literature

Tricks and Treats

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Literature Text

Mindy sighed as she landed her broomstick in the back garden.  She was glad to be home; the witches meeting had gone on for several days and she was dying for a proper cup of tea.  

“Hubble Bubble Cauldrons are all very well but you’d think the caterers would be able to make a decent cup of tea!”  She pushed open the back door and leant her broom in a corner.  Snapping her fingers, the kettle switched itself on and began to boil.  “Too hung up on their ‘eye of newt’, the lot of them.  So much for getting with the modern times.”  She lifted off her black hat, revealing long red hair which coiled down her back in gentle curls.  She slipped off the long black travelling cloak and straightened her folds of her emerald green dress.

As a new witch, only twenty eight, she felt out of place when with her sister witches, many of which were over three hundred years old and carried on like it was still the dark ages.  They lived in caves or tiny huts in the middle of deep forests.  Mindy however quite liked her modern little house in the little town of Fenley-by-Sea.  Her family had lived here for generations and, despite her calling to witchcraft, had kept her job at the book shop.  After all, it dealt in some rare books and she had picked up some quite useful information while she had been working there.

Tea made, she sat down, put her feet up and took a sip, just as the doorbell rang.  She ignored it.

“Trick or treat, smell our feet; give us something good to eat!”  A chorus of teenagers called out.  Mindy groaned; with the meeting running on so long she had completely forgotten about Halloween and hadn’t bought the local kids any candy.

She was just getting up when she heard a series of small thuds.  She opened her front door to see a group of teenagers, all wearing their normal clothing and a shop-bought mask, laughing as they threw eggs at her house; smashing them against her windows and walls.

“Stop that you little hooligans!”  Mindy commanded.  “I…hey!”  An egg smashed against her dress and dripped down to her shoes.  “This is my best dress!  You need to be taught a lesson in appropriate behaviour.”

“Get her!”  One of the boys yelled.  “She should have treated us while she had the chance!”

“What are you…hey!”  Mindy gasped in alarm as three of the group rushed at her, while two went to pull down her washing line. In no time at all they had pushed her against the veranda support and had tied her wrists behind her.  “This is not funny.  You wait till I tell your parents…mphhh!”

“That should keep her quiet.”  Jimmy grinned as he tied a spare cloth candy bag between Mindy’s lips.  “Hurry up, we’ve still got loads of houses to visit and I want more candy!”

“Almost done.”  Ricky bound Mindy’s ankles while his twin brother Danny tied the rest of the washing line around Mindy’s waist, pulling her tight against the support.  “That should hold her.”

“Come on, we’ll hit the Henderson’s next.  And lady, next year, make sure you have candy or we’ll do this to you again!”

“Mphhh” Mindy struggled and glared as she watched the group move on.  She twisted and pulled but couldn’t get the ropes off, though she did manage to push the cleave gag away from her mouth.  “Hello, is anyone there?  I could use some help?”

“Trick or treat, Mindy…oh no, what happened?”  A group of young girls had arrived, followed by a parent.  These children had made a real effort and she was sorry she didn’t have any sweets in the house for them.

“Hello girls; my, don’t you look lovely!”  Mindy smiled as they approached.  “I don’t suppose you young ladies could untie me, could you?”

“Sure, Mindy!”  The girls set to work as the parent approached; Mindy recognised him as Keith Jefferson, he lived further down the street.  He took one look at her and tutted.

“Was it the Stevenson twins?”  He began untying her ankles as he spoke.

“Yes, and some others, led by that obnoxious little Jimmy Lloyd.”  Mindy, mindful of the young girls’ presence, managed with difficulty to avoid swearing.  “They egged my windows and tied me up when I tried to stop them.”

“They’ve been egging windows all over town.”  Keith helped Mindy to stand up as the ropes fell away.  “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. “  Mindy smiled sweetly.  “I’ll just have to make sure I’m better prepared next year.  Give me a minute and I’ll see what I have for these young ladies; I’m sure I have some biscuits somewhere. “

---

The following year, Mindy did indeed prepare for Halloween.  First, she bought plenty of candy and put it in a large bowl then she decorated her veranda with carved pumpkins, Halloween bunting and decorative spiders.  Finally, she considered what had happened last year and wove a few simple spells, with a mischievous look on her face.  “It is Halloween, after all; I don’t see why I can’t have a bit of fun too!”  She even dressed the part, wearing a black dress, her cloak and hat.  “If only people realised this is not how a witch normally dresses.”  She considered some of her sister witches and sighed.  “Well, not unless you’re over a hundred years old, anyway.”

She lit the pumpkins as it got dark, and waited.  It wasn’t long before the first of the local children started arriving, two girls dressed as witches and a boy covered by a sheet.  Mindy laughed and offered them the candy.

And so the evening passed quite uneventful to start with, until the doorbell rang just as Mindy was settling down to watch a film.  She glanced out of the window and saw Jimmy Lloyd and the twins outside, pointing at the decorations.

Picking up the bowl of candy, she opened the door with a beaming smile on her face.  “Happy Halloween!”

“Yeah, whatever!”  Jimmy pushed forward and snatched the bowl from Mindy’s hands.  “Nice candy, thanks!”

“Hey, you can’t take it all, what about the other children?”  Mindy tried to grab it back as Jimmy tipped all the candy into their bags.  

“What about them?”  Jimmy shrugged and dropped the bowl onto the floor, smashing it.  “Lady, don’t make trouble or we’ll do to you what we did last year.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”  Mindy growled.  “And you owe me for a new bowl; that was a gift!”

“I warned you, lady.  Boys, it looks like we have to teach her a lesson again!”  Jimmy put down his bag and patted his pockets.  “Damn, forgot to bring some rope.”

“Pull some of those decorations down.”  Ricky pointed at the bunting.

A few minutes later, Mindy found herself tied to the veranda again, just like last year.  They had wound the bunting all around her and used one of the sponge spiders as a gag, tying its legs around her head.  She watched as Jimmy pulled a box of eggs from his bag.

“Do it, boys!”  Jimmy hurled the first egg at Mindy’s window but, instead of smashing against the glass, it rebounded and hit Jimmy in the face.  Mindy started laughing into her gag as the other boys tried to egg her windows and found they suffered the same fate.

“What the hell?”  Ricky threw two eggs together and ducked as they bounced back, sailing over his head and hitting Jimmy.  “Let’s just go, we got the candy.”

Chuckling to herself, Mandy watched them run off; one of her spells had been to protect the house, causing any missiles to bounce back.  The expression on their faces would have her laughing for some time to come.  

“Time to get myself free.” Mindy thought.  She twisted and pulled until her fingers found the knots in the bunting.  As she touched each one, it slowly unravelled and a few minutes later, she was free.

“Right, this year those boys are going to get what’s coming to them.”   Mindy muttered as she collected her broom.  Making sure nobody could see her; she rose into the air and went to find her tormentors.

---

“How much candy do we have?”  Jimmy held up his bag to see a good sized bulge.  

“Plenty, thanks to that last house.   I….yuck!”  Ricky had opened his bag and dropped it in horror.  “Where’s my candy?”

The boys looked at the bag, which now contained various pieces of vegetables and fruit.  As one, Danny and Jimmy checked theirs and groaned when they saw several florets of broccoli sitting amongst some apple slices.

“How?”  Jimmy screamed, a childish tantrum erupting.

“That witch did it!”  Ricky looked petrified.  “She must be a real one.”

“Oh no, what if she cursed us?”  Danny moaned.

“Listen to yourselves!”  Jimmy pulled himself together and glared at them.  “There are no such things as witches.  What are you, five years old?”

“Then how…?”  Danny began.

“I don’t know.”  Jimmy shrugged.  “Perhaps she did a switch when we weren’t looking.   Next Halloween, she is going to pay for it!”

---

Above the bickering boys, Mindy laughed as she headed for home.  “See you next year, boys; I’ll be ready for you!”

Happy Halloween!:pumpkin:

 

Also for :iconlive-love-write:'s weekly prompt.

 

 

© 2013 - 2024 Created-By-Caz
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sliferred123's avatar
a very charming story. i can see why DLD choose it