Halloween Story

 This storie has been rewritten, edited and added too. I hope you will enjoy it. Thanks for reading it..

Silas Mays

 On October 31, 1828, A couple trappers One-eyed Pete Carson and Jack Brooks found the remains of Silas Mays. A grizzly bear had killed him; there wasn’t much left of him to bury. One-eyed Pete and Jack buried him and planted an oak tree to mark his grave. The story going around is that he lives in the oak tree and comes out two weeks before Halloween and follows people who walk past the tree.

     “Ronda, I saw Silas following you last night when you went past the oak tree, said Larry.”

     Ronda says, “Who the hell is Silas? I didn’t see anyone behind me last night.”

     “He knocked your hat off, and you picked it up and put it back on,” said Larry.

     “Strange things happen in the area of the oak tree this time of year. Two years ago, Professor Jenkins was walking past the tree with armload of papers. Silas knocked the papers out of his arms.  A whirl wind came and papers blew up in the air, the papers were scattered all around under the tree,” said Larry.

     Ronda says, “The wind blew my hat off last night, that’s what it was, the wind.”

     “Ronda my dear, it was a calm night there was no wind. It was the calmest night we have had in weeks,” said Larry.

     “Hey Ronda, I saw Silas following you last night, knocked you hat off, you picked it up and put it back on,” said Victoria

     “Victoria, Larry put you up to telling me that?”

     “No, Larry didn’t, first time I’ve seen Larry in a couple days, and don’t call me Victoria, call me Vicky, I hate Victoria, said Victoria.

     “Okay, Victoria I will try to remember not to call you Victoria, Victoria, Larry you remember that too, don’t call her Victoria, her name is Vicky,” said Ronda.

     Larry says; “Okay Ronda, I will try to remember not to call her Victoria and call her Vicky. Silas was following you last night”

     “Hey guys,” says Jennifer, “You know what I was walking over there by the oak tree the other night. I felt like I was being followed; looked around didn’t see anyone though. It was real strange, would have sworn I was being followed.”

     “Hi Victoria, says Jennifer.

     In unison Larry and Ronda say, “Her name isn't Victoria, her name is name is Vicky, not Victoria.”

     Jennifer says, “Well excuse me, I didn’t know about the name change. What brought this on thought your mother name you after that girl in the Archie comic books?”

     Jennifer says, “Ronda I saw last night and Silas was following you, he knocked your hat off.”

     Ronda says, “All right you guys, enough with the Silas ghost shit; no such thing as ghost anyway.”

     Larry says, “You ever notice there aren’t any other trees growing around the oak tree, not one tree, not even any other oak trees around either. My grandmother told me the ole Silas keeps the area clear of other trees. I don’t know of any other oak trees within ten mile of Silas’s home.”

     Jennifer says, “My grandpa told me the story about how two other trappers found Silas all chewed up. I guess there wasn’t much of him left.”

     Ronda says, “All right you guys, you are starting to spook me out. Knock it off.”

     Just then there was a scream coming from the direction of the oak tree, Silas strikes again, everyone runs to the tree to see why the girl was screaming.

     Ronda says, “What is the matter, why did you scream?”

     “Hi I’m new here; I was walking past that tree and something touched me. I looked and there wasn’t anyone anywhere around me. I started walking and, and, and well I felt the touch. Felt like ah, ah as something was running there fingers through my hair. There was no one there, and then I screamed.

     Ronda said, “Hello my name is Ronda. This is Larry, Jennifer and Victoria, sorry I forgot myself for a minute, this is Vicky.”

     “Hello again my name is Judy, Judy McCloud, I’m from Boston. We moved here a week ago, into the big house by the library.”

     Ronda said, “Larry says that there is a ghost named Silas Mays; that lives in the oak tree. He said the Silas knocked my hat off yesterday. It was the wind; that what it was, the wind.”

     In unison, Larry, Jennifer, and Victoria, I mean Vicky said, “It was Silas, Ronda it was Silas.”

     Everyone turned and look at Vicky; they all said, “You saw it too, you don’t even come out of you house at night. How did you see it?”

     Sticking her nose in the air Vicky says, “That’s all you know about me. I walk Fife, my little poodle every night, and I saw Silas knock Ronda’s hat off; you bent over and picked it up put it back on. You pulled it down on your head.”

     Ronda says, “I wanted to make sure it was on so I pulled it on tighter so the wind wouldn’t blow it off again.”

     Larry say, “There was no wind last night, none at all, none I tell you.”

     Just then Ronda’s hat went flying off her head and landed at the base of the oak tree, then it flipped over again.

     Everyone stood there, motionless not saying a word. With there eyes they look at the hat, then at Ronda and back at the hat.

     Larry says, “Well, Ronda, there was no wind, now want do you have to say, huh, huh? Well?”

     Ronda standing there not saying a word, staring at her hat, she starts to say something, walks over to the tree and pick up her hat. Looking the hat over and dusting, it off her just says. “I don’t know, I just don’t know.”   

     Vicky says, “You believe us now, Silas knocked you hat off again, you saw for yourself. We weren’t close enough to touch your ole hat.”

     Judy says, “It is rather strange, your hat just rising up and going over by the tree. Was that some sort trick or something?”

Vicky and Jennifer in unison, “We told you we saw Silas knock you hat off. You wouldn’t believe us.”

     Chuck walks up and says, “See you met Silas Ronda, real jokester isn’t he. He picked your hat up off your head and carried it over to the tree laid it down and turned it over. Yep!  Silas is quite a jokester; yep, quite a jokester.”

     Larry says, “Chuck you saw Silas take Ronda’s hat off and put it by the tree?”

     Chuck says, “Did you know he could fly too? Yep! I saw him fly one time, remember that professor whose paper got blown out of his arms and was scattered all over under the tree. That was Silas; he flew around and around causing a whirlwind. The papers the professor was carrying in his arm got scattered all over around under the tree.”

     Chuck says, “Hello my name is Chuck, I saw Silas run his finger through you hair. Don’t think he meant to scare anyone.”

Judy says, “Hello Chuck my name is Judy, you saw him run his fingers through my hair? What does he look like?”

     Chuck says, “Well, he is tall; maybe 6ft tall, he was wearing what looked like buckskin clothes and moccasins. Had a big knife in his belt, Oh and a coonskin hat.

     Ronda says, “You think I believe all that bullshit you’re telling me, Chuck?”

     Chuck says, “I swear he looks just like I said he does, you wait until you see him for yourself.”

     Jennifer says, “You will see him some day Ronda and Judy, he won’t hurt you. You will see him when he wants you to see him. That’s all I have to say about it.”

     That night at supper that night, Ronda’s grandmother was there for a visit. She was saying, “I hate riding that bus, the driver drives so reckless, gets awfully close to the edge. Sometimes you could see little rocks going over the side. Ronda; what have you doing today? You don’t want to hear a silly old lady tell about her day. Let’s hear about your day.”

     Ronda says, “Nothing much happen, went to the park, Larry was telling me a ghost named Silas Mays made my hat fall off yesterday. Jennifer, Victoria says she’s not Victoria, that her name was Vicky now.  They were telling me that they saw Silas; take my hat off too. I told them there was no such thing as ghost. Then this new girl in town named Judy screamed, she said someone touched her and no one was around, she was all alone. Then my hat fell off my head and landed by the oak tree. Chuck came and he said; he saw Silas take my hat off and lay it by the tree. They said I would see him myself one of these days.

     Grandma says; “You said all that without taking a breath. Sounds like you had a busy day, a lot of excitement too. So old Silas; is still around, he won’t hurt you dear. Haven’t ever heard of him hurting anyone; he is a jokester though.

     From the kitchen Ronda’s mother says; “You know what he use to do to me? Make me drop my books so I would have to bend over to pick them up.”

 Grandma said; “He just wanted to see my big butt,”

“I did have a big butt back then. Sure glad I lost all the weight though” said, Ronda’s mom.

     Ronda says, “Come on! Not you too, there are no such thing as ghosts, no such thing as ghosts. I need to go to the library, be back before dark, wouldn’t want Silas to get me would I?”

     Ronda’s mother says, “You cross at the crosswalk not the middle of the street like you usually do dear.”

     Ronda says, “Right mom, at the crosswalk, guess I’m supposed to use the light too.”

     On the way home Ronda crosses the street in the middle of the block, a car suddenly appears out of nowhere, Ronda finds herself  being lifted up; and she lands on the grass on the other side the street, a car goes on by missing her.

     Ronda gets up looks around for her rescuer; there is no one in sight. Looking at the oak tree, she sees a figure dressed in buckskin, holding a musket in his left hand.  The ghost of Silas Mays shakes a finger at Ronda her, turns and walks into the oak tree.

     Ronda gets up and runs home; when she walks in the door and shuts the door. “Mom; grandma where are you?

     “We are on the patio dear,” says Ronda’s mother.

     “Mom; on the way home I crossed the street by the park in the middle of the street. I car came out of no where and suddenly I was flying through the air and landed on the grass on the other side of the road. I looked up and there was a man; standing by the oak tree, shaking his finger at me. You know what he did then? He turned around and walked into the tree.”

     “Well; you have officially met Silas Mays,” said Ronda’s mother.”

     “You will be seeing him a lot now;” said Ronda’s grandmother.

     The next day at school, “Hey guys wait for me; have something I want to tell you something. You will never guess what happen to me last night.”

     As Ronda catches up; “Let me see;” said Larry, “You finish your term paper for English class?”

     “Let’s see” said Vicky; “You won the lottery.”

     Chuck said, “You got a job at that new Target store.”

     “No; none of those, I would like to get a job at the Target store though.  I almost got ran over by a car last night, but Silas saved me. I was crossing the street in the middle of the block; he picked me up and dropped me on the grass on the edge of the park. When I looked up and looked towards the oak tree; he was shaking his finger at me. Then it walked into the tree.”