A Vampire's Promise by Carla Susan Smith

Author:Carla Susan Smith [Smith, Carla Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2014-04-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

I envy people who live up north, and not just because winter is my favorite time of year. I’m especially envious of the folks who live in Vermont and get to experience a true fall. Having your senses dazzled by nature’s spectacular kaleidoscope of changing leaves must really be something. One day I’m going to experience firsthand those weeks that mark the end of summer.

Where I live, the trees are mostly pines, but you can always find a handful of deciduous ones growing among them, like gate-crashers at a party. I’ve always felt they don’t truly belong. And they know it. In their greenery they can blend in, pretending to be some sort of evergreen hybrid, but the minute the season changes, the game’s up. It seems to me the swiftness with which they shed their leaves is almost indecent. On the drive to work Monday, they’re still mostly green but curling slightly at the edges. Come Tuesday and Wednesday they’ve turned an all-over sickly yellowish-brown. On Thursday they start to shed, really getting into the swing of it by Friday, so when the weekend arrives, all you’re left with is a naked tree trying not to be noticed. Not exactly what I would consider a positive herald for the onset of cooler temperatures.

Halloween fell on a Saturday, and I optimistically prepared for some trick-or-treaters to call. I live too far off the beaten track for little kids to come to my house, but I can usually count on at least one group of teenagers to hit me up. So I get the good candy. No suckers or bubblegum and not a single gummy anything. Strictly chocolate at my house because whatever is left, I’m going to eat.

What none of us had counted on was the rain. It began late in the morning and continued on through the afternoon and evening, showing no sign of letting up. It was the wettest Halloween since, well, I couldn’t remember, but at least since I was old enough to get dressed up and go trick-or-treating.

Those parents who prefer that their kids not go door-to-door have the option of attending the Fall Festival, an annual event put together by local churches of all denominations and held in the volunteer fire hall. The kids still get to dress up and are encouraged to indulge in a free-for-all sugar high. There are the usual games, raffles, and bake sales, as well as contests for most original, most frightening, and funniest costume. Anyone under ten gets a prize, no matter how they’re dressed. Personally, I think they should just give each kid a handful of sugar cubes and a big glass of Kool-Aid as they come through the door.

The Sheriff’s Department has always been heavily involved with the festival, and for the past couple of years it was Suellen DuPree’s task to organize the event. This year she declined, which was no huge surprise to anyone, but even Laycee agreed that asking her had been the right thing to do.

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