Shake Rattle and Roll: Halloween

Haunted

The Curtis family had been thrown into a pit of despair since their son, Tommy, had gone missing six months ago. One moment he was playing in the backyard beneath the beautiful, sprawling oak tree, and the next, he vanished without a trace. Desperate searches yielded no clues, and hope dwindled with every passing day.

Now, as autumn leaves began to fall, sending a chill into the air, they were prepared to hold a small memorial for Tommy. The house felt heavy with grief, echoes of laughter replaced by silence, and the air seemed to hang thick with guilt and sorrow. They couldn’t shake the feeling that they should have done more.

Just as they were about to light a candle in Tommy’s memory, a frantic knock interrupted their mourning. Daisy, Tommy’s mother, rushed to the door, heart racing. To her disbelief, standing at the threshold, drenched in the cold, damp earth of the woods, was Tommy. His blue eyes glistened, curiously bright yet unnaturally shimmering under the dim porch light.

“Mom!” he exclaimed, his voice a mix of bewilderment and buoyancy. “I’m back!”

Daisy knelt to embrace him, overwhelmed with a tidal wave of relief and joy that was quickly pierced by a thread of unease. Tommy felt different—his touch was cooler than she remembered. She pulled back to look at his face more closely and noticed small, dark smudges around his eyes and an uncharacteristic chill to his smile.

“Where have you been, sweetie?” she asked, trying to suppress the tremor in her voice.

“I can’t remember,” he said, darting his gaze to the ground where leaves rustled faintly. “But it was fun… I met someone.”

Mark, Tommy’s father, joined them, and as he crouched down, the warmth in his eyes faded. “You… you did this to us?” His voice cracked in a mix of relief and accusation. “You made us worry for so long! Coming in here like this—”

“I’m home, Dad,” Tommy interrupted, his voice dropping to a whisper, “but it’s… not the same anymore.”

The bright joy that had filled Daisy's heart began to fade as a shadow passed across her son’s face. She stepped back instinctively, memories of the morning Tommy had disappeared flooding back—whispers of a strange figure in the woods, a fleeting glimpse in the corner of her eye.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Mark finally said, though the uncertainty in his eyes told Daisy he felt it too. They brought Tommy inside, where familiar sights should have brought comfort, yet an uncomfortable tension filled the room.

Tommy sat at the kitchen table, still in his dirt-stained clothes. He laughed and spoke about fantastical things—bright lights in the forest, new friends who had taken him on wild adventures. But with each story, an evening fog rolled into the dining room, darkening the corners and seeping into their home.

As the three of them settled into an awkward routine, another noise pulled Daisy’s attention, a faint whisper. It grew more insistent, a blend of childish giggling and eerie cooing that seemed to echo from outside—a call she couldn’t quite place but felt she should recognize. She glanced toward the window to see a shadow darting through the trees, and for the briefest moment, she thought she saw more than just the flicker of autumn leaves.

Tommy looked up suddenly, his eyes reflecting both fear and fascination. “They want me to go outside,” he said softly, a struggle evident in his voice. The air thickened with a heavy anticipation as Daisy noticed his fingers twitching like they were being pulled by a string toward the door.

“Tommy, what do you mean?” Daisy asked, her heart racing in panic, but before she could react, she felt a cold breeze swirl around her, and the kitchen lights flickered ominously.