Jack O' Lanterns, Moonlight, and Magic
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman
Chapter Two: The Perfect Costume

The moment I pushed open the door and stepped into the shop was the moment I felt like I'd been transported to a macabre wonderland. Racks of costumes and masks as far as the eye could see. Scattered around the sales floor were macabre animatronics in the form of moving witches with green skin, long, hooked noses with straw like hair. Robotic werewolves leaned and howled. Fake blood oozed down the wall. And a loud cackle echoed through the store.

At the far back I could see a few plastic trees that were covered with faux like spiderwebs. Large, plastic, black spiders were scattered around these webs. The bark on the trees were dark brown and in some cases black. The leaves on the trees were also brown and black with mold. The branches were twisted and hung low. Under the branches one could find dozens of fake, plastic tombstones. That was one side of the store, one corner. Right across from it in the other corner of the store was a kind of haunted swamp. 

I was lost for words. I was over the moon. Being the youngest member in my extended family, I'd been gifted dozens of dog eared paper novels, many of them were Goosebumps novels, those seemed to have been really popular when my many aunts and uncles were learning to read. And you could get them for about a dollar a pop from the Methodist Second Hand store. I'd also grown to love Fear Street because unlike the tame Goosebumps stories the horror was always more realistic and unlike Goosebumps you could always count on somebody getting murdered in slasher like fashion in Fear Street.

I was also a fan of Are You Afraid of The Dark? That cult classic of Nickelodeon. So I was really digging the creepy, spooky mood of the store. 

“This is so cool!” I said blushing as I started to walk toward the haunted graveyard section. It was that moment I felt something touch my shoulders. I quickly spun around and there standing behind me was a woman, who was a good head or two taller than me. She had pretty blue eyes and pretty blonde hair. She wore a form fitting shirt and a pair of jeans. A name badge in the shape of a pumpkin had the name “Lily Potter” printed on it. And below that was printed “Shift Leader”.

“Hello.” The blonde haired woman said to me as she peered at me. “Welcome to the Spirit of Halloween. I'm the Shift Leader here, Lily Sarah Potter. How may I help you today?” She said in a gentle tone of voice that reminded me of Cerridwen for a moment. Just her manors that all.

“Oh I'm looking for a costume.” I said blushing a little. Lily seemed to mentally measure me. 

“Oh?” Lily said, folding her hands behind her back as she leaned forward. “Are you looking for something girly? Or are looking for something kind of tomboyish. Because we have costumes for everybody.”

“Oh cool..” I said, “I'm kind of looking for a costume that is kind, cute, and kind of alluring. We're kind of having an autumn dance at school. And I  kind of need a costume that kind of cute, flirty.. and something that won't get me kicked out or hauled the coach's office to get told off.” I said, forcing a laugh.

“Oh..” Lily said, smiling. “What school do you go to?” 
I shifted my eyes away from Lily and softly I said. 

“I go to Benton Academy, where they have their yearly Halloween Carnival. And well, I think Halloween is the kind of perfect time of the year to show everybody who I really am inside.” I said as I peered toward Lily who was swaying from one side to the other.

“Oh cool.” Lily said, smiling. “Well take your time and look around and tell me if you want to try something on.” And with that Lily turned around and started to walk away. Leaving me along with my thoughts. And free to wander around the store.

And so taking a deep breath I started to walk around the store. I wanted to find that perfect costume. The one that would truly express who I was inside. And so I started to think about what kind of costume would best suit me. Like what colors would go well with hair color? And what colors would match my eyes. And what seemed like the most pressing concern to me, how the fabric of the costume would feel.

I was mindful of how much money I had in my pocket. Halloween costumes are not cheap, and a good costume would take a good chunk out of your pocket book. I knew I had around a hundred and twenty dollars in bills, my old leather wallet and a few hundred more in my checking account that I could access with my visa checking card.

Finally, I found something that seemed to leap out at me. It appeared to be a bridal dress that had seen better days. It was tattered and a bit short. It was also strapless or the picture implied. The veil was tattered in the end and the bridal gloves seemed tattered at the end.

“Wow..” I said blushing as I reached out and picked the package off the hook. I don't know why I was blushing, but as I held the plastic package in my hand I felt a vision of me wearing it, wearing it and turning all the heads of the boys at the dance. I found myself wanting to be the center of their attention to be the center of their world. I found myself wanting to flirt with them, to maybe even see how it would feel to kiss them. I wanted to see how their lips would taste. And then a thought popped into my head that made my jaw drop. I wanted to know how it would feel to hold their balls in my hand, to play with them.

At this point my face was so red I was sure clouds of steam would be pouring out of my ears. My blood started to boil. I knew I had to try this costume on. The size said the costume would fit all girls size “Small” whatever that meant.

“Hey!” A loud, clearly female voice called behind me! “Find something you want?” I nearly fumbled the costume and dropped it out of my hand. The voice startled me. 

“Yes ma'am!” I said, turning to see Lily smiling at me. 

“Oh! That one, going for broke I see. You know it's not really strapless cause it comes with these clear straps that hold  up the front of the dress. Normally you can't see them but sometimes you can.” Lily then paused and shifted her eyes away from me.

“Here!” She said as she reached over and picked up a costume that was almost the same only this one was not strapless. The dress was still a bridal dress. But a more modern updated version than the one I was holding in my hand. It still looked like it had seen better days though. 
It also had sleeves, puffy, bell shaped sleeves. I felt my cheeks starting to blush, the girl on the front of the package looked around the same age as me. The woman on the first package looked several years older than me.

“It has a low cut bodice so it's kind of sexy. And trust me this will drive all the boys wild. Most girls will stick to either Vampires, Princesses, or Cheerleaders. Some people are daring and go for devil girls and such. But few will go as a ghost bride.” Lily said.

I started to shift my weight from one side of my body to the other. 

“Mind if I try it on?” I said, smiling a little.

Lily smiled and then reached down and took her hand into my hand. 

“Of course!”  Lily said, smiling as she guided to a small walled off area. There I found two doors. The doors kind of looked like the doors you would find at a hospital. Or maybe they had been painted to look like the doors you find at a hospital. A bright neon sign above the two doors read. “Operation Ward” and a bloody handprint had been painted on the part of the door that was supposed to be glass. 

“Okay!” I said blushing a little as I pushed open the door. I was a bit crestfallen. The small, square room the door led to was nothing more than a small, square room with the only furnishing being a full floor length mirror and a metal folding chair.

Still blushing, I started to remove my hoodie first, followed by the pink, Sailor Moon graphic t-shirt that had been brought to me as a gag gift from Forever Twenty. Sailor Moon was my favorite anime, and while I'd fringed indifference at the gag gift. I'd secretly been over the moon. No pun intended.

Anyway once the hoodie was removed, I removed my Sailor Moon graphic t-shirt, and then my jeans and finally my shoes and socks, leaving me in just my boxers. And then a strange thought popped into my head. I should be wearing a bra and panties. Maybe some lace bridal set bra and panties. 

I pushed those thoughts out of my head and then slowly I slipped on the dress. I was amazed the dress seemed to mold itself to my body. I felt that blush starting to rise again as I slipped on the gloves and reached up and removed the hairband holding my hair in its ponytail. A cascade of reddish hair flowed down my back. A few seconds later I fixed the veil. Then taking a deep breath I turned around and faced the mirror. 

“This is me..” I said blushing. “This is me..” 

At that moment it felt like somebody had flipped a light switch. And the moment they flipped that switch was the moment a tiny light bulb above my head buzzed into life. Halloween, like I said before, is the perfect holiday to step out of your comfort zone. It's also the perfect holiday to show the world who you really are inside. Maybe the only holiday. I can not tell you what drew me to the costume I selected. I can only tell you another event had been set into motion. 

And so ends another chapter.