The Letter(Sophie K) Six days, 45 hours and 32 minutes. That’s how long it had been since Grace Abbott and her family left their hometown of San Diego, California and moved into their new home in New Orleans. Grace hated everything about New Orleans; the weather, the culture, even the people drove her insane. She didn’t know what it was, but something about New Orleans seemed off.

Grace sat on the all white windowsill in her bedroom overlooking the grassy front yard. Living in California all of her life, she had never seen so much grass and trees all in one place. As she curled up in a tight ball with the photo album her best friend Sylvia had given her as a going away present, she could hear the loud pings of falling rain hit the new roof that had just been replaced days before their arrival. As she opened to the first page tears stung her eyes as a picture of Sylvia, Grace and their two other friends Molly and Alicia stared back at her. They all had genuine smiles on their faces, which is rare when taking such a posed picture. The four of them had been friends since they were in diapers and it was so hard to say goodbye to all of them.

“Grace, dear can you come down here for a second?” her mother’s nurturing voice bellowed from the lower level of their home. “Coming," Grace replied fighting back the tears that were already built up in her hazel eyes. Wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve she slowly rose from the windowsill and pushed the photo album off her lap. In doing so, a cream envelope quickly escaped from the inside pages landing on her Hello Kitty slippers. Without even looking at it, Grace quickly shoved the envelope into her back pocket, making a mental note to read it later, and headed for the stairs.

As she arrived downstairs she instantly saw her mother sitting on their new leather couch reading an older copy of The Great Gatsby. The frame of her rather large reading glasses sat on the tip of her petite nose as she slowly turned the delicate page, careful not to tear it. “Oh there you are sweetie," her mother smiled putting aside her novel. “What have you been up to?” “Nothing,” Grace quietly replied as she stared at the shiny hard wood floors. “Do you have any big Halloween plans for tonight? I’m expecting the children to start trick or treating around 5. What do you think?“ Her mother piped excitedly. Grace silently thought to herself, she almost had forgotten tonight was Halloween. If she still lived in San Diego her and all of her friends would have planned to dress up like the Spice Girls or Charlie’s Angels or in some other kind of group costumes as they did in previous years, but this year she would end up doing something alone. “No,“ Grace finally replied, “I’ll probably just end up watching a movie or something.” “Well you can always help me pass out candy. Hey! It looks like it stopped raining. Why don’t you take Philly for a walk?” Her mother prompted her as she rose from the couch and headed towards the kitchen, “His leash is in the laundry room!“

Grace rolled her eyes as she turned to her overweight Bulldog deeply snoring in the corner of the living room. Philly had been a gift to her brother Graham for getting nearly a perfect score on his SAT, but now that Graham was in college, Philly had become Grace’s responsibility. Just as Grace was about to ignore her mother’s request and return to her bedroom, Philly quickly opened his eyes and ran to Grace’s side wagging his tail vigorously. “Wanna go for a walk Phil?” Grace reluctantly asked the chubby puppy. She took his heavy panting and hopeful eyes as a yes. After securing Philly’s leash on his bright blue collar, Grace headed towards the door, Philly following closely behind. “Bye Mom!” Grace called to the kitchen where her mother was now preparing lunch. She let the door slam behind her before her mother could respond.

As Grace stepped outside, the cold October breeze wisped through her light jacket sending chills throughout her entire body. But the cool weather did not bother Philly as he anxiously pulled on his leash, excited to be going on a walk, something Grace had neglected to do since they had moved. Ornately decorated homes lined the street as orange lights and jack-o-lanterns sat in the neighbor’s windows. Grace’s stomach twisted, as the thought of spending her favorite holiday alone crossed her mind.

After walking a couple of blocks, Grace could tell that Philly needed to rest. He may have a lot of energy for being only two years old, but he was ridiculously out of shape. Lucky for them, a small park met the end of the block, where a swing set and a couple of benches sat on a grassy patch of land. Philly, panting out of exhaustion, slowly waddled along, until finally they made it to one of the large wooden benches. Philly threw himself on the grass and immediately closed his eyes ready to fall asleep. Grace quietly giggled to herself as she too sat down on the bench to rest. Just as she sat she heard a soft crunching sound from beneath her rear and remembered the letter was still in her pocket. She reached to pull it out and taking a quick glance at the front she instantly knew whom it was from. On the soft parchment of the cream colored envelope there were no words but instead a smiley face winking and sticking out its tongue in blue colored ink. This “winky tongue smiley face” as she liked to call it, was an inside joke between Grace and her now ex-boyfriend Ben.

Ben had decided it was best if they broke up once Grace told him the news that she was moving. After being together for almost a year, she was devastated but knew it was the right thing to do. Grace’s heart beat fast as she went to tear open the envelope’s contents, but before she could open it, a gust of wind swarmed past her knocking the letter from her hands and carrying it away in it’s current. Startled at the wind’s strength, Grace knew she had to run to catch the letter. “Come on Philly!“ Grace said urgently. “We have to go now!” But the tired puppy didn’t even bother to open his eyes and instead continued snoring quite loudly. Without even trying to wake him up, Grace scooped him up in her arms and ran to try and catch the letter. As she ran she didn’t take her eyes off of it as it twirled in playful circles in the heavy wind but apprehensively she slowed down when she saw where it was headed.

The letter landed on the porch of the last house on Perry Lane. Grace remembered quivering at the sight of this house when she laid her eyes on it for the first time a few days earlier. Dead trees with branches, long and spindly, waved in the air, veining like capillaries. Crispy leaves littered the yard smelling of fungus and autumn moisture, waiting for sunlight to dry up its ravaged and rotted being. Grace stood still and silent, gazing in awe at the monstrosity before her. Her throat tightened due to the thick dust drifting through the heavy wind. Dark shadows lurked in the still air, along with the faint smell of death that hung in the chilled darkness of the no longer bright sky. She thought she heard whispers of lost voices echoing all around, creating a gloomy ambience. The house itself was in a dreadful shape and heavily dilapidated. There were icicles hanging down from the roof like frozen teeth bore by a cold and heartless beast. A thick blanket of dust lay still on top of the black roof and two lion statues stood in front of the house as if they were watching her every move.

Grace hesitantly walked towards the front porch where the letter had landed. Just as she reached down to pick it up, another gust of wind flew by sending the letter through the small crack under the door. Grace’s heart dropped, not knowing what to do. Should she knock on the door and see if anyone was home? Should she go in herself? Should she just forget about it and go home? This was in fact a letter from Ben. It’s not like whatever he wrote really mattered, right?

“Hey! What are you doing? A deep voice called out to her. She turned around and saw a tall boy in a tattered baseball jersey standing on the sidewalk looking up at her. “Umm is this your house?" Grace asked slowly walking towards the boy, Philly still asleep in her arms. The boy looked to be about her age, with deep green eyes and rosy cheeks. His hair was jet-black and short, and he was aggressively chewing on a piece of bubble gum.

“No, he answered, but I know for a fact you do not want to go anywhere near that house.” “Why?” Grace asked suddenly curious. “Is it haunted or something?” “Actually,” the boy began as a mischievous smile crossed his lips. “There’s a woman who lives here, her name is Madame Anastasia. She moved here with her husband and son about 5 years ago but ever since the fire people rarely see her.” “Fire?" Grace questioned now even more intrigued. “Yeah, last year on the fourth of July, while Madame Anastasia was out of town, a couple of the boys down the street thought it would be funny to light their own fireworks. Little did they know they would light this house on fire and kill Madame Anastasia’s husband and son and burn them alive. When Madame Anastasia got home she went ballistic, literally. She was put into an insane asylum because she was “mentally unstable” but returned only after a year of being gone. People claim to hear her whimpers and a boy’s screams in the dark of the night if you walk by the house. What were you doing at her doorstep?” “I had received this letter from my… a friend,” Grace corrected herself, conveniently leaving out the part about it being from her ex-boyfriend. “I was about to read it when the wind took it out of my hands and sent it under the door of this particular house. But I guess I’ll just forget about it…” Grace said eyeing the boy carefully. “No, actually we should go get it!" The boy exclaimed. The same mischievous smile crossed his lips once again. “Come on, let’s go!” He quickly grabbed Grace’s free hand and pulled her to the front door of Madame Anastasia’s house.

The boy reached for the heavy iron door. “Wait! Shouldn’t we knock first? Grace asked, her heart beating rapidly inside her chest. Her small frame was slightly beginning to quiver and Philly was now awake due to Grace’s sudden jerks of movement. “Nahh,” the boy replied. “That wouldn’t be nearly as fun.” As he pulled on the long brass lever of the door, Grace watched as the boy jumped when the coldness of the door met his palm. The door let out a loud whine as the boy slowly pushed it open for Grace and him to enter. A rush of cold chilling air escaped from the inside of the house as the musty smell of an abandoned home filled Grace’s nostrils. The inside of the home was dim and uninviting, but even so, she mustered up every bit of bravery she had and followed the boy inside.

The inside of the house was bare, with a few pieces of furniture occupying the living room. A large painting covered in dust hung in the entrance. Grace smiled to herself as she marveled at the smiling family laughing on the beach. She guessed this was Madame Anastasia with her husband and son pre-fire but she didn’t look at it too inventively. “Who goes there?” cried a voice from the upper level of the home. The sound of heels clicking against hardwood floors grew nearer and Grace quickly turned to the boy hoping he would know what to do, but he was gone. “Well, well, well what do we have here?“ pondered who Grace suspected was Madame Anastasia. She was a short, older woman with long black hair. She wore all black, which made her look washed out against her pale white skin. Her hands were thin and frail as she grasped the metal railing slowly walking down the stairs.

Grace gulped back nervously before opening her mouth to speak. “My, um, name is Grace. I just moved in down the street and I think the wind dragged my letter under your doorway. So I was just wondering if…” “HAHAHAHA!” Madame Anastasia let out the loudest cackling noise Grace had ever heard. She wasn’t sure whether or not to start laughing too or remain quiet. “Now why, oh why, would your letter wander into the depths of my home?” A mischievous smile crossed her lips; the same mischievous smile the boy from the front of the house had...WAIT A SECOND. Grace quickly turned to the family portrait once again. Sure enough the boy in the painting was the same boy she had met in the front yard. Slowly turning around, Madame Anastasia now stood on the last step of the staircase, the boy in the baseball jersey directly by her side. Grace eyed the front door, but the boy ran to it before she could even think of escaping. Tiny drops of sweat formed on Grace’s forehead but she quickly used the back of her jacket’s sleeve to wipe away any evidence that she was scared or nervous.

Grace turned to face the window and noticed that trick-or-treaters had begun to go door to door. If only she could distract Madame Anastasia and her son long enough and draw the attention of the children, she could easily make an escape. Grace noticed an elaborately decorated vase, in arm’s reach, sitting on the table. In one swift motion she quickly picked it up and threw it at the window sending shards of glass in every direction. The boy ducked for cover but Madame Anastasia did not seem bothered. She quickly ran towards Grace with a blindfold and rope. She ripped Philly out of Graces hands and threw him on the floor sending the small puppy flying. Reaching for her hands Madame Anastasia tied the rope in a tight bow behind her back, so she couldn’t move. Just as she was about to secure the blindfold around Grace’s eyes a loud bang erupted followed with the open swing of the door. Three police officers stood in the doorway all armed and ready to take action. Madame Anastasia immediately dropped the blindfold and the boy tried to run away but he was no match for the police officers. One of the police officers quickly ran to Grace’s side as the other two put Madame Anastasia and her son in handcuffs. This was one Halloween Grace was sure she would never forget.

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