THE FESTIVAL OF SAMHAIN
CHAPTER 14- COMMENCE AU FESTIVAL
"Step right up! Pop a balloon, win a prize! Three darts for a buck! A winner every time!" a joyful carny shouted out as Sherry and Brandon arrived at the town square for the Festival Of Samhain, which had shot into full swing.
Ever since night fell and darkness overtook the town, the bright lights and fatty foods of the festival took over. To the delight of Coraline Piati and the festival committee, it appeared that a good portion of the population had at least stopped by to either show their support or get some goodies to go along with the booty the children had managed to procure during trick or treat. Spotting Coraline near the 50/50 ticket booth, Sherry immediately ran over to her, calling out, "Corrie!"
"Hey, honey, how are you, darling?" Coraline replied with a smile as they hugged. "I'm so happy you guys came."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Sherry informed her. "Besides, how good would it look if the student council president didn't show up to a student council event?"
"True," Corrie answered affirmatively. "It's still good to see you. Your costume looks great! Yours, too, Brandon."
"Thank you!" they responded simultaneously.
"How's the turn out?"
"Pretty good so far. I think everyone is at least coming by to see what it's all about," Coraline answered.
"So glad to hear it. Haddonfield really needs this."
"You're exactly right. You are one of the few people who understands. Oh, before I forget, you have to drop by Maggie Temple's tent and get some candy apples and soul cakes. They are to die for!"
"Uh, what are soul cakes?" Brandon asked. "Sounds like something from 'The Evil Dead'."
"Oh, honey," Corrie replied. "Soul cakes are very special, and made only on Halloween. They are baked with raisins and currants, with a touch of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. It's said that for each cake that is consumed, a soul is set free from purgatory, so hopefully we sell out tonight and save a lot of the unfortunate souls trapped in limbo."
"Well, in that case, count me in," Brandon confirmed with a smirk, winking at Sherry. "Sounds like they will go great with kettle corn and candy apples."
"Before I forget, give me a couple of those 50/50's," Sherry stated. "I want to do my part."
"Aww, thank you, dear!" Corrie exclaimed. "I can feel it. These are the winners! Don't forget to stick around for the big giveaway later, and the bonfire!"
"We definitely will!" Sherry replied, grabbing her strip of tickets and escorting Brandon to the first round of tents to see what the town had to offer. "Nice seeing you again, Corrie!"
"You too, hun, good luck!" Corrie ended with a grin, before turning around to sell more tickets to the line of curious carnival attendees.
***
"So, what should we do first?" Sherry asked, gawking around at the festival grounds with Brandon in tow.
"You hungry?" Brandon asked.
"Not really," Sherry responded. "I just had all that candy, so I should be good for a while."
"Me too, but I gotta admit. Those soul cakes sound fantastic right about now."
"Yeah, thank goodness they are at the far end of the festival. Hey, check it out! Let's play!"
"What?"
Sherry dragged Brandon over to the Water Duck game, where eight participants simultaneously fired water guns at a target in an effort to guide their plastic ducks to the finish line first and win a prize.
Brandon plopped down two dollar bills for the grizzly bearded carny so they could join the fray, and they sat down in lanes six and seven.
It wasn't long before six other participants joined them, and the race was on!
Sherry started off by squirting Brandon on purpose, temporarily distracting him from the race, but he recovered, and took the early lead.
Sherry, however, was determined to keep her squirt gun pointed at the bullseye, and down the stretch, Sherry's duck passed Brandon's and she won the race by a hair.
"Winner, number seven!" The bearded carny called out as the buzzer went off. "Congratulations! Choose your prize."
Sherry glanced up at the prize board and didn't see much she cared for, so she settled on a small plastic spider ring.
"Thank you," the carny stated. "Try your luck again, win a bigger prize! The more you win, the bigger they get!"
"No, thank you, this is fine," Sherry informed him, clearly disappointed. "Have a good night!"
As Sherry and Brandon departed the duck tent, Sherry couldn't help but vent her frustrations over the small prize. "I won the race, and this is all I get? Surely they can do better than that."
"Put it in the suggestion box for next year," Brandon smirked, dabbing his smeared makeup with the back of his hand. "In the meantime, I smell pierogies."
"I thought you weren't hungry?"
"Oh, you know how it is. It's that smell. It just draws you in and gets your stomach growling."
"Alright, well I'm gonna hold off a bit," Sherry said. "I'll meet you at the poker tent over there, okay?"
"Sure," Brandon affirmed. "I won't be long. And I swear my stomach will be good after that until we go see Maggie."
"Kay, babe," Sherry concluded, kissing her boyfriend softly on the lips. "See you in a few."
Brandon ventured off to the left side of the festival, while Sherry started to the right, toward the poker and blackjack tents. As she neared, she suddenly heard someone calling her name in a panic: "SHERRY! SHERRY! WAIT UP!"
When Sherry Robinson turned around, she saw her best friend Sienna St. Clair rapidly running toward her.
"Sienna, what's wrong?" she asked.
"It's Connor. He's such a dick!" Sienna cried, her eye shadow smearing down the side of her face.
"What is it this time?"
"I caught him checking out some of the cheerleaders on the way in. He said he wasn't, but with that big fucking wolf head he's wearing, it's pretty easy to see what he was up to."
"Maybe he was just trying to see where he was going?" Sherry suggested. "I noticed it earlier after he fell on his face."
"I thought that at first, too, but then he was making a joke of trying to look up their skirts," Sienna whimpered. "I'm just so sick of it! I swear, if he's cheating on me, it's over!"
Sherry hugged her friend and let her cry it out onto her shoulder.
"It's okay," Sherry assured her calmly. "I think I have the answer to your problems."
"You do?"
"Yeah, follow me," she stated, leading Sienna over to the poker table. "Soul cakes, dear. But first, we're gonna win some money."
Proceed To Chapter 15
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