It was October 31 st and I was awakened by my annual Halloween nightmare. I had dreaded Halloween since adolescence. As a little girl I had loved to dress up and go Trick Or Treating. In my early teens I enjoyed costume parties, until one terrifying night.
I was fourteen years old and was thrilled to have been invited to a costume party by Erica Atkins, one of the most popular girls I knew. Normally I only attended family parties and school events. I couldn’t believe that I had actually been included in something so cool.
I wasn’t a geek or anything like that, yet I was considered an outcast because of my looks. It wasn’t what you would expect. I was not unattractive. I was often complimented on my sapphire eyes and glowing blond hair. It was for that very reason that girls my age despised me. I was teased and even tripped in the hallways.
Erica was the ringleader, and she had actually sent me a personal invitation to her party. If Erica accepted me maybe everyone else would as well. Erica was unique. Her eyes were neon green and her bronze colored hair had florescent red highlights.
The party theme was fairy tales, so I showed up as Cinderella. After being dropped off by my dad,
I was greeted by Little Red Riding Hood, aka Lauren Sanders. I followed her into a candle lit room
full of witches, vampires and wolves. Suddenly, a pair of neon eyes zoomed in on me. There dressed in a black witches costume sat Erica.
” Melissa, so glad you could make it.” she chanted. Erica’s voice vibrated as if she were too close to a microphone. Her face twisted into a smirk, and her eyes dilated with hatred. “We have plans for you.” she continued. What could she mean by that remark?
” I think you’re a little bit too pretty.” Erica sneered. “Just like Cinderella. I bet you love to look in the mirror. Don’t you Cindy?” Erica cackled like a witch. Then it dawned on me. She was planning to disfigure me! Fear gripped me like a giant leach.
Lauren and the others closed in. “Please don’t hurt me!” I begged. They just mocked me and laughed hysterically. Then, just as I was sure I was about to be scarred for life, there was a knock at the door. My tormentors froze.
” What’s the matter? Can’t you take a joke?” Lauren taunted. I ran to the door, and was elated to find that my father had arrived early. I kept the events of that night to myself, and it had haunted me ever since. I needed to overcome my fear. I went to look in the mirror. The face I saw had a few wrinkles, yet I felt fortunate. My beauty had faded slowly and naturally, instead of being taken suddenly and violently 30 years earlier. Imagine my shock when those eerie glowing eyes appeared in my mirror!