The Party

The Story Spark was Halloween. I took the quote from Ray Bradbury, which is the first sentence in my piece.  I also added two of the prompts within my writing: “A Halloween Party” and “Drinking the witch’s brew.”

The Party

Suddenly the day was gone, night came out from under each tree and spread. I found myself in the middle of a forest. Of course, where else would I have found myself on Halloween? 

I took some deep cleansing breaths, trying to remember all that had happened to me. I had been at a party. I remember that. I can’t remember who had invited me, but based on the people who were there, it was a costume party. 

I looked down at what I was wearing and discovered I was dressed as a dragon. As I am partial to dragons, I guess that was cool. 

I remember noticing a particular costume that caught my attention. It was one of a witch. As I drew closer to her, I saw that she was handing out drinks from something that she was brewing in her cauldron. I didn’t recognize anyone who approached her. There was something overpowering about her demeanor. I couldn’t stop myself from going to her. 

When I got there, she handed me a cup of her brew. 

“Drink it,” she cackled. “It will give you what you are looking for.”

Considering I had no idea what I was looking for, I drank the potion. It was sweet, with the pleasant smell of a forest green. 

The next thing that happened was that I found myself in the middle of a forest, with the day giving way to night under the trees. 

Under normal circumstances, I would look around and try to find my friend Ronald. If anyone were to trick me into a situation like this, it would be him. But he was nowhere in sight. Besides, he’s not one to fool around with drugs or whatever it was that I drank, and I don’t remember seeing him at the party. 

I decided to explore my surroundings. It only took one step for me to leave the ground. I found myself flying over the woods now. What else would a dragon do? 

Just out of curiosity, I took a deep breath and blew the air out of my nose. Well, it wasn’t air that came out of my nose, but fire. 

I need to find the person who gave me this costume. It was really authentic. 

As I left the forest, I could see houses below me. They looked very familiar. I spotted my house and was going to fly down to it when I had another idea. It was but a dragon’s breath away, and perfect for me to land…Ronald’s house. What could possibly go wrong with scaring him? 

Just as I landed, he came out of his front door. But it was not the Ronald that I expected. This Ronald was much older-looking, and he had a strange device in his hand aimed directly at me. On his T-shirt, it read, “DRAGON SLAYER” in all caps. 

I made a quick U-turn and headed back to the woods, just as Ronald pulled the trigger on his device. Luckily, he missed, and my life was spared. 

All that exertion tuckered me out. I found a spot in the woods and went to sleep.

The next thing I knew, someone was shaking me by the shoulder. It was Ronald.

I found myself not in the woods, but at my house. I must have fallen asleep. 

Ronald was standing over me in that same dragon slayer costume, telling me to hurry up and get dressed or we’d be late for the Halloween party. He had heard that there would be a real witch there this year. 

I looked over and saw a dragon costume sitting in the corner, then back at Ronald the dragon slayer and said, “I think I’ll skip the party this year.”

All he could say was, “Suit yourself,” and he left. 

What could possibly go wrong?