Welcome to HALLOWEEN IN MINIATURE 2020! Day 2
👀 Start here at Day 1 -https://candidcanine.blogspot.com/2020/09/halloween-in-miniature-2020-start-party.html
The Phantom Caretaker
(Cemetery building: Angela Potts) - Click photos for full size
The streetlights had just come on as I crossed Race Street and headed for the path that led into Oak Hill Cemetery. I could hear my sister Linda and my cousin Gina giggling as they watched me slowly make my way toward the rows of tombstones.
“Me and my big mouth,” I muttered as my eyes adjusted to the deepening shadows. I wouldn’t be in a graveyard at twilight the night before Halloween if I hadn’t been scoffing while Linda and Gina told ghost stories. And I really should have kept my mouth shut when Gina told the story about the Phantom Caretaker who grabbed anyone foolish enough to touch the oak tree in the center of the graveyard after dark. “There’s no Phantom Caretaker,” I snorted. “That’s just a story.” Truth was, I had heard that story before, and I was trying to convince myself it wasn’t true.
“Well,
if it’s not true, Deb, then prove it!” Gina challenged with a smirk.
“Yeah, Deb,” Linda taunted. “I dare you to go to the cemetery after dark tonight and prove it.”
I couldn’t talk my way out of it without admitting I really did believe in the Phantom Caretaker, so there I was in the deepening twilight, trudging up the winding path that led to the oak tree in the middle of the cemetery where the Phantom Caretaker lurked.
The
breeze hissed eerily through the grass, and the headlights from passing cars
made spooky patterns on the tombstones as I rounded the last curve in the path.
The oak tree was only about fifty feet in front of me. I pulled the flashlight
out of my pocket so that when I reached the tree I could signal Linda and Gina
and get out of there. In my haste, I lost my grip on it, and despite my wild
grasping, my only source of light clattered to the sidewalk in pieces.
As I ducked and screamed, I heard a deep voice shout, “Who’s there?”
In my panic, I yelled, “The Phantom Caretaker!” and took off down the path.
Footsteps pounded loudly behind me, coming closer and closer. I ran faster, faster, but not fast enough—a hand grabbed the back of my shirt and jerked me to a stop.
By
the time my punishment ended a week later, the whole town had heard about Linda
and Gina’s dare, my Halloween trek into Oak Hill Cemetery after dark, and my
encounter with the Phantom Caretaker—who had turned out to be Officer Hoke.
* * *
👹 Be sure to visit Leta's website and learn more about her writing.
She is the author of the Kyrie Carter Supernatural Sleuth series, along with several short stories. Check out her books at her Amazon author page.
The Phantom Knight of Holland Farm, A Kyrie Carter Short Story, Leta Hawk - Kyrie Carter's boyfriend, Spook Steele, promises her a Halloween she'll never forget. She'll never forget, all right.
After he stands her up, she leaves the Halloween party at the Holland Farm and is kidnapped by a phantom knight, who whisks her away on a night of romance and adventure. Kyr knows she should be afraid, but there is something familiar about her mysterious captor...
👽 Debra Hinton loves the macabre side of miniatures. See more of her work at her FB page, Darkside Morbid Miniatures. Warning: not for the fainthearted. Also be sure to check out her super detailed 28-room Kangley Hill Asylum.
💀 Other miniature creations by Meredith Paige and Angela Potts from the Haunted Orchid Dollhouse Club on FB.
👽 Animations: fg-a.com; Other photos: Pixabay.com; Needle-felt patterns, The Wishing Shed
👾 Next: Go to Day 3 - Oct. 28 -