Miss Tweedy’s Halloween

Hermosa pier Kevin Gilligan

Hermosa pier blue sunrise by Kevin Gilligan. Honorable mention

by Nancy Skiba

Rose Tweedy was a tad shy of 84 years young. Her silvery hair, worn in a graceful chignon, was like angel hair. Petite, with fair skin and cornflower blue eyes, she was still beautiful. Never married, she was known as a woman of her own mind, more youthful than her years, most kind-hearted, friendly to all, and with a quick mischievous smile. She had been engaged once, but her beloved Reggie bravely perished on June 6, 1944 on the beach atNormandy. He was the love of her life, and she kept him close to her heart, in happy photographs of their days together, which smiled out from their picture frames on her fireplace mantel and on her nightstand. One day, they would be reunited.

Miss Tweedy lived in a pristine white craftsman cottage on the hill onEmerald AvenueinRedondo Beach, with her big, 16-year-old Maine Coon cat Herman, who loved to nap on the front porch, which was bordered by giant blue and rose hydrangea bushes, ferns, fuchsias, foxgloves, and impatiens.

A hand-painted wooden sign on a post announced the little home’s name: Sea Haven. The green lawn of dichondra thrived under the shade of a lilac tree, and birds flitted safely to bird feeders because Herman had retired from chasing birds. Behind the house were her marvelous vegetable garden and a wide row of pumpkins on the vine.

She loved her little cottage, which was nestled between other craftsman and Victorian jewels, and spent a good deal of her time gardening under a big straw sunhat while Herman warmed himself on the window sill where he napped every day. She was often seen bicycling down to the Esplanade on her three-wheeled big bike with a basket on the front. She watched the boats on the water and the whales and dolphins, the people and their dogs.

A few of the large pumpkins, already carved and grinning, decorated the front porch and yard, along with strings of orange lights, which wound their way up the trunk of the tree. Wispy gauze ghosts moved in the ocean breeze from the overhanging eaves above the porch. Tonight was Halloween, and Miss Tweedy readied her preparations.

Every Halloween, the little house became a haunted house, to the delight of the small children and those who were young in spirit. She looked forward to it as much as they did. The light bulbs would emit a ghostly blue light as a black light strobe illuminated ghostly apparitions that floated from the ceiling and peered back at visitors from painted panels she had fashioned.

On the dining room table a big cauldron would bubble and waft smoke. A scary dinner party of skeletons, shrouded in white gauze, sat on chairs around the table, which featured gruesome dinner delights and clear crystal goblets, which held a red beverage that looked suspiciously like blood. Eerie music would come from speakers on the porch and ghostly screams would echo when the doorbell was pressed. Miss Tweedy herself would be a vision in white this year, an otherworldly bride who would hand out treats at the door and greet trick-or-treaters.

She had been very busy the past week, putting up her decorations, turning the front yard into a small cemetery with faded leaning grave stones where mechanized hands would scrabble at the soil by the porch. Small and large skulls peered out of the front windows, from plant pots, and dangled from the branches of the tree. She’d baked Halloween treats –- decorated gingerbread pumpkins and ghosts and cupcakes.

The pumpkins had candles, ready to be lit. But right now, at two in the afternoon, Miss Tweedy stifled a yawn and knew she ought to take a nap. She sank into the big oversized lounge chair she thought of as the poppa chair, and Herman climbed up onto her lap. She was a little tired, having done so much all by herself. But as she drifted off into a pleasant sleep, she smiled and was satisfied that all was ready and it would be grand fun tonight. Reggie would have loved it. She looked forward to seeing the delighted children, and the smell of the pumpkins when the candles inside were glowing. The little house smelled of gingerbread and frosting.

Halloween had been special to her since she was a small girl. She believed that it was a time when magical things could happen. It was a time when a portal would open between the world of sunlight and those who walked in it, and the spirit world that was ethereal. If only…

That night, the temperature had dropped inRedondo Beachand a fog had drifted in from the water, and was creeping its way up hill, adding to the Halloween atmosphere and it suited Miss Tweedy. Her carved pumpkins glowed brightly on the porch and in the driveway. The eerie music was playing, filling the yard as trick-or-treaters approached. The house was darkened, except for the eerie blue lighting and the flash of the strobes which could be seen from the street. Fog swirled into Miss Tweedy’s lawn and drifted past the bright orange strands of lights which were draped from the tree branches, and lit the skulls which moved gently in the light breeze.

For the past hour, Miss Tweedy had opened her door to the children in their costumes, handing out cellophane wrapped cupcakes and gingerbread cookies. She was a vision in her ghostly bride attire – it was an actual bridal dress, her bridal gown, but fine gauze covered it and formed a flowing ghostly veil. Miss Tweedy shone white in the blue light, her fair skin even paler, her blue eyes deeply accented with smoky kohl. Again and again she welcomed the children and extended her thin little bony hand with treats. They thanked her and skittered off down the drive back to their waiting parents, who waved to their neighbor who went all out each year for their children’s enjoyment.

It was late. She waited for a while but no more trick-or-treaters came. The music had been silenced. The candles had burned out inside the pumpkins. She turned off the outside lights and locked the door. Soon she would be nestled under the big down comforter, with Herman beside her, and drift off to sleep and dream. She put out some extra food for Herman. Night time was his favorite time to snack. She turned off the lights in the front rooms and went into her bedroom. Soon she was drifting off….a nice peaceful dream of walking by the sea in the moonlight. She could hear the roll of the waves on the shore and she could smell the sea whose fog had lingered. She breathed softly, cuddled up with the cat, who was now sharing her pillow and asleep beside her under the comforter. It had become a bit chill.

As she was dreaming of the sea, the dark night sky with white stars twinkling far far away, something caused her to open her eyes. A slight sound. What was it? It was a soft step on her front porch. She looked at the small clock on the night stand…it read 4 a.m. She quietly arose and pulled on a silk kimono over her pajamas, and moved softly toward the front of the house. She looked out the window. All was quiet. Someone was there, not moving away. Perhaps it was a neighbor, or a lost child. Perhaps one had gotten confused in the fog. A slight tap came, on the old oak door, the knocker that was as old as the house.

Miss Tweedy gathered her courage and peeked out of the small viewer on the door. She stared. And a strange look came into her eyes. Slowly she unlocked the door.

It was not a trick-or-treater nor lost child. A tall handsome young man of 20 in Marine dress uniform smiled down at her. They gazed at each other in recognition. It couldn’t be. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. When he stepped back he touched her cheek and kissed her. She was the Rose he had waved goodbye to when he shipped out to go overseas. She was that Rose…the beautiful 18-year-old girl he was going to marry when he came back. Reggie’s heart was full of love. He stepped inside the little house and closed the door behind them. He held her tightly in his arms. The veil between the two worlds had become very thin this Halloween night, and he had stepped through. As they sat together in the big chair, Herman lay down at their feet. Reggie and Rose embraced and no words were necessary. Rose drifted off in his arms. All was peaceful and right. B

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