Quiet as a Spider

Despite having aged out of the program long ago, Gordon never stopped loving Halloween. Saying he had a lot of Halloween decorations would be an understatement, and adding to the clutter was his favorite pastime. The hoarding was worth it, though, because he always had the spookiest lot in the neighborhood. Sadly, that honor went to someone else that year. 
Dulled by painkillers, Gordon dozed in a coma-like state on his couch, oblivious to the horde of candy collectors trampling his grass on their way to the next target. None of them bothered to ring his doorbell and 
wake him because he had forgotten to turn his porch light on, falsely marking himself as a scrooge. 
It isn't a crime to skip the holiday altogether, but the darkened stoop, coupled with the few decorations in the yard, did catch the attention of some of the more mischievous children. To them, it was an invitation to smash jack-o-lanterns, kick over plastic skeletons, and treat the wicker witch hanging from the flagpole like a piñata. You really can't blame them, though. After all, some mild vandalism is expected on such a night, and nobody is more vexed by mixed messages than children. 
Later that night, Gordon woke to a single heavy knock on his door. He sat up, groggy from his nap. Surprised and aggravated at passing out on such an important night, he quickly slid his crutches under his arms and headed for the door. Excited to see what manner of creatures awaited him on his doorstep, he reached for the doorknob. Sadly, disappointment and a little boy in a Spiderman costume were all that greeted him. 
The little boy, covered head to toe in red and blue, wasn't the source of his dismay. No, it was the dawning realization Halloween had come and gone while he napped. The most obvious clues were the darkened doorsteps, empty sidewalks, and missing jack-o-lanterns. 
Mentally kicking himself for his stupendous blunder, he looked down at the little Spiderboy looking up through wide, white eyes rimmed in black. Dozens upon dozens of miniature Spidermen had visited him over the years. Never before had he considered the eyes to be off-putting. Standing there with nothing but moonlight illuminating the front steps, Gordon suddenly felt a chill run through every inch of his body. 
It wasn't fright he felt, but the boy's blank stare and quiet insistence did unsettle him. Although he couldn't muster the nerve to ask, he did wonder where the boy's parents were. Having nothing but size to go by, Gordon estimated he couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old. 
Finally, Gordon broke the silence. "Happy Halloween. Since you're my first visitor tonight, I'll let you pick...." His words faltered as he peered into the boy's bag and saw it was empty. It was clear no one else would be darkening his doorstep that night, so he did what all trick-or-treaters dream of. "You know what? Why don't you just take it all." And with that, he upended the entire bowl of candy into the little boy's sack. 
Any other child would have jumped for joy, chanting thank you after thank you, but not the quiet little Spiderboy. He simply peered into his sack and then looked back up at him. Caught off guard by the boy's lackluster response, Gordon nearly dropped his crutches when his Halloween-themed cuckoo clock came to life, shattering the awkward silence hanging over them. As if hypnotized by the clockwork ghost's stuttering, mechanical dance, he watched while it chimed off the hour with twelve quavering boos. By the time his focus returned to the front stoop, the eerie little Spiderboy was gone.
That next year, the little boy visited again at one minute to midnight. Plenty of miniature Spidermen visited that night like every other Halloween, but there was no mistaking any of them for the quiet little Spiderboy. Seeing the dawning of a new tradition, he upended his entire bowl of candy into the boy's empty sack. 
Once more, the uncomfortable silence was cut short by Gordon's cuckoo clock chiming the hour. When it uttered its tenth quavering boo, the little Spiderboy raised his arm and pointed to something behind Gordon. He turned and gazed into his house. By the time he turned back around, the cuckoo ghost had retreated, and so had the boy. 
Halloween came and went three more times before he finally stopped wondering about the little boy in blue and red who never made a sound or grew any taller. For Gordon, Halloween was a night of wonder, and he counted himself lucky to get a small glimpse of its magic. He often wondered how many people experience fantastical happenings each Halloween and never fully realize what they've witnessed. 
Many years passed before he finally gave up the ghost. Having no children of his own, he left his house to his niece. Afraid of sounding crazy, he never mentioned the quiet little Spiderboy to anyone. That first Halloween after Gordon's passing, Mary Jane was startled by someone knocking at the front door. To her astonishment, standing on her front steps was a young man in a green smock holding a box. She recognized him as an employee at the local grocery store. 
"Oh, hello, you startled me. Isn't it a little late for deliveries?" 
The delivery guy sheepishly handed her the package. "Yeah, but I guess my uncle had an arrangement with your uncle." 
"Did you say my uncle?" 
The young man, looking uncomfortable, tucked his hair behind his ears and cleared his throat before muttering, "Sorry for your loss. I really liked Mr. Munson. May-maybe you'll find some answers in there?" He pointed at the box and then hastily retreated. Before driving off, he yelled out, "Almost forgot. My uncle said to open it before midnight." 
Mary Jane gave the guy's tail lights a nod, rushed inside, and glanced at the cuckoo clock. Seeing it was just past a quarter to midnight, she opened the box in the doorway. Inside was a big plastic bowl of assorted candies and a card with a short message scrawled in her uncle's chicken scratch, "Say hi for me, won't you? Love always, your favorite/only uncle." 
She read the message again and again over the next few minutes, unable to hold back the grin on her face. After all, it was just like her uncle to send a gift on Halloween from beyond the grave. 
Eventually, she set the card aside and peered into the bowl of candy. Before she could decide which piece to try first, there came a knock at the door. 
 
Category:HWC23 
Category:Halloween 
Category:Ghosts 
Category:Kolpik