Alfred Fox Presents "Trick or Treat"

A short story by Alfred Fox Presents. Exclusive to Hubpages. Alfred Fox is a published author who writes violent and horrifying material. His writing, which is sometimes humorous will still, no doubt, leave you shocked, disturbed and provoked.

Be warned,

Alfred Fox Presents ..........

Henry was a fragile old man, now more than ever since he was left heartbroken after the death of his wife. Married for thirty three years, his wife Elisabeth had died just under a year ago, leaving him a widower at seventy two years of age. Leaving him alone, counting the days to when he would next see her again. No children to visit him, no pets to keep him company, he would sit alone most nights watching the television from his armchair or listening to his favorite programs on the radio.

Tonight however, Henry was expecting a little company. It was Halloween, and the children in the neighborhood would soon come knocking.

Henry and his wife had always loved Halloween, not so much for the frightful aspect of it all, but because of the adorable children who would knock on their door wearing their cute little costumes. Seeing how excited the children were and watching how happy and grateful they would become at receiving candy, Henry and his wife couldn't help but get a little excited themselves.

A bowl of candy sat on the small table that was positioned next to the front door, along with a row of pound coins for the children with the best costumes, however, every child had the best costume in Henry's eyes. Henry sat patiently in the doorway, hoping that he had bought enough candy, that he had enough pound coins, that his wife would be proud of him for carrying on the tradition without her. He thought back to last Halloween, how excited his wife had become, how giddy she was at the prospect of another child knocking on their front door. Never having any children of their own, it really was the only time of year that they had a chance in sharing in the celebrations with the children. Christmas was fun, but they only ever had a few Christmas carolers and they were usually adults from the town church. Halloween however, they had children passing through every ten minutes. Halloween, that was their night to have fun with the kids, it was their night to feel young again.

It was approaching six 'o'clock in the evening and from what Henry could remember, that was around the time that the children had visited on previous years. Sitting in his chair, he waited patiently. Approaching seven o' clock, he turned the television off so he would be able to hear the children walking up the path. As every hour passed, Henry became more downhearted and as it approached ten o' clock, Henry came to the realization...that nobody was coming.

Confused and staggered as to why nobody had came, Henry turned off the lights and headed upstairs to bed. It just didn't make any sense to him, the children had always come before. As he got undressed down to his long-johns, he knelt down at the side of his bed and began to pray.

"Dear Elisabeth, I miss you as always. I am sorry that the children never came, I don't know why they didn't come...they just didn't. I bought the sweets from the shop and asked Mr Taylor from the post-office for fifteen pounds in change, I prepared everything on the table just as you liked...I'm sorry Elisabeth...I love you"

Standing back up, Henry got into bed. Turning the bedroom lamp off as he did so. He didn't usually go to bed at ten o' clock, his usual time being just before midnight. However, feeling despondent more than ever, Henry just wanted to sleep.

Four hours later all that could be heard was Henry's snoring. When his wife was alive, she would always turn him onto his side. Not because the snoring was loud enough to disturb her sleep, but because she didn't want her beloved husband giving himself a sore throat. When Henry woke, it would be another painful awakening, another reminder that life would never be the same without his Elisabeth.

It had just gone two o'clock in the morning and Henry woke to what sounded like a knock on the door downstairs. Ignoring his pharyngitis, he immediately jumped out of bed and reached for his dressing-gown. Rushing to tie the cord around his waist, he pretended to ignore the sight of his hands shaking. Rarely had Henry been woken from his slumber and at this time of night, he wasn't afraid to admit he was a little panic-stricken of what waited for him downstairs. As he made his way down the staircase, he froze half way down the steps as there was another knock at the door. It wasn't a normal knock, not how most people would knock on a door at this time of hour. It was three knocks followed by two followed by three and followed by another two. Each knock with a distinct pause between them. It was as if somebody was tapping the beginning of a tune, only they weren't tapping, they were thumping, and it immediately sent a chill down Henry's spine.

Looking through the peephole in the door, Henry was surprised when he couldn't see anything. Not the best eyesight in the world but relatively good for a man of his age, he knew he would have seen somebody if they were there.

"Hello..." he shouted from behind the door, only to be met with a deafening silence. "Hello, who goes there?" he shouted again.

After waiting a few minutes, Henry plucked up the courage to open the door slightly, making sure to keep the door chain secure. Peeking through the opening of the door, he was relieved to see that nobody was there but at the same time rightfully concerned. Henry's house was pretty remote, his closest neighbors Mr and Mrs Burnyard lived a good ten minutes walk away, and as he unhooked the chain from the door and stepped outside in the cold, Henry found himself standing confused and alone.

Stepping back inside the house, Henry closed the front door, double locking it and securing the door chain he began to make his way back upstairs. Stopping again in his tracks, his blood running cold, Henry completely froze as he heard the chilling words come from behind him....Trick or Treat?

Slowly turning his stiffened body around, he expected to see somebody there, how could he not, after all he had heard what he had heard, he couldn't have imagined it. However on turning, he found himself looking at nothing but an empty dark hallway. Quietly walking back down the steps, flabbergasted at what he had just heard, he began to search the living room followed by the small kitchen at the back of the house. Convinced that nobody was there, he headed back to the front door. Looking through the peephole and following the same actions he did only moments ago, Henry found himself standing outside again in the cold, scanning the front lawn for any signs of life.

TO BE CONTINUED

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Alfred Fox has published two books, a short, yet disturbing fable called "When The Lights Go Out" about the final days leading up to the 2011 London riots, and a novel called "Rideum Amrous" a horrific crime thriller set in London. His books will guarantee to keep you awake at night and disturbed throughout your day.