By Kathy Lynn



"Alright Tom, Is it all done now, what do you think?"

"Well I am not sure, come let's walk through and check it out together and see if we missed anything important, ok?" Tom said.

 "Give me a tour of this house you fixed up. I want this Halloween to be very special for the kids in this town. It has been a rough year for most of them and they deserve to have some fun." said the mayor.

"Ok Mayor, lets start with the inside and work our way out. I have some great surprises for you in there." Tom said.

They walked into the house together and were greeted by two ghosts that flew at them as soon as the door opened. The Mayor jumped back and then looked at Tom and laughed,

"Wow, That scared me half to death, I didn't expect anything so soon," He said.

Tom just smiled and told him to follow him through the house, They entered the huge living room and their were webs strung all over the room. The furniture had webs on it too and there was a chair that was turned toward a fireplace. Tom told the Mayor to walk up to the fireplace and tell him what he thought of it.

So the Mayor starting approaching the fireplace and in the hearth the wood suddenly burst into flames. Then the mayor felt something touch him and he actually yelped out loud. Behind him in the chair sat a skeleton and when the flames had started up that skeleton reached out with his hand and touched his leg almost making him jump into the fireplace.

"Ha, Ha," Tom laughed, "Gotcha!"

Smiling and wiping his bald head with his handkerchief the Mayor said, " Geez!! Tom, you scared ten years off my life with that skeleton, I never noticed him sitting in that chair."

"That is the whole idea, Mayor. The people will be looking at the room and fireplace and never notice the skeleton until it reaches out to them." said Tom.

"Well, what else do you have in store for me now?". said the Mayor.

"Let's go into the kitchen, it is right off this room and see if you like what I have done in there." Tom said as he guided the Mayor into the other room.

The kitchen had pots on the stove that started bubbling when they entered and there were skeletons sitting at the table playing cards and all of them started to move as they approached them.

"I put electric eyes all around so that as you get near, the pots start to bubble artificial smoke and the skeletons all start to move as if they are really playing cards at the table." Tom told the Mayor.

" Well that is just great and it looks so real." the Mayor stated. "Let's continue, what is next?"

"There is only one more room that is in this house, the bedroom. We have closed off the upstairs and concentrated on just the downstairs for Halloween. Come on in and see if you like what I came up with in here." Tom said and he ushered the Mayor into the bedroom.

As the mayor entered a ghost flew by him and made a "whooooing" sound. Then another flew by going the other way and it was making a "screeching" sound loud and annoying. Again the Mayor was taken by surprise. Tom just smiled and watched as the Mayor very slowly walked into the center of the room. All of a sudden the bedroom door slammed shut and the Mayor jumped and turned around and standing there in front of the closed door was a witch with a terrible squeaking screech as she came flying toward the Mayor on her broom.

"Holy cow!!!" the mayor said, "Tom you have outdone yourself this year."

Tom just smiled and stood off to one side as the Mayor continued into the room looking around. Right on cue, two skeletons set up in the bed and both of them said in a very loud voice, "Hey! What are you doing in our bedroom?".

Tom was laughing so hard he was bent over because the Mayor turned and saw those skeletons in that bed and he literally ran out of the room. Standing in the living room once again, the Mayor wiped his bald head one more time and you could see he was sweating a little bit too. When he had recovered from what had happened in the bedroom the Mayor smiled and just shook his head.

"Tom," He said,"You were the perfect man for this job. The kids are going to love this Haunted House that you have put together for them. I can't wait until Halloween so I can watch as they go in and out and here them laugh and scream."

They both walked through the living room and out the door and were outside of the house discussing some final things that Tom would put on the outside to enhance the spooky effect as the kids walked into the house. Noises and screams and a ghost or two attached to the house that would move when they approached. As they were talking neither one of them noticed the two sets of eyes peering out of the house they had just left.

"Well Jag, what do ya think?" the first ghost said to the other.

"Oh, We are going to have a lot of fun with all these people come Halloween aren't we Mag. They had no idea that two real ghosts have taken up residence in this old house here did they?"

Both ghosts flew around the hall laughing and screeching as they thought of the fun that was to be had when all the people came into what they thought was just an ordinary Haunted House that the town had made. Boy they were in for a real surprise with Jag and Mag in attendance to have their fun.