Be careful of what you wish for, for it may come true ...
Chapter 1
“Sophia, I think we are lost. I don't think we need to go this far to reach that Inn,” said Sarah.
“Well, Sarah! I followed exactly what the GPS said. I turned where it told me to turn. How could it be wrong?” Sophia responded.
“I don't know! Back there the sign says, 5 Miles to Croakers Inn, but we've been driving for a long time already and all I can see now is a massive empty land on both sides of the road but no inn is in sight,” Sarah said again.
“Just keep your eyes open. It could be a very small inn, considering its location. I don't think many people know about this place yet.” Sophia reassured her younger sister.
Sarah did as she was told. She stretched her eyelids open as wide as they could like an owl, but all she could see were massive empty lands, with overgrown tall grass.
After a while, out of the corner of her eyes, she sensed something in the distance. It was like a tiny shadow, and she could not make out whether it was a shadow cast down by the cloud through the sun or a tiny hill on the land. Well, it looked like something, anyway.
“Hey! That must be it! See that small thing over there across that bridge?” Sarah screamed.
Sophia hit the brake and made a quick stop. The car screeched to a halt and swerved around. She drove forward but hit the side of the bridge instead.
"Where? Where? Over there?... WHOA!!! That's a small thing indeed! I could easily pass it if I wasn't paying attention.”
Sophia sounded a bit disappointed. She was expecting a big inn with a lot of exciting signs on it for Halloween, but quite the contrary, by the time they approached it, they found there were no signs – not in the lot, nor in front of the building. It looked more like a tiny 3-storey house with several rooms for rent. The owner must have simply called it an inn because of its location.
“Well, I hope it is more fun than it looks,” Sarah said disappointingly with a sigh. They needed a scary experience for Halloween. Sophia and Sarah had planned this excursion months ago. The flyer for “Croakers Inn” had simply dropped into their mailbox, and they'd been fantasizing about this trip ever since.
The girls had decided this year they would not be home to hand out candy on Halloween, but they would entertain themselves with a trip to haunted places. Sophia's husband, Dave, insisted that he would come along too. He did not feel it was safe for two sisters to be travelling alone. Sophia and Sarah thought it would be a great idea for Dave to come along, as they could take turns in driving. Dave drove for a while, but after three hours, he said he was tired, so Sophia took over the wheel while Dave dozed off to his slumberland. It didn't take long for that to happen, he was already snoring.
“But Sarah! Are you sure this is the Croakers Inn? I see no signs,” Sophia was just as perplexed.
“Well, the sign back on the dirt road said 5 miles to Croakers Inn, and this is just about 5 miles. Is'nt?” Sarah frowned, estimating the distance.
“Have you driven 5 miles already?” Dave was awakened now by all the commotions, curiously scaling the surroundings.
“I don't know!” Sophia answered. “It just doesn't look like this is the place. It looks more like someone's house to me.”
“Let's check it out. I'm dying to go to the washroom,” Sarah said, “If not, maybe we can ask the people for some direction.”
Chapter 2
They knocked on the door but found it was unlocked and the door opened by itself at the slightest touch. They walked in and found the place inside was in stark contrast to the weathered, worn, shabby exterior of the house.
The lobby was large. It was filled with people - some were sitting, some were standing, and some were dancing. The group noticed there seemed to be a Halloween costume party going on. So, Sophia, Sarah, and Dave thought they may have finally found their destination after all.
They walked up to the concierge where they were greeted by a man in a devil's costume.
“Welcome to Croakers Inn! How may I help you?” the bedevilled innkeeper asked, bearing his sharp pointy teeth as he spoke.
The devil-man had a red face and body. He wore a black cloak and had dark horns on his head.
“We would like to book a large room for 3 people,” Dave volunteered an answer. He was quite impressed with the man's costume. It seemed so real.
“Okay, now, let me see!” The man took out the registration book from the shelf behind him - an old tome it was, blanketed by a rich layer of dust. The devil-man quickly blew away the dust by huffing it out, using a steamy, sharp exhale. Sarah remembered her old granddad doing the same to his glasses when they were dirty. The devil-man ran his sharp, pointy, long-nailed finger along the edge of the cover, down to the side of the log, inserted his long-nailed finger somewhere in the middle of the book, where he opened it up and dropped it on the concierge desk with a loud thud.
“Here! Sign your names here! Your room is at the top level of this house. It's the only one available right now,” he said, bearing his sharp pointy teeth again. This time Dave noticed his eyes were bloodshot as well.
“That's a great costume you're wearing!” Dave quipped, rather amusingly.
“Thank you, sir! Have you all brought along your costumes for the party?” Asked the man in the devil suit again.
“Yes, we have! But it is nothing in comparison to yours!” Dave answered with a smile.
“We shall see,” smiled the man, narrowing his bloodshot eyes.
“Okay, here is the key. You can go up to your room now to get changed, and when you come back down again later you'll all be changed souls,” the devil-man assured them once again, grinning that terrible grin.
“Thank you! Sure we will!” replied the trio, and they were on their way up to the top floor to their room.
When the group reached the second floor, they noticed the hallway was long. They wondered how was it possible because the house looked so small from the outside.
They continued to the top floor, the highest level in the inn, according to the man in the devil costume.
Chapter 3
When the group reached the top floor, they noticed there was more than one room.
Sarah remembered the devil-man said there was supposed to be one room on the top floor – the only room available on this floor. But to everyone's surprise, she and the others saw more than one room there.
As they passed by the first room, they saw many people standing around.
“What is this? I thought there was supposed to be one room on this floor!” Sarah exclaimed, feeling rather puzzled.
“Perhaps this is part of the package deal for our entertainment, an unexpected start to a spooky surprising evening,” Sophia teased, “we won't know until we go in and find out.”
The trio walked into the room and saw a man sitting by a desk. He was wearing normal, everyday, casual clothing. None of the people in this room was wearing costumes.
Perhaps these people are not interested in joining the Halloween party downstairs. Dave thought.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Room 301! My name is Winslot,” The stranger declared as he got up from his chair and walked to the front of the desk with a big grin.
Dave, Sophia and Sarah stepped into the room.
“Wow!* Is there another party going on up here? Why are there so many people here?” Sarah inquired, with a girlish excitement in her voice.
“No, ma'am! All these are mannequins. They just look like humans, like you and me,” answered Winslot.
Sophia began to slowly walk about the room, trying to pick out a familiar celebrity face, but coming up empty. All the mannequins were strangers to her. “Wow! They look so real!”
“Yes, but these are mannequins. They represent the soulless people. Mannequins do not have souls like humans,” Winslot responded.
The three visitors continued to tour the room, marvelling at the lifelike statues - each of them adorned in his and her unique fashion. Some seemed to resemble people from other countries.
“It's amazing! Look at this one,” Sarah pointed at the one with orange hair, “This guy looks like he's an Irishman. Hahaha!”
Sophia and Dave looked closer and they noticed the mannequin not only had orange hair on its head, but it even had orange hair on its arms too! The mannequin looked like a real person, and it was soft to the touch as well.
“Oh, come here! Look at this! This one must be a Chinese man,” said Sophia to Dave and Sarah.
Dave and Sarah noticed the mannequin had single eyelids on both eyes, black hair and dark eyes, and was dressed in traditional Chinese style clothing.
”What if these are not mannequins but real people? Perhaps this room is designed to freak out the visitors on this Halloween day. Yeah! That must be it! This is one of the programs designed for the visitors!” The group whispered among themselves, just out of earshot of Winslot. They were satisfied with this place and were beginning to love the program designed especially for them.
Dave thought it strange that there were no other visitors present in the room except themselves. He wondered where they all went.
Oh, perhaps this is the top floor, the remaining room that is open to the public. They may have to take a trip down to the second floor later to find other programs. In the meantime, they need to find their room 303. Dave thought again.
“Excuse me, Mr. Winslot! Where can I find room 303?” Dave asked the man as they made their way back down to the concierge.
“Oh, it's just down the end of the hallway! You can't miss it. It's the last room on this floor.” answered the man, Winslot, pointing his finger ahead of him.
“Thank you! It's been a pleasure meeting you! I enjoyed the tour!” Dave said. He turned around to find Sophia and Sarah had already left the room.
Poor women! They must have been spooked out by the mannequins in this room. Dave thought, with a cunning smile.
Chapter 4
The trio travelled further down the hallway. Now, they found themselves in Room 302.
“Spin For Life” - that's what it said at the top of the door frame.
What is this? Is this a chance to win the lotto? This place is becoming more interesting indeed! Dave wondered aloud.
“Let's go in and take a look at this room,” Dave instructed the girls.
They all went inside the room, only to find that there were no games in this room. No roulette, no blackjack or poker tables. Instead, the room was set up like an old ladies' room. The lampshade and furniture looked as though they were ripped right out of a home decorating magazine from the fifties. Sarah supposed this room must have been set up for an elderly woman.
Oh yes, now, they could see an old lady sitting there by the window, spinning yarn. but on her spin wheel, there were only three yarns.
“Welcome to my room, dear ones! I'm Martha-the-spinner at your service,” the old woman croaked like a frog as she spoke, her aged voice made gravely with time.
“Hello, Martha! How are you today?” Sophia greeted the old woman, flashing her million-dollar smile. Sarah followed.
Dave was not impressed by the old lady - he just wanted to go to his room to change into his costume to join the party downstairs in the lobby. That was bound to be more fun than this.
“Say, Martha, what are you spinning?” Sophia implored. Her eyes now sparkled with wonderment. She had always been impressed by people who lived in the olden times. Martha-the-spinner seemed like a kind old lady.
“Oh, I am spinning out costumes for visitors. This spinning wheel is magical. It will spin out whatever my visitors want.”
“It does?” Dave responded. He thought about that devil costume the man was wearing at the lobby's front desk. Now that was an amazing costume! Suddenly, Martha caught Dave's attention - maybe he could put the old lady to use.
“Can you spin me a devil costume like the man down at the lobby's front desk is wearing? Did you make that costume for that man?” Dave asked Martha.
“Yes, I did! But why may I ask you want a devil's costume? Why not a well-known superhero? Or even a superhero from comic books?” asked Martha.
“No, I don't want a superhero costume. I just want the same costume as the man downstairs is wearing. Can you spin one for me, please? I will pay you for the work,” Dave said again.
“Yes, I can. But before you get your costume, can you tell me what was the worst thing that you have done in your lifetime that would make you think you deserve this magical costume? I can't make this design just for anyone. The person has to deserve the magic.”
“No problem! I will reveal all for that costume,” Dave responded.
He began regaling the old spinner with tales of a troublesome youth. Dave had committed many crimes, including car thefts and robberies. He also told Martha that at one point when he was driving on the highway, he picked up a young hitchhiker, drove to a secluded area and then tried to have his way with her but was rebuffed. So, he just left her there in the secluded area. He did not know what had happened to her afterwards. He also had hit-and-ran a young man and left him for death on the road. Later, he found the man was a young father with two young children between the ages of 4 and 6. He was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital. No one had come after him for the crime and he was too much of a coward to voluntarily confess to anyone. Not even to his wife Sophia. He kept that ugly past hidden away.
Sophia's mouth was left wide open, and her eyes welled with tears and horror as she listened to the crimes of the man whom she had married. She knew nothing about Dave's evil past. She wondered how she could even have fallen in love with a man like him.
Sarah was blown away by Dave's confessions as well. How could he? How could this seemingly nice guy that her sister married have such an ugly past and an evil character? Why in the world would he now, all of a sudden - in here of all places – confess this to a total stranger, Martha-the-spinner? What kind of magic hold does Martha have on Dave?
After listening to his confessions. Martha-the-spinner thought about his confessions and asked Dave, “So, what have you concluded? Do you feel remorse for what you have done?
“No!” Dave raised his eyebrows and answered, “Everyone has to die once in their lifetime anyway. When it is your time to die, you'll die anyway no matter what the circumstance. Unfortunately, the victims were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. That is how I see it.”
Dave was truly showing his evil character. He had no remorse for what he did.
“Okay, then! I must say you are deserving of the devil costume. I will spin one out for you as soon as I get more information from your lady friends.”
“My dear ones,” she turned to Sophia and Sarah,” please tell me what you want your costumes to be?”
Sophia could not contain her feelings, she was freaked out by her husband, Dave. She wondered whether or not she should go home with him, especially with Sarah in tow. She thought perhaps he would murder them both on the way back since they now knew of his heinous and bloody criminal past.
“Oh, I just wanted to be a good housewife, with several little children. I have never harmed anyone. Can I wear an Angel's outfit?”
“But would that make you happy if you had a nice husband and a few little ones at home?”
“Yes, indeed, it will! That was my biggest dream when I married Dave. But sadly, after 3 years of marriage, we had not been successful in bringing children into the family,” Sophia replied.
“A few days ago, I had a dream. I dreamt that we were in unfamiliar surroundings, and we were all sleeping. I dreamt that Mr. Rogers from that old kid's show Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood came into my room. He was singing his famous Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood's theme song, and I thought I saw a screen on the bedroom wall. Suddenly, Mr. Rogers was no longer on the screen, but had walked right through the door to my bedroom! He brought some animals, like cats and dogs, and also some children into my room, and they were all walking over me while Mr. Rogers was doing his show,” Sophia continued to say.
“Were you afraid? You know Mr. Rogers died many years ago already,” Martha-the-spinner asked.
“Oh, no! I was not. Even if Mr. Rogers was a ghost, he would not have scared me. I loved watching Mr. Rogers when I was a kid. He was a gentle soul to children,” Sophia said.
“Okay, I can see that you also have a gentle soul. You certainly deserve an Angels costume,” said Martha. “I will spin one out for you.”
“What about you, dear one? What would you like me to spin for you?” Martha-the-spinner now turned to Sarah for her choice of costume.
“I would also like an Angel's costume,” said Sarah. “I asked that not because I have not done anything wrong. I too, have sinned before, but I felt terrible about the consequences afterwards.”
“Yes? Can you tell me a bit about what you think you have done wrong in your life?”
“My sin was being jealous. When I was working, I envied my coworker's success. I wanted so much to bring her down. I used every opportunity to convince others to go against her. I backstabbed her. I changed the data on her reports so she would fail. Once I deleted her whole presentation she had carefully prepared to present to our client. That incident had caused her to be fired by my boss.”
“Oh, that was not good,” said Martha-the-spinner.
“Yes, I know. I felt so bad and so guilty afterwards. I went to visit her at home and found that she and her single mother were just living in a small apartment, and being fired from her job had left them devasted. Her mother was very ill, she had terminal cancer and needed medications, but now that too, was out of their reach because of my evil action,” Sarah said with tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I went to my boss the following day and confessed to him the whole thing was my setup for her to fail. My boss couldn't believe what I had done. I begged him to reinstate my colleague and fire me instead since I was single and had no family to worry about.”
“What did your boss do?” Martha implored.
“My boss said he was pleasantly surprised by my honesty. He said when one faces these kinds of situations, it takes a lot of courage to confess the way I did. He sympathized with both my colleague and me and reinstated my colleague's employment without giving other employees any explanation for his actions. He swore to secrecy of my foul deed under the condition that I would use my own ability in the future to work hard and gain promotion and success. I promised him wholeheartedly that I would,” Sarah replied.
“That is good that you have shown remorse for what you have done, bore the consequences of your actions and tried fixing everything back to the way it was for your colleague, I am pleased that you are honest,” said Martha.
“May I have an Angel's costume, then?” asked Sarah.
“You certainly deserve an Angel's costume too, like Sophia,” Martha said. She seemed satisfied with the choices all three had made. “Now, please stand back and let me spin out these three costumes for you.”
The trio stood back and waited while Martha-the-spinner began spinning out their costumes. They watched that spinning wheel go round and round as it spun. The spinning wheel went round and round and the three of them fell into a hypnotic trance.
Chapter 5
When the trio came to, they were surprised to find themselves already in Room 303. They looked at each other and themselves.
Dave was dressed in a devil costume, just like what the man downstairs was wearing. His facial features had changed. He now had red skin and high cheekbones. His teeth were pointy and sharp, just like the devil-man downstairs at the lobby's front desk. He had two black horns jutting out from his head, and his fingernails were long, sharp and pointy. In one of his hands was a scythe.
“Hahaha!!! Do you believe this, girls? Just look at me now! This is a wonderful costume - the best one I've ever had in my lifetime!” Dave looked at himself in the mirror, enamoured by his own bestial reflection.
He turned from the mirror to gaze upon Sophia and Sarah. Both wore white glittering long gowns that were tulle-like and flowing in the air. Each had a magic wand in one of their hands. They had a pair of beautiful wings made of white feathers. Their faces now appeared pure and innocent - as beautiful as real angels!
“Sophia and Sarah! Your girls are looking so lovely! I have not seen you looking so pure and innocent before. Your beauty is out of this world! Maritha sure knows how to spin out the magic!” Dave exclaimed, transfixed by the glorious transformation of his loved ones.
“Okay, now, you girls just need to fit in. I don't remember seeing anyone with an angel costume downstairs. I wonder how you are going to be received by the crowd,” Dave said, giving the two girls his opinion.
“No problems, darling,” Sophia responded, “We will just get familiarized with the place and the people by ourselves and you can go to have fun with those devils.”
“Sounds good to me, I will! Let's go downstairs now,” Dave nearly leapt at the thought of joining the party, clad in his new attire - so much so, that he left his manners at the door and went ahead and walked out of the room by himself without the ladies before him.
Sophia and Sarah looked at themselves in the mirror. They were so happy with their transformation. Martha-the-spinner had done a good job for them. They both looked so lovely in their angel costumes. They felt a kind of happiness that they had never felt before - as if no words on earth could describe the state of happiness that they were in now.
“Well, let us go to entertain ourselves now,” Sophia and Sarah walked out of the room hand in hand.
Chapter 6
As soon as the two sisters walked out of the room, they found themselves stepping into a pair of large hands. These hands cradled them and helped them to fly upwards, where they met God and other heavenly angels.
They looked down and found Dave trapped in a place called hell. He now mingles with other devils, as he could not find his way out of the Croakers Inn.
Later, some local residents passed by the broken bridge area and noticed the wreckage below. In the news, it was said that the car appeared to have stopped too abruptly and spun off the bridge. It plunged at least 200 feet below. By the time it was found, the two passengers, as well as the driver, were already dead.
Such an apt, timely, and engaging story, and with a moral, "listen to and act according to what your conscience urges you to do." Happy Halloween, Sandie!
Great story and very timely. The moral of the story is to be careful what we choose to be life. If we choose to be a devil, we will become the devil. If we choose to be an angel, we will become an angel, and indeed, there are many soulless people walking among us.
Tasked by his Goddess to find, relocate, and then quicken, the last three Heart Tree gem-seeds, Vanx the bard, and his motley crew of adventurers, set out to do just that.
Tasked by his Goddess to find, relocate, and then quicken, the last three Heart Tree gem-seeds, Vanx the bard, and his motley crew of adventurers, set out to do just that.
Chapter 1
