The Merriment Before Halloween

Into the Woods

I walked along the same old gray cobblestones, past the same old gray band, under the same old gray sky. The same sad tune drifts through the streets, following the lead of my current stature as I made my way through the quiet cemetery to the pumpkin patch. All of these pumpkins, sitting, waiting to be carved into frightening faces just to be casually tossed away November 1st. I wonder how, knowing of such an end, do these pumpkins continue to grow, to live for their demise. I placed a gentle hand on the smallest of the patch, tracing my fingers along every crease, deep in concentration. Here I am moping about being Queen when these thousands of pumpkins continue to grow, knowing they will die for mortal entertainment. I pulled my hand back in disgust of myself and walked to the edge of the patch towards the forest.

I had spent many years hiding away in these misty forests. It was a place of silence and comfort. I walked to my usual spot, a thick patch of dry rot trees, and sat on the fallen log covered in poisonous mushrooms. They make an awfully amazing cushion with their fluffy caps. I plucked a few from off the log and ripped them into pieces into my lap. I took out the bundle of cheese and peeled the wax paper off the sides, creating a makeshift cup. I sprinkled the mushrooms over the cheese, mashed them together and scooped it up with pieces of apple. As I enjoyed my snack, I leaned back against the tree. If my mother saw how relaxed I looked she would lose it. "A queen shouldn't slouch. A queen shouldn't eat such strange foods." When did she become so uptight I wonder sometimes.

A slight rustle distracted me from my thoughts. These woods are dead silent, the only signs of life being the maggots and flies eating the rotting flesh of plants and animals. This is the forest where things come to die.

Rustle, rustle.

This time it was louder. I stood up from my comfortable spot to investigate the sound when a small yellow frog hopped out. I bent down with cupped hands and scooped him up. After a quick examination I noticed the familiar T scar on its back.

"Test? How did you get here and where is your ever favorite mad scientist?"

Suddenly there was another rustle coming from the woods. I looked up holding the frog close for his protection when I saw bright purple hair peak out from the leaves. I knew who this was. This was the owner of Test, which is all the more reason to keep this little guy safe from my psychotic best friend as appointed by my father. Unfortunately this crazy ghoul is also my cousin and as the law states, the first born cousin of the next in line must must serve as the emergency prior in case of an event of which all in line for the throne of the original family is permanently deceased. In other words, this chick has to stay around me all the time since she wasn't trained in the art of ruling but is trained to fight. She's basically my bodyguard and she's a real pain in the ass.

"What the devil is wrong with you Toxi!?"

She hopped out of the tree, landing harshly on the cold ground. She sashayed over to my sitting spot and looked up at me with a devilish smirk.

"Don't you know better than to use my father's name in vain Mari."

"That's not his name, it's what he is. Why do you keep abusing my father's gift for you, you ungrateful little swine!?"

"Oh boo hoo. Uncle Jackie gave me a chew toy. That thing isn't special anyway. Though I am pretty surprised it hasn't croaked yet," she said through a fit of laughter. After about a minute of laughing she noticed I didn't join her and stopped her cackling. "Aww... Not funny? You are so dead. It is just a stupid frog!"

"Put him back to normal. Then get out of my forest."

"Oh your forest? You think that all of this," she slithered up from the log and came nose to nose with me, "all of what my family has created, is yours?"