-bottles. Yellow and green viscous fluids shifted inside of them. "I think they're candy syrups," she said.
Tyler cringed.
"Hey, don't knock it till you try it," she remarked.
They continued to sift through and sample the candy. Sora's eyes lit up and she reached out and grabbed another big stick of candy with her hands.
"Damn. That's a big Tootsie Roll," Tyler exclaimed.
The woman held the long candy bar lovingly up against her cheek. She said with a gleeful smile, "Uh-huh! And it's all
mine
! Aaron down the road said he was saving it for me."
Tyler paused and grimaced. "Aaron Mayberry? He gave you that?"
Sora nodded slowly. "All
ten inches