"THE JIMJAM" --A HALLOWEENSIE STORY

The 11th Annual Halloweensie Writing Contest is here!!! Susanna Hill runs several fun kidlit micro-fiction contests, and Halloweensie is no exception.

This year's essential info:

• Write a 100-word Halloween story for kids aged 12 & under
• Must include glow-in-the-dark, goosebumps, and goodies
• Can be sweet, fun, or scary
• Entries to be posted between Oct. 29th & Oct. 31st on Susanna's blog
  

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• My piece squeaks in under the limit at 99 words & is a bit on the "scary" side. I enjoyed playing with a different genre from my usual. Hope you like it!

Photo credit: Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

THE JIMJAM
by Carrie Karnes-Fannin
 
Black licorice,
two bruised apples,
a toothbrush…
 
What kind of neighborhood is this?!? 
 
“Guys! C’mon, c’mon…one more.”
 
Your friends shrug.
They peel off, their glow-in-the-dark buckets
heavy with full-sized goodies.
 
Even your goosebumps have goosebumps
in the shivery October air.
 
You trudge on.
 
Under a broken streetlight,
on a shadowed street,
the house
​waits.
 
It gives you
heebie-jeebies...the willies…
the jimjams.
 
You mutter,
“I wouldn’t live here as a ghost,” 
 
Still…
you knock.
 
It opens--
empty, wide.
 
“Oh, aren’t you a sweetie?” A nothing beckons.
“Come! We’ll fill that bag right up.”
 
No treats for you tonight--
you’re tricked.

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