By Sophie-Anne Leitner

On the morning of October 31, Martha awoke to piercing, hammering sounds outside her new home in Pittstown, New Jersey, where she moved in April.  She leapt from her bed to see what was going on.

Outside on the far hillside she saw a new massive sign whose single word shimmered in the early light, HALLOWEEN.  This was not a typical sign, like for McDonald’s or something.  It was more like the Hollywood sign.

HALLOWEEN

Each letter of the sign appeared to tell a Halloween story:  the H was two Tootsie Rolls and the A was like a witch, while the L was a black cat and the other L was a Frankenstein.  The O was a pumpkin and the W was a half-devil/half-angel, while the first E was a vampire and the second E was a mummy.  The N was a scary skeleton.

Martha was astonished by this, and she was certain everyone in Pittstown and villages nearby could see the new sign, too.

Later that evening, at precisely 8:27 PM, while the Halloween moon shimmered behind the new Halloween sign, Martha wondered just briefly who built it, no doubt to last.  She walked out into the cold night to trick-or-treat at the farms and village houses down the hill, with the letters sparkling in the distance.