From the author of The Apple Kingdom...

And so, as Halloween drew closer, so too did the kitchen cupboard become more filled with candy. Little Abby-Aaron snuck into the kitchen, his little grubby fingers groping widely at the air. “Just one won’t be missed.” He told himself with wide eyes and a devious smile.
However, just as he was reaching into the bag, a clawed hand made entirely out of candy reached out and grabbed Abby-Aaron by the wrist, pulling him in.
Inside the cupboard, he let out silent screams as he found himself packed into the bag he’d just been reaching for - as a roll of Smarties!

There he stayed unable to be heard, unable to move. “Dear Lord,” He thought. “If ever I get out of here, I swear I’ll never sneak another piece of candy again!” The nights went on as he thought and prayed. But, Halloween came upon them all too soon. His surroundings shifted. He could feel the bag move. He looked up, shocked. His mother was pouring the bag, and Abby-Aaron, into the candy bowl. He landed on a pile of assorted Hershey’s and Reese’s with a roll, crunch, and an echoing crinkle.

The hours went by. His heart leapt- for all the sugar it was now- every time the doorbell rang. However, each time he thought he was done for the children would dig further into the bowl, scrounging wildly for the milk chocolate underneath him. He was buried, lost in tide of sugar and plastic. A nearby roll broke beside him and threw some of its broken, powdery pieces onto his package. He froze in terror. The bowl was placed down. And for a while, nothing happened. He began to think that all the children were done. His spirits rose. Then, the doorbell rang.

Ring-a-ding! He felt his heart jump in his wrapper. Ring-a-ding! His sister came to the door. Ring-a-ding! She lifted the near-empty bowl off the wooden stool. Creeeeeeak!
“Trick or Treat!” He heard a terrible squeal, high and cracking. He could’ve sworn his soul sweated where his powder body couldn’t. The bowl was lowered. He could see the cloudy sky, the roof of their porch- covered in cobwebs. And, he saw the beast. It lowered its stubby hands into the plastic dish and rustled around, pulling him out with another terrifying squeal! He screamed, screamed, though no one heard him. He fell, forever it seemed, into a white, airy tube. Thud! He landed in a sea of assorted snacks and prematurely empty wrappers.

He was waiting again, and looking around widely. He could feel something rapidly pulsing inside him. Blood, sugar? Fear! The minutes, hours, days (he thought) passed by. Nothing was around him but candy and white. Nothing happened but the shaking, and the eating. Finally, it was his turn. He felt the round serpents wrap themselves around him and pull him up. She looked at him directly, confidently, hungrily, and she stripped him of his cover. Immediately, he felt himself fall apart both physically and mentally. She reached down and gobbled up the first piece: his feet, a delectable orange. His mind blanked in shock. He began to lose himself in every way. And…….
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No one was sure what had happened to Abby-Aaron. Most assumed he’d been kidnapped by some child predator on Halloween night. Most learned to put his memory aside. Thus, his tale went untold for many long years, until….
“Jacob, we shouldn’t! It’s not Halloween yet!”
“Just one won’t be missed!”

Assorted Poems (A toon before the show)

Mist on the Treeline

Gold and Green
Spires reaching for the heavens
Arms reaching for the world
Standing
In sporadic lines
Constant, Fading, green and graying

A sea
Of white embraces them
Holds possessively to what eyes
Can’t
Reach

Sinking
Giants sink into each other
Row by Row
Thicker by the line

Drowning in white
Natures Titans fade slowly, gradually
Semi-sweet chocolate in watery milk
Silhouetted on a blind horizon

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You don’t need a thesis for a poem
(Working title)


I’m breathing her warmth
Her fine fibers soaking into my lungs
She shifts
It’s soft like pancakes
Tubby soft expands and recedes
Suffocating
“Get off my face, Kitty!”
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Ode to the Lamp-post

Ode to the Lamp-post
May you stand forever
And if you do
The man who made you
May ever be called clever

(I know, you've seen the last one before, but what the hey. Right?)

Greatest Game in the World..... Tribute.

Castle of the May Sigh on the Pale Blue Water
(A tribute)

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祉福明け ................. (shifuku ake – blessed Dawn)
湖の中 ..................... (mizuumi no naka – upon the lake)

ぞうげ城 ................... (zouge shiro – ivory castle)
残された物 ................(nokosareta mono – that which was left behind)
華麗な強さ ............... (karei na tsuyosa – an elegant strength)

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**********

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The blessings of Dawn
Sitting on the lake surface
Ivory Castle
Left by the ancients
Standing strong and elegant

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Authors note: This work was a collaborative effort between myself, Mom (who knows how to use a dictionary), and my sister, Eleanor (who is a walking Jap-English dictionary). Wait, what did I do?

There is no more, have a nice day.

Marlo stood agape. Someone had set his stuffed owl on fire.
"Wicky-woo!" He called to the charred fluffy remains, which were dangling from a tree by a jump-rope around it's neck. Marlo jumped up and down, trying to reach it, but it was too high for his 6 yr old arms to reach.

He ran inside, scrapping to a stop in the wood-floored living room.
"We just varnished that." His brother said, with his nose in a book. Marlo started to stutter and panic.
"Wi-wi-wi! Wicky-woo-hooo!" His brother looked up.
"What about him?"
"H-he-he! He's in the- Help!" Marlo turned a fine shade of red from the continuous screaming. His brother rolled his eyes and turned back to the book. "Wicky-woo!" Marlo cried again.
His brother rolled his eyes a second time and put a marker in his book.
"Yah, yah." He said, messing Marlo's hair as he stood. "Let's go see ol' Wicky."

Soon, his brother was standing with a mouth wide open. Marlo hopped up and down, reaching wildly. "Help!" He cried. A tremendous grin spread across his brothers face as he took in the sight. Marlo stopped jumping and ran up to him. "Oh, please help!" He said again, pointing to the tree. His brother looked down at him and, with a mischievous look in his eyes, said: "I think someone's out to kill you."

Hanging in the doorway (aka Experiment 645, chapter b, subsection 12)

Lord, they’re in the way.
(We) Can’t just let them stay.
No. Come here, my dear!

Look, right here. Right here!
Get the broom. Come here!
Up there, by this door.

And, right there are some more.
Just come and do this chore!
Come here and shoo the webs.


Gracious, Holly. Yelling
loudly about webbing
isn’t proper manners.

Mark, this is no time
for jokes , and if I find
just one missed web then I-

This place looks like a sty!
Yet, all day there you lie.
Get up and do some work!

And if you dare to shirk,
if all day there you lurk,
I’ll throw out that chair.


Darned, Blasted Banshee.
Without delay, lovely!
Supply yonder sweeper.

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Authors note: Poem was originally typed with some verses on the left side and some on the right. Blogger gets confused when you do that, so I've made the "right side" verses green to differentiate.

I forgot about Fate.

This post has been brought to you by the League of Randomly picked words: Doctor, Knight, candlestick, spatula, shiny, and Fate.

I couldn’t concentrate on the game. The thought of my upcoming doctor’s appointment plagued me every moment.
“Your move.” Jackie said. I looked up from my thoughts, being pulled back to the break room.
“Oh, right.” I moved my knight three spaces to the left and accomplished nothing. Jackie shook her head and moved her bishop. “Checkmate.”
I nodded absentmindedly, returning to my thoughts.
“You know, Jane. You really-“ She sighed. I looked up at the sagely advice she thought I never listened to. “Never mind. Let’s get back to work.”

Leaving the break room, I picked an order up off the counter and pushed into the kitchen. Anthony was inside, doing juggling tricks with a spatula. He called out to me as I passed. “Hey, Jane! We’re going to Vegas this weekend, just you and me!” I giggled and shook my head. Although the thought of Los Vegas had its appeal, Anthony was really the last person I planned on going with.

After delivering a few orders, Roger, the clerk, pulled me aside and pointed out a table.
“…and the man wants candle light, and champagne the moment his partner arrives. So, when she’s seated…”
I nodded, but fixed my gaze on the attractive man I was to be serving. He looked rich; a doctor or lawyer maybe… Finally, Roger finished and left me to my work. It wasn’t long before the woman came in: blindfolded. Roger led her by the hand and had her seated across from the man. They looked good together. I came just as the blindfold was being taken off and placed a candlestick in the middle of the table. The look on her face was classic. No, cliché maybe. As I poured the champagne, he pulled something shiny out of his pocket and handed it to his partner. She looked so filled with joy. I felt like an intruder on there moment. Or maybe this is what extras feel like in a play.

Having played my part, I couldn’t stand another moment of it. I took their order and left just as the hugging started. Back in the kitchen, I was also back to my own life. Anthony winked at me and I rolled my eyes back at him. Still, Vegas didn’t sound bad now.