INTERNATIONAL HALLOWEEN GIFT SHOP, based on a dream

October 30th and its morrow happened to be the only two days of the year that Michele and Leah could shop at the International Halloween Gift Store. It wasn't that they weren't allowed to go the other days; their parents let them walk in the woods behind Michele's house any time they wanted. It wasn't that the story was closed the rest of the year; the bright orange sign on the door proudly proclaimed: Open 365 days a year.

Open to who? wondered Michele as the two began their yearly trek into the deep, calm woods. From here, they could not hear the festivities at the store. We used to go there on the first of November to go clearance shopping, but when we got there, the building, paved parking lots, underground horse barn, all of it was gone, like nobody had ever built on the lot.

After hiking for a while in the high-ceilinged pine forest, they came to a narrow dirt road that separated dense underbrush from the woods that had only small plants and layers upon layers of brown leaves and pine needles.

They continued their yearly hike, taking a right on the worn path. Various birds' chirping provided a pleasant background to thier light conversation as they talked of school, home, families, and religion. Red-gold light from the sunset filtered through the trees, almost making it seem like they were walking down a yellow brick road.