With different eyes

Halloween Special

I stand at the railing and watch the Whitebeards grinning. The chaos crew is causing quite a commotion. It is shortly before midnight. I grin, liking the next day. "What's so special about the next day?" Ace asks me. I laugh and explain, "It's All Hallows Eve. Also called Halloween. It's a night of pranks and mischief. And there's candy and scary stories." Ace's attention was immediately caught. "Candy?" he asks me excitedly. "Is that all you got?" I ask him with a laugh. Everyone else looks at me curiously, not having overheard the conversation. "I was just explaining to Ace that tomorrow is a special day for us!" I explain to the crew. They continue to look at me curiously. I sigh and begin to explain, "Tomorrow is Halloween. It's a holiday, we do pranks and collect candy. It is also associated with ghosts. A myth says that on this night, many ghosts go to our world." Everyone laughs after this statement. I snort in offense, you have to respect the rituals of other peoples, no matter how ridiculous they seem to you! I grin meanly. Time to teach the Whitebeards some manners.

I sigh and say in a dramatic low voice, "It's true, we have a legend about a witch." I notice how the people are getting restless. Now it's getting exciting, I look at Marco who shakes his head and turns his head away grinning. I continue: "A legend says that a young and beautiful witch lives at the edge of a dark forest. Near her was a village and they lived side by side in peace for many years. Often the inhabitants of the village went to the witch when they needed help. But after years of peace, doom came to the village. His name was John Laywod. He fell in love with the witch, but she rejected him. The disgrace turned his heart black and he began to seek revenge. When a disease came upon the village, Laywod convinced the others to blame the witch. Since people always look for someone to blame, they believed him. On a dark moonless night, they attacked the witch and dragged her out of her house. She claimed her innocence, but in their anger and pain, the people did not believe her. They dragged her to a tree trunk and wanted to behead her, but before they could, the witch, in her rage, uttered a worshipful curse: 'I will not rest until everyone who knows my name has been brought to justice for this deed!' When she said her last words, Laywod beheaded her. According to the legend, her heart beat three times after that, in sync with the tower clock that announces the night of the dead. The next year the clock struck and Laywod heard the last three strokes before he died. One by one, all those who knew the name of the witch died, even those who were not there that night. All who knew the name died, because how do you kill a dead person? In the scriptures they all say they heard three knocks and saw a black shadow before their own hearts just stopped beating. But the name lived on in book and everyone who read it dies on Halloween. The witch's name is Sara Malone."

Everyone followed my story eagerly and when I finished it was midnight. At the same time, unnoticed, I knocked three times loudly against the railing. And already all except Whitebeard and Marco jumped up startled and yelled around. Still I can keep a serious face. But when they started running around in a panic and shouting "SHE'S COMING TO TAKE US!" I couldn't take it anymore. I'm laughing my head off while some are running below deck. Whitebeard is laughing his head off at the chaos and Marco comes up to me. As he stands in front of me he asks quietly, "When are you going to clear up this nonsense?" I grin and say, "Tomorrow morning until then, we can all have some fun. It's prank night after all." I see him grin and know I have found an accomplice. Whitebeard, looking at us, grins meanly. I think he will have his fun too. Little by little the people calm down, still at least! "That was mean!" says Ace. "That means you don't want to join in?" I ask him with a grin. "Of course I will!" Ace tells me.

Marco and I wait until the men go to sleep. Means: They sleep drunk on the deck. Whitebeard is already snoring in his chair. Only me and Marco are awake. "Shall we?" I ask Marco and he nods. Marco goes and gets thin wires and a pair of telesnails and a pair of wooden blocks. "Why do you guys have surveillance snails anyway?" I ask Marco.He shrugs and says, "We found them on one of the marine ships." I shrug my shoulders, never mind. We set our trap and wait. We hide in a chamber and wait for our victim. Ace is also excited. And after a while one of the victims is coming, too. Marco and I grin and pull on a string. The first sound is a knock and the man turns around in panic. Then I grab the den den mushi and murmur, "No one who knows my name!" The same sounds distorted through the corridor. The man's knees shake. And he pushes himself against the wall. Marco grins at me. Then he reaches with his hand through a hole in the wall that is covered and grabs the man's shoulder. We have meanly wrapped the hand in black lacquer and soaked it with fake blood. The man runs away with a marrow-shaking scream. Marco and I laugh our heads off and we look for a new location. In another room we wait for new victims and look, there are already some. Again I breathe into the den den mushi and the man turns around in panic. I try not to laugh which is not so easy and also Marco has his dear trouble. It's good that he's on my side, because he knows every hole and every nook and cranny here. Why? This room has a big hole in the wall which is covered by a picture on the other side. I soak my hand in fake blood and splash it on the picture. The paint seeps to the other side of the picture and a bloody handprint appears on the other side. I hear screaming and pattering of feet. Me and Marco laugh ourselves cheekily. Then we change location again. We do a few more such pranks until the whole Moby is in an uproar. Then we take a leisurely stroll back to the deck where everyone is running around in a panic. Only Whitebeard sits in the throne and grins. Marco and I grin at him. Everywhere people are now looking for the ghost.

I sit down on the railing and Marco leans next to me. People are running around in a panic. They even go in groups. Marco turns to me and says, "Well, you've made quite a mess of things." I turn to him with a grin and say, "First of all, did you join in! Second, you're hardcore pirates, why are you afraid of a ghost story." Marco laughs and shakes his head. "When do you think they'll notice the mistake?" I ask. "You mean that you know the name and yet you're still alive?" ask Marco, amused. I nod and he shrugs. The panic lasted all day. It was just before midnight the next day when Whitebeard says to me, "Kids won't you enlighten your siblings?" I pout and Marco laughingly says to the others, "The whole story was made up! Ghosts don't exist!" Everyone's mouths dropped open. "But all the apparitions!" some protested. "Wires, den den mushi, flour, food coloring and water!" I say, laughing. I hear people growling. "Listen to those two there are no ghosts!" says a dark voice behind me. I jump off the railing and see a transparent Gol D. Roger. He sits on the railing and waves at us with a grin. Everyone looks at him with wide eyes. The last chime of the day sounds and Roger fades away again. Stunned, I say, "Watch which door you knock on, you don't know who will open it. That's it never ever any more ghost stories!" Marco looks at me and snorts. That used to be Halloween.