As I turned to leave, a light flickered inside Heather’s living room. My stomach lurched. Her silhouette appeared at the window. I ducked behind a bush, holding my breath. She shuffled toward the kitchen, poured herself a glass of water, and disappeared again. When the light went out, I slipped quietly back to my house.
The next morning, I brewed coffee and stood at the window, watching the sun rise over Pineview Avenue. Heather’s fence gleamed under the daylight, every letter screaming my message to the world. Parents walking their kids to school slowed down to read it. Some laughed, others whispered.
At nine o’clock, the neighborhood committee arrived to judge the annual Halloween decoration contest. Heather stood frozen on her porch, pale and furious, while the judges examined her fence. They whispered to one another, shaking their heads.
Mrs. Callahan, the committee chair, turned toward my house with a knowing smile. “Lauren, I believe these decorations belong to you,” she said, gesturing toward Heather’s yard.
I lifted my coffee mug and nodded politely. “They seem to have wandered across the street while I was away,” I replied.
Heather sputtered, “This is vandalism! She painted my fence!”
Mrs. Callahan raised an eyebrow. “Did you, or did you not, use her decorations without permission?”
Heather hesitated, caught in her own web. “I borrowed them,” she muttered.
“Then perhaps you should return them,” Mrs. Callahan said firmly. She turned to me with a kind smile. “And as for you, Lauren, your creativity never ceases to amaze us. Congratulations, you have once again won Best Decorated House.”
Heather’s jaw dropped. The judges clapped politely and moved on to the next house.
I watched as Heather began yanking the decorations from her lawn, red paint glinting behind her. My spider, my gravestones, my pumpkins all made their slow return home.
That evening, as twilight settled over Pineview Avenue, I turned on my fog machines and watched the mist roll gently across my yard. The skeletons stood tall again, their hollow eyes gleaming in the orange light.
Halloween was mine once more.
