Enjoy a spooky little story to celebrate Halloween!

In the middle of the garden, there is a pit. It is deep, and dark, and filled with bones. But not the scary kind from dead bodies. Well, maybe they are from dead bodies, you’re not entirely sure. All you know is what your eyes are telling you, which is that there are bones, skeletons more accurately… and they’re dancing. You shake your head trying to reel yourself back to reality, but this is all your sight comes back to again and again.

You edge closer to the grassy lip of the pit, looking down upon the… festivities? There are a dozen or so skeletons. Some are complete. Some are missing a limb or two. Some have limbs in the wrong places. Some have too many. The skeleton closest to you has their legs and arms swapped. Not legs as arms and arms as legs, but rather lefts on the right and rights on the left.

Without a thought, you catch your feet carrying you down the side of the pit. By the time you think to stop, you are already at the bottom. A skeleton with three arms places a crown of black, bleeding roses on your head.

“I didn’t believe you were supposed to be here for a while longer, but it is a wonderful treat to see you tonight.”

Your head tilts. “I’m sorry, but what is this?”

The skeleton turns around. The other skeletons are performing a classical ball dance around a stuffed pumpkin man as tall as a house. While they cannot smile, you can tell they would be if they could.

“This is our welcoming ceremony,” the skeleton says, pulling your attention back.

“Welcoming for what? For who?”

The skeleton laughs, their voice beginning light and airy, but quickly plummeting deep and dark. Something in your stomach turns. They cock their head.

“Why for all the lost, doomed souls. Yours has been well anticipated.”

Before you can respond, you feel the thorns digging into your skull for the first time since the crown was placed on your head. The blood drips onto your eyes, and your skin begins to feel loose. You go to scream, but all the air from your lungs has been sucked away.

You crumble to the ground in pain as your skin slowly peels itself away from your bones and your muscles dissolve into mush.

As you come to again, you feel light. You go to open your eyes, only to find that you have nothing to open and nothing to open to. And yet your gaze meets a skull’s above you.

“Welcome, friend. Do you know who you are? What you’re doing here?”

You go to respond, but nothing comes to mind. You lower your gaze and shake your head. The skeleton smiles, you think. They extend a bony hand to you.

“You’re home.”

You raise your gaze back to theirs. You reach to meet their outstretched hand with a bony hand of your own.

“Come,” they say. “We’ve been waiting a long time for you.”