Phantoms of Folklore

The Silk Cotton Tree

Evil specters, restless ghouls gather here in glee

They are drawn to the magic of the Silk Cotten Tree

 

The Silk Cottin Tree

It was a sight to behold: the silk cotton tree. It was easily the tallest tree in Miss Marjory's garden. It towered over everything in her yard including her two-storey house. It spread its canopy of leaves several feet in every direction, providing a cool shady area for Miss Marjory's son Tommy to sit in. And that is exactly where he sat, on the day before Halloween, gazing up at the pods that dotted the silk cotton tree. They were swaying slowly in the gentle breeze. He knew that if one fell and was burst open, there would be those fuzzy, pale yellow seeds inside. Those seeds could be used to make fluffy white balls of cotton. Thinking of cotton made him think of clouds. He got up and edged out from under the cover of the tree to take a peek at the clouds in the sky.

The sky was an endless canvas of blue. There were no clouds today at all. There was nothing to stop the sun's rays from beating down directly upon him. Tommy began to head back to his shady spot when a voice caught him off-guard.

"Boy! Didn't I tell you not to go under that silk cotton tree?" yelled his stepfather Bryson. 

Tommy emerged from under the tree. He trudged into the house without a word. He went to his room and shut the door quietly behind him. It was better not to say anything at all to Bryson, especially if his mother, Marjory, was not at home. Bryson was not one of those stepfathers that desired to make their stepchildren feel like their own children. Bryson had no children and wanted no children and did not like children and Tommy was one of the children he did not like the most.

When Marjory got home from work, Bryson complained about Tommy's "gross disobedience" concerning the tree. He ordered that Tommy not be allowed to go out with his friends for Halloween as punishment. Tommy figured he would make this demand. Bryson had not wanted Tommy to take part in Halloween the moment he had suggested it. Bryson hated anything that involved the supernatural or superstitions. Tommy secretly felt that Bryson was terrified of the silk cotton tree as he would never venture into that half of the yard and was constantly trying to find someone who was willing to cut it down for him.

Marjory agreed with her husband, telling Tommy in a stern voice that he was not to go anywhere on Halloween night. As soon as Bryson had fallen asleep, however, Marjory tip-toed into her son's room to tell Tommy that he could go out for Halloween as long as he could avoid being seen by Bryson. Tommy sighed. His mother was as afraid of Bryson as he was. The only difference between Tommy and Marjory in this situation was that Marjory had chosen to bring Bryson into their lives and Tommy had not.

The following day was as blue and cloudless as the previous one. As Tommy left the house for school, he noticed Bryson stumbling around in the living room. He must have been drinking either from earlier in the morning or last night. Tommy silently hoped that Bryson would have fallen into a deep drunken sleep by the time he got home. Then, Tommy would be able to meet his friends to go trick-or-treating.

Tommy came home that day to find exactly what he had hoped for. Bryson was slumped over on the couch, snoring loudly. There were several empty glass bottles scattered on the floor near to the foot of the couch. Tommy could not hold back a gleeful smile. He ran to his room. He was going to be a toad for Halloween. He had made the costume himself, paying for the materials with the small monthly allowance Marjory gave him. He had transformed a green hooded jacket by sticking green paper mache bumps on it for the warts of a toad. He had made two black eyes on the front of the hood. He wore green pants, gloves and shoes in addition to the warty jacket with the hood kept up.