It is the day of Halloween and mythical energy is hanging in the air. The night is falling on the land like a thick velvet blanket, warm and dry. The full moon lights up the darkness with its radiant glow, almost magical. It is as if the moon itself is spectating the world, hoping to see the adventures that will unfold. In every city, the human children run around carelessly, trick or treating, unaware that below their world are the monsters gathering for their own party. The streets of the underworld are pulsating with the sound of the festivities. For only at Halloween, when the natural energy weakens the veils between the worlds can the creatures of the night crossover. Monsters, demons, fiends and undead, many come from far off places and worlds to once again visit their families and friends. For Philipbula, a young skeleton boy at the age of ten with bones as white as milk, it is a chance to hear stories and adventures from the land above. He has never been anywhere himself and has often wondered what it would be like to see the sun, the moon and the stars. Or to feel the wind in his face and the grass between his toes. Unfortunately, he is too young to experience those things. An underworld monster under the age of eighteen is not allowed above ground without a responsible adult. The human world is full of dangers and some of the stories he has heard from above are quite scary. So he does not mind waiting a few more years. For now he is content with enjoying walks through the busy streets of the Underworld. He is on his way to the Main Street to look at the shops set up by witches, werewolves and vampires, selling candy, potions, magic trinkets and funny hats. Though since there is no light from the full moon down here, the werewolves look just like normal humans. Decorated pumpkins and fall scented lights hover in the air. Spiders, bats, frogs and rats in little outfits are sitting about on the stands in the streets and the windows of the houses. A quartet of carved statuettes are standing on a stage, entertaining the festival goers with song. And a witch is painting calaveras on the skulls of skeleton kids. He has five gold coins in a purse he has been allowed to use on candy milk for this special occasion. Some skeleton kids are playing in the busy street, making tricks with their heads. He knows them from school, they are a couple of years older than he is. They are the school bullies, alway making trouble and picking on the smaller kids. Philipbula usually avoids them when he can. One of them, Patelle, is juggling his head with his feet like a football player playing with a ball but he hits it wrong and accidentally kicks it into the ribs of Philipbula. If he had any lungs he would have had the air knocked out of him. Still he falls backwards into a bubbling cauldron full of boiling candy frogs, knocking it over and spilling the pink mixture all over the slimy ground.
The witch screams, her voice is high pitched and scary like knives in the air “iiiihh, you nasty kids, I’ll curse you, I’ll turn the marrow in your bones to jelly. Iiiiihh, I’ll split your bones and use the powder in my mixtures”. Green lightning shoots from her fingers, enchanting the long roots hanging down from the ceiling. They grow fast and wild, reaching for the skeleton kids.
Philipbula jumps onto his feet and runs as fast as he can. He knows better than to be caught by an angry witch. He does not want to be turned into a frog or get cursed with an ugly beard. He runs away down an alley still with Patelle’s head in his hand. From behind the corner he glances back at the witch, who has caught one of the skeleton boys, Felmur, in her roots. She scolds him while pulling him apart bone for bone. It does not hurt them to be pulled apart, at most it is a bit annoying. It is quite common they fall apart when bumping into something. which pulls him apart bone by bone. The problem is that with two-hundred-six bones it is quite easy to lose one of the smaller ones.
“Over here. He’s hiding just around the corner” Patelle’s head calls as he sees the other boys running towards them.
Philipbula, suddenly aware that he is still carrying Patelle’s head, drops it on the ground and begins to run again. The last kid who got in trouble with them had to look for his bones all over the school and he is still missing a rib and a few fingers. He runs until he is far from the Main Street. He does not stop until he reaches a small dark street called Church Row. On any other day Church Row is flooded with the worst kind of poltergeists, haunting the place and wrecking havoc but on Halloween the street is empty. The poltergeists leave the Underworld to haunt the humans for fun. Philipbula sits down on the muddy street and cries, like skeletons do with tears of calcium from their missing eyes. His parents thought he was old enough to run to the stands for candy without them by his side. He had begged them to let him go and they agreed that he was a big boy now. But he does not feel like a big boy anymore, he just wants to go home to his parents and sit with them, watching a vampire movie on the TV. But he is scared, home is all the way on the other side of Main Street and he is scared that Patelle and the others are still at the market looking for him. So he sits in the dark cold wet alley waiting and hoping that the others will go home soon. In the distance he can hear ghosts wailing as they do every night and he can hear music coming out of windows in apartments where monsters are celebrating.
“What are you doing crybaby?” a bratty voice asks. Patelle and his friends have snuck up behind him, two of them carry an old dirty burlap sack.
“Leave me alone” Philipbula cries and tries to run away but the other boys grab him by the arms. His bones are shaking with fear.
“It’s your fault Felmur got taken by the witch, you gonna pay” Patelle pokes him hard in the sternum and the others laugh. “Now get in the sack or we will pull you apart and feed you to the hellhounds”.
“No, please just let me go home” Philipbula cries and begs as the boys pull the burlap sack over his head and force him into it. It is rough against his bones and smells of dirt and mold.
The boys are laughing and joking as they drag him away. Every now and then they bump him into something and laugh some more. Philipbula has no idea what they are going to do to him and it scares him a lot. He hopes that they are going to get tired and leave him alone. It slowly begins to get colder and after about ten minutes he can feel the sack being dropped on the ground. The boys are still laughing but their voices are moving away.
“Welcome to the topside crybaby” Patelle mocks.
Philipbula quickly crawls out of the sack, this is his chance to get away but he is all alone. He really is in the Upperworld and there is no ceiling above him anymore. It feels like he could fall into the sky at any moment if he is not careful. It is dark around him, only the moon is lighting the area. He is quite used to darkness but this darkness feels different and much colder. He sits down in the grass and can hardly breath as a wave of panic washes over him. He is stuck in the Upperworld alone. He has no idea how to get back home. His parents do not know where he is. And he is cold, the chilling wind makes his bones shiver and shake. A sound of laughter is carried by the wind and Philipbula gets up to see where it comes from. He sees a small town on the other side of the grassfield and is reminded of something he once heard a vampire say. You can often find a gate to the Underworld in a graveyard. Worried that the dangerous humans might find him, he walks closer to the town. He is so afraid that he barely senses the long grass tickle between his toes nor is able to enjoy how beautiful the moon is in the night sky. All he can think of is how he just wants to go home. Carefully he sneaks up behind a wooden barn and looks around the corner to see if it is safe to cross. But what meets him is a frightful sight, horrors just like the monsters have described. In the light from the torches and lanterns between the bales of hay stacked at every corner, he can see ghosts and witches hanging motionless in the air, strung up on a string. He sees zombies, mummies, ghouls and vampires, flattened and hung on every wall. While carved pumpkins and dried bouquets of flowers are decorating the door steps like the humans take pride in the horrors they have performed. And worst of all, the humans are walking around with monster children in their hand parading them to each other and collecting candy, while they laugh and sing. He slowly backs away to find a way around the town, he dare not cross the humans path. But something has snuck up on him. He can hear the snarling and growling and it sounds like a hellhound but it is smaller, fluffy and pink. The beast licks its teeth as it eyes his bones with its demonic red eyes and moves closer. He slips and falls in the mud as he tries to walk backwards away from the beast and it moves in over him.
“Bella stop that, bad girl, leave that kid alone” a deep man yells while walking closer to them. The beast stops its growling and runs back to the man’s side. “Are you alright kid? She didn’t bite you or anything?”
“I… I… I’m okay” Philipbula manages to stammer, confused. He does not understand why this human cares if he is okay or why he saved his life.
“So you are dressed as a skeleton, what a great costume you have. My granddaughter is dressed like a fairy princess. Took her mother a month to sow. Are you lost kid? Who are your parents, I can help you… what the fuck are you!” the man had grabbed Philipbula by the arm and jumped backwards in shock as he touched the bare bone. The beast Bella begins growling and barking again. “MONSTER! Attack Bella, attack” The man yells as he realizes the truth.
Philipbula immediately jumps up and runs as fast as he can. He runs back into the high grass with Bella the beast right on his heels, biting for his bones. He can hear the man yell something behind him. He has no idea where he is running, he just needs to get away. The grass is getting higher around him and he can no longer see where he is running. He breaks through a patch of grass and is somehow back in town. He can see the humans quickly hide away the monster children in their houses and grab torches and pitchforks. Nobody has noticed him yet but he can hear Bella right behind him. He needs a place to hide. He carefully runs between the houses scouting for somewhere to go.
“Over here” a grumpy voice whispering calls. A fuzzy hand is waving from a hole under a house.
Without questioning it, Philipbula runs to the hole and crawls into it. The hole gets covered as soon as he is inside and the fuzzy person lights a lantern, revealing a small cave. Outside they can hear the humans running by with Bella.
“What the hell are you doing out there kid? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” the fuzzy person, an old hairy monster, asks and leads the way further into the cave.
Philipbula begins to cry again, he did not choose to come here. He does not want to be here. “I’m just trying to get home to the Underworld. Some bullies put me up here and I don’t know where I am”.
The old hairy monster pads Philipbula on the head “now calm down kid. You are safe here. There is a portal in the graveyard, it is about to close but we might just make it. Follow me”. They walk through a series of tunnels that have been dug underneath the entire town. Every now and then they can hear the humans run around outside. After twenty minutes of walking in silence the old hairy monster stops. He carefully removes a board to look outside. “This is as far as I’ll go, kid. There’s a portal just behind the church over there. You better be quick or you might miss it”.
“Thanks” Philipbula mumbles as he crawls out from under the house.
While looking over his shoulders scouting for the humans he runs towards the church. There is no one to be seen and it feels like he might have gotten away. He runs around the church and there it is, on the edge of the graveyard, a purple portal floating in the dark and barely visible. A growling sounds not far behind him. He turns around and sees the fluffy pink beast, Bella showing her teeth, slowly approaching him. Further behind are the humans coming with their torches. Philipbula starts running at the portal and Bella follows right behind him. He dodges tombstones and jumps over graves and hedges but does not slow Bella down. He is not far from the portal now, he can almost feel warmth coming from the infernal pits in the Underworld. His foot hits something in the dark and he falls flat on the ground, his head pops off and keeps rolling. Bella steps in over him and barks at him. He can not get up, he is not used to move his body without his head on it. All he can do is watch the portal fading away. His parents will never know why he did not come home.
“Good girl Bella” the man calls and Philipbula knows that this will be the end.
Then something big and furry flies out of the darkness and knocks Bella to the side. Something has saved him in the last moment. Philipbula unsteadily stands up and tries to walk towards his head. He walks as fast as he can while keeping a close eye on the portal that is almost gone. He manages to pick up his head, puts it on and runs the last few feet. He jumps forward to reach the portal before it is too late. He dares not to look. He is falling. He lands in some mud and can feel how is sliding downwards quite fast. He opens his eyes to see what is happening. He did not make it, he is still in the Upperworld and he fell over the edge of the graveyard sliding down the muddy side, down to a river. With a large splash he falls in the water and is dragged away, wondering how he will get back to the Underworld now. With the portal closed it must have become the first of November and there will not open new portals before next year. Cold, lost and afraid he washes up on the riverbank. He has no will left in his body to go on, so he curls up into a ball in the mud and just lies there, hoping that it is all a bad dream. He falls asleep where he lies with the moon keeping watch over him.
“Why are you sleeping in the mud?” a small voice asks, waking Philipbula from his sleep. A small girl about five years old in a purple flower dress is kneeling by his side. In her hand she is holding some flowers shining gold in the moonlight. “Are you lost?” she continues to ask unexpectedly friendly.
Philipbula lifts his head from the wet ground and mud flows out of the holes in his skull. The full moon is still standing tall in the sky, he has not slept long. Slowly he nods his head as a response to the girl’s question for it feels like he is going to break down if he says a word.
The girl reaches out her hand without any fear “come with me, gram knows what to do”.
Careful he takes her warm hand wondering why she is out here alone in the middle of the night. She leads the way through the forest along a secret trail between the snapping flowers. She leads the way to a small hut where a couple of black cats are lazily lying on the porch. Green smoke is rising from the chimney and a pleasant aroma surrounds his body like a calming blanket. She leads him inside the hut where an old woman, a witch, is standing over a kettle, stirring.
“Back so soon Ingrid? Did you find the Golden Midnight Lilies?” a skeleton in a three piece suit asks as they enter. “Oh you have brought a friend, how delightful. What is your name, young man?”
“Here Arthur” Ingrid hands the flowers to the skeleton before Philipbula can say his name. “Gram, this boy is lost”.
The witch flicks her wrist and cauldron with its fire and smoke stops moving, like it has been frozen. She turns and gives Ingrid a kiss on the forehead “good job honey. Hi, I’m Agnes and this is my granddaughter Ingrid and that is Arthur our butler, welcome to our home” she greets and gestures Philipbula towards a chair while pouring a cup of milk. “Where do you come from and how did you get lost?”
“I found him in the mud near the river, he was sleeping all alone” Ingrid eagerly informs.
Agnes sits down across from Philipbula and lifts Ingrid up on her knee “now honey let our guest speak”.
“I… I’m Philipbula” he mumbles as he takes the cup of milk and drinks. “I’m from the Underworld, near Main Street. A group of bullies put me into a sack left me up here. They said it was my fault their friend got taken and pulled apart by a witch. I miss mom and my dad and I just want to go home” the tears start flowing as he talks.
“There, there deary. It’s going to be alright” Agnes says softly. “I have heard that nothing really happened. Accidents happen when kids are playing. And the kid Felmur is okay, the witch just wanted to scare him”.
“How do you know that?” Philipbula asks, surprised and for a moment completely forgets how scared and lost he feels.
Agnes chuckles at the thought “the witch is my sister, Margret. She likes to scare young troublemakers. But I am sorry the others took it out on you. You must have had a rough night. I think we better get you home to your parents, they must be worried”.
Philipbula looks at Agnes a little confused “but how? Isn’t the portals closed now?” he asks.
Agnes smiles deviously “oh yes they are but we witches have other ways to get to the Underworld. Hmm maybe we should get you cleaned up first. We can’t have you covered in dirt and mud”. She mumbles a few words and claps her hands. A green cloud appears around Philipbula and a second later the mud is gone. She walks into the next room where a large pentagram with weird symbols has been drawn on the floor. On the northern point she places a white crystal. “Come here, get in the middle of the circle. Ready?”
Agnes and Ingrid take his hands and begin to mumble a spell. A large red cloud of smoke fills the room, making it impossible to see anything. Then it feels like he is spinning around really fast before coming to a halt. He almost falls at the sudden stop. The smoke disappears and he is back in the Underworld, outside his house. He runs inside to find his parents standing in the kitchen looking scared and nervous. He hugs them as hard as he can, for he has missed them so much. Agnes and Ingrid follow to say hello and make sure that everything is alright.
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