Ghost Shadows by Thomas M. Malafarina Read Free Book Online Page B

neighborhood would have taken the time to get to know William better, they might have possibly had a better understanding or at least an appreciation for his avoidance of the holiday. They would also know why he had been avoiding the holiday every year since he was just a child. But then again, William Elverson was not the type of person who cared enough to know or associate with any of his neighbors. He was a quiet, reclusive , and antisocial man who tended to keep to himself. Even the neighbors living right next door to William knew very little about him.  
    Elverson's lack of congeniality was largely the result of his melancholy disposition. Even before his divorce, he and his wife had been less than sociable, but since the split, he had become more of a loner and a recluse. This made him seem an oddball of the neighborhood.
    This aspect of his personality however, had little to do with h is displeasure with the Halloween season. That particular dislike was the result of an event that was much more horrifying and completely life changing. William had only been eight years old when an unspeakable tragedy had occurred, altering his personality forever.  
    William, who was known back then as Billy, and his best friend, Jimmy Jenson , had been trick or treating in their neighborhood on that fateful Halloween night forty years earlier. The two young boys had been friends forever , so it seemed, and every year they anxiously awaited the arrival of Halloween, which had been one of their favorite holidays.  
    The two boys enjoyed dressing in costumes and pretending to be someone or something they were not, as all kids did. They also loved and anticipated filling their sacks with candy and treats. Although they had participated in the trick or treat ritual for as long as they both could remember, that particular Halloween night was a very special time for both of them.
    It was the first year the boys’ parents had consented to allow them to go from house to house unescorted. In the past, one or both of their parents had always gone along with them, waiting by the curb not only to protect them from any of the larger kids who might want to steal their treats but as a warning to the homeowners that they would be checking their boys ’ treat bags and the candies before either of them would be allowed to eat any of it. There had been reports in the newspapers over the previous years about treat tampering , as well as urban legends of razorblades in apples and laxatives injected into chocolates and other such horrible acts. The presence of the parents was to serve as a deterrent to any such abhorrent behavior.  
    The lack of parental accompaniment that year was a significant turning point in both of the boys ’ young lives as it indicated they were no longer considered little kids but were now big boys ; old enough to trick or treat on their own. This was especially important to Jimmy , who had been burdened with a very noticeable speech impediment—what many of the neighborhood children referred to as “baby talk . ” He said his Ls and Rs like Ws as in “Maawy had a wittle wamb , ” sounding a lot like the cartoon character Elmer Fudd. He had been going to special speech classes at the elementary school to try to break him of the speech defect, but progress was slow going. Billy didn’t mind the way Jimmy talked because Jimmy was his best friend.  
    On that particular Halloween night, young Billy was dressed in a homemade pirate costume and Jimmy wore cowboy getup, complete with red felt hat and neckerchief. Billy had thought Jimmy’s costume was a bit too young looking for him and did nothing to help him shed the baby image, which haunted him because of his speech. But they were best friends and as far as Billy was concerned, if that was what Jimmy wanted to wear then so be it.
    Th e night had been a very successful one for the both of them as they had been making a good haul and