Lover in the Window

The House That Ambition Built

Halloween, 2020

"Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom."

— Bertrand Russell

The thing about Halloween that most people will carry with them their entire lives is that it's exciting to put on that mask. The greatest feeling in the world is to sometimes pretend you're not yourself. That's how Evelyn and Eli have always thought about it - like the majority of New Falls, the majority of Missouri, and the majority of the world for the matter. It is just after 4 PM when Evelyn and Raven returned home from the grocery store that had been over run from late minute shoppers, it has made them a little late for the small gathering among friends before they all got separated to their respective duties for the night.

Out of the entire group of Halloween practitioners, the one that is the up most excited is Ocean. To her parents' credit, they build up a highly intelligent, honest, and forth coming leader, but it is at the cost of slowly stripping away the traditions of commoners in the search for something more enduring for their child. It wasn't their plan but that's how it worked out for her. Ocean would be celebrating and partaking in the wave of excitement and fantasy fear that is All Hallows Eve for the first solid time in her life.

Raven is sitting on Eli's lap as the porch swing bobbed under them, and Naomi and Brendon Carpenter is standing next to their folding table on the porch, across the table sits multiple black bags with every color paint. Eli had invited them to promote their brand of art, and they would be doing face paintings on the children also. Raven loved those two from the start. He also thought of a way to promote Raven's salon by putting out a large sign next to the driveway. It read:

Halloween In the Hills,

Sponsored by Raven's Place, Salon & Beauty

After Raven's promotional sign at the start of the driveway, guest would be treated to a fake cemetery composed of dozens of tombstones, random skeletons, and spider webs that blew in the breeze behind it, Blair had strung up lights around the base of the fake graves, that by dark, would be illuminated with classic green and flickering oranges. The entirety of the right side of the yard would be dedicated to parking. Eli has somewhat of a doubt that anyone would show up but that thought is quickly abandoned by the stragglers that would pull up the driveway with their cars, have a look around, and leave.

"They're testing the waters I guess," Raven says.

Between Eve's proclaimed Spooky House, and Eli's house there is Luke, Ocean, Evelyn, and Blair fighting with the giant inflatables. Blair switched on the pump that is concealed in a box just under the green scales of the large dragon inflatable. She flipped it on, the motor cranked at a high speed, and it loudly sucked in air. Slowly, the giant dragon rose up over their heads, and cast a thick shadow across the yard. The dragon is green, and blues, and from its mouth is a bobbing flame of fire. Each inflatable served a function. The dragon doubled as s sight to behold and a bouncy house, with the rubber balls inside decorated like flames.

"The kids will love this one," Blair states as she looks upward at it and gives it a good punch on the side. The second inflatable is a large witch with her caldron between her hands. The Witches Brew it is called. The function of that one is a bounce house as well. The last inflatable is Haunted House Maze - where kids can get lost inside and have to bounce around to get out of it. It wasn't as large as one would imagine but it sure had tight spaces where a kid would get squeezed chest and back to get through. It didn't have a roof on that inflatable which is a good idea in Evelyn's eyes just in case of an emergency.