The Last Preparations

Spooky Day is upon us! We have a big party coming tonight. Mom and Dad have invited old friends of theirs, practically family. Cléo said it’s not really her friends’ kind of party, and Cyril and I don’t have anybody to invite. It’s going to be a family holiday, pretty much.

It’ll be more cake for us. Mom started cooking at 3AM, she tells me, ~~and for once, her skills may prove to be just what Spooky Day needs,~~ and she did her very best. I’ve got to admit, the Frankenstein cake and the eye-shaped biscuits look stellar. We have yet to discover how good they taste.

For starters, I’m choosing to show you the exact moment the bowl of dough escapes her hands. I’ll leave you to decide if it lands right side up or not.

Cyril is not entirely ready to be surrounded by people tonight, and he’s feeling very tense. Mom and I send him for a morning jog, hopefully it clears his mind.

In the meantime, Cléo and I are having a friendly pumpkin-carving competition. She’s really good at it.

And you know what teens do when they’re good at something? Selfies, they take selfies.

Cyril is back from his walk. He still doesn’t feel all that relaxed, but it’s better.

Mom didn’t mess the last of her Spooky Day recipes up! I guess she found her niche.

In the meantime, I’ve finished my pumpkin.

It’s not my best, and Cléo’s looked much prettier, but, you know what, it doesn’t really matter.

It’s a Spooky Day pumpkin carved on Spooky Day morning!

Pumpkins and Lights

Not ready to head back inside after all, I run around in the light rain, and even slipping in one of the many mud puddles — twice, in the same puddle — doesn’t bring my mood down.

It’s just all so pretty.

And then, I carve one more pumpkin for the road.

You can’t ever have too many carved pumpkins.

Treat or Trick

My neighborhood tour is over, and I’m back to our home porch.

I take the last few breaths of this sweet autumn air, with the smell of humid earth and incoming rains.

And while I’m here… Of course this bowl of candy here is meant for the kids who will come to trick or treat tomorrow, but…

The trap!

This one is just a cloud of bright fog. It’s actually really pretty.

The best candy of the season.

A Walk in the Neighborhood

Spooky Day is tomorrow. All the neighbors have caught up and decorated their houses and yards for the day. The air is crisp and fresh, and the night has this special autumn glow, with a dash of magic like you only see on the most special nights.

It’s the perfect time, and the perfect atmosphere for a stroll in the neighborhood. I get the umbrella out again and, with the smile of someone who’s been blessed by the Ancients, I walk up our blocks of houses. And then, down again, to the very end of the street, taking in all of the lights, and the spooky beauty.

Walking in front of our house, I can hear the twins screaming in Cyril’s room. They decided to watch Vampiric Activity, and they apparently find it terrifying.

The neighbors at the very end of the street have this ginormous mansion, and these decorations are really the only sign we have that someone lives there at all. They’re pretty secretive.

But as big as their house is, I still think ours is the prettiest.

Homecooked Cure in the Spooky House

Luckily, my friend the inn owner taught me how to cook the remedy to this curse on my last trip to Selvadorada. I blast through the doors of the house, and without taking the time to take my coat off, I rummage in my chest to find the proper ingredients, then I get cooking.

How lucky is it that I carry around ancient bone dust across continents! Lucky, or spooky.

And this is the perfect time to be spooky after all?

I’m baffled that this odd stew, frankly made with the most disgusting of items, doesn’t actually taste half bad.

Probably doesn’t taste as good as the candy Cyril thinks he’s been sneaky about stealing. Can’t be sneaky when the bowl basically explodes in your face every time you put your hand in it, Cee.

… Waiting for the remedy to take effect…

Yes!

I am cure! And not just that, I’m washed over by the blessing of well-meaning, ancient gods.

Just on time for Spooky Day.

Night Frights

The thought of having to meet with Director No Fun has been keeping me up at night lately. I’m afraid of what changes he’ll think he has to implement to make me comply with his reign over the museum.

What I’m passionate about isn’t office politics. It’s archeology. Even preoccupied and sleep-deprived, this is where my heart goes first, so I deal with my frustration by carefully, meticulously, carving down a few of the gems I found on my travels.

But by that point, I have been awake for a while, and my body is craving sugar. Either that, or I just have to admit that my sweet tooth is more powerful than my love for old relics.

In any case, I sneak to the main home in my pajamas, braving the cold autumn air. There’s a bowl of candy on the kitchen counter, and no siblings to fight me on my way to empty it.

I shouldn’t have underestimated the bowl of candy itself.

Surprise! I keep forgetting the candy wants you dead. Colorful wrappers and ribbons fly all around the room.

Is it over?…

Worth it.

Spooky Lights

Three days until Spooky Day.

We’re still the only house in the neighborhood with the proper spirit.

Pumpkins Everywhere

I won’t let it be said that the house I live in was covered in carved pumpkins and I didn’t make any of them. The first thing I do as soon as I get home is get carving. I’ve never done it before, but how hard can it be, really?

Also, a special shout-out to Mom, who has already put a bowl of candy by the door “for the kids”. The twins and I know she’ll have to refill that bowl more than once before Spooky Day if we have anything to say about it.