This story
was previously published on Uncharted
Waters on 10/31/2004
A
Harry Halloween
By
Keri Teach
It had been a long
time since Harriman Nelson of the famed Nelson Institute of Marine Research
could remember that he'd been home on Halloween much less any other holiday.
There had been a short lull in incoming assignments otherwise much like most
other holidays he and the crew of the mighty submarine Seaview would be
out at sea on a lengthy deployment. Though the admiral preferred to be at sea
and away from the office climate of the Institute he had to admit that being
home was a nice change of pace.
He had an innate
love for children though he had none of his own. He looked forward to being able
to hand out goodies, (which his secretary Angie had purchased for him earlier in
the week) and see the different costumes worn by the
Trick or Treaters. He sat back in his favorite reading
chair with a biography on the life of Horatio Hornblower. Reading books, especially biographies, was his
favorite form of relaxation.
It was getting dark
outside and he could hear the squeals and laughter of approaching children. Just
as he was starting to get comfortable the doorbell rang. Harry smiled. He arose
from his chair and walked over, opened the door to greet a short human form
draped in a white sheet with two holes cut out for eyes and both arms
outstretched, small hands holding open a pillow case a third full of assorted
candy.
"Trick or treat!"
exclaimed the ghostly figure in a much higher pitched voice than Harry was
accustomed to hearing. Harry judged by the sound of the youthful voice that it
was a small boy concealed under the sheet maybe 5 or 6 years
old.
Harry looked out
past the small form noticing an adult female shadowy figure that he didn't
recognize standing out by the street curb. He figured she must be the child's
mother. Looking down at the child standing patiently before him Harry smiled and
said, "Well, it looks like you're going to have a pretty good haul little
fella."
Just as Harry
turned to grab some of the candy from a bowl he had set up just inside the
doorway, with his back towards the open door he heard the ghost speak in a
"much" deeper and sinister sounding voice say with a devilish snicker, "Trick or
treat, Admiral Nelson." Before he could turn around he felt something stinging
him in the back of the neck and almost immediately he fell unconscious to the
floor.
~*~
Gradually the
admiral began to stir. He could feel himself slowly beginning to awake though he
could feel a sharp throbbing pain in his head and his vision was so blurred it
was impossible to recognize his surroundings. It seemed the more he tried to
focus his eyes the worse the pain became. Harry decided perhaps it would be best
just to keep his eyes closed and hopefully the pain in his head would subside
though not being able to see where he was made him feel very
uncomfortable.
Harry began to hear
voices. Though he thought there was something familiar about the voices it was
just as impossible to focus on a single voice as it was to get his eyes to
focus. The voices seemed to echo and bounce off the walls around him to where he
couldn't identify how many voices he was hearing. He was becoming painfully
aware that apparently someone had drugged him but he had no theory as to who or
why.
After some time had
passed Harry's vision was beginning to improve and the voices he heard earlier
were becoming clearer and more recognizable. The pain seemed to be finally subside in his head. Looking up he was able to recognize the
familiar face of his closest friend and Captain of the Seaview, Lee Crane
hovering over him and standing next to him was his secretary Angie. Both had
expressions on their faces of deep concern.
Harry bolted to an
upright sitting position grabbing the back of his neck as the throbbing pain
returned with a vengeance. Lee put his hand on the admiral’s arm, telling his
friend, "Now take it easy, Admiral."
"I'm alright I tell
you! I'm alright!" Harry shouted back in a very cranky tone as he was now
rubbing his throbbing head with both hands. Now fully recognizing his
surroundings he realized he was home, sitting in his reading chair, a book on
the life of Captain Horatio Hornblower lay askew on
the floor next to his chair and it was bright daylight
outside.
First seeing Angie
and then Lee …”What are the two of you doing here?"…”What has happened?” Harry
asked in a hushed voice.
Angie responded,
"Admiral, you didn't show up for this morning's meeting with the financial
backers for next week's mission to the Arctic, and when you didn't answer your
phone, well, I got worried and called Lee."
A concerned Lee
Crane looked at his friend and asked, "Admiral, are you sure you're OK? Maybe
you had too many trick or Treaters last night. I
noticed your candy dish is pretty empty.”
Harry looked back
at his friend and said, "Really Lee, I'm fine now".
Harry began to
remember the goings on from the previous night. The throbbing in his head was
finally starting to go away. Harry glanced over at his secretary. "Well Angie, I
hope you were able to reschedule the meeting with the
financiers."
Angie answered
back, "Yes sir, it's been rescheduled for two o'clock this afternoon. It's a
quarter to eleven now."
Harry glanced at
his watch and said, "Guess I better get washed up, shaved, and change into
uniform. Then we all better head over to the office."
As Harry headed
down the hall towards the bathroom to grab a quick shower he began to think
about his evening at home on Halloween. Was he the victim of some devilish
kidnap scheme that somehow failed, or had he only dreamed it happened? The
headache and groggy feeling as he awakened earlier felt
real enough. Would he share his mystery tale of what happened on Halloween night
with his friends? Harry thought, maybe.
Then again... maybe
not.
Fin.
©Keri
Teach, 2004. All rights reserved.