The One's Who Disappear

It was a cold and windy Thursday evening but not just any Thursday. It was Halloween night, one of the most celebrated holidays in the small town of Unionville. As could be expected, the trick-or-treaters were all dressed up and on their way to find as much candy as one could desire. All but the one and only, neighborhood dad, Mr. Frinkles. 

Frinkles was on his way to pay a visit to his old friend, Carlos. Carlos lived exactly one block from Mr. Frinkles so everyday the two would meet to judge one another’s yard or have coffee at one another’s house. They were practically best friends but on Halloween, something happened that made Mr. Frinkles question their entire 10 year friendship. 

When he arrived at Carlos’ house, Frinkles did not see his car which made him wonder where Carlos would have went on Halloween night knowing the kids would be lined down the block to get some of his Hershey’s and M&M brownies that he handed out every year. There were also not a single light coming into the house and this made Frinkles start to worry. As he walked up the steps, Frinkles felt a slight chill run down his spine. 

He knocked on the door and it whipped open but not opened by Carlos. By someone, a child to be exact, that he has never met before. 

“Where is Carlos Diez?” asked Mr. Frinkles with a puzzled look on his face. 

The little boy disappeared inside the house. Just as Mr. Frinkles was about to walk into the house, a lady with red/orange hair appeared from down the hall. 

“Can I help you?” the lady asked while drying her hands with a dishcloth. 

Mr. Frinkles again asked, “Where is Carlos Diez?” 

The broad shouldered lady looked at him as if he was crazy himself, “Well Mr. Diez hasn’t lived in this house for almost 11 years dear.” The lady walked closer to Mr. Frinkles and said in a whisper, “He committed suicide in the upstairs bathroom but I have yet to tell my kids because I don’t want them to think the house is haunted.” 

“Well that can’t be. Just yesterday, Carlos and I met for lunch at the Thin Burger and we made plans to go to the theater to see the new scary movie that is showing tonight.” 

She looked Mr. Frinkles up and down, as she became frightened of the crazy seeming man. Mr. Frinkles started banging on the door, “Don’t shut this door! I want to know where my best friend is!” 

He started becoming angry and confused. Frinkles knew there was no way he had dreamed the last ten years of his friendship with Carlos. He stopped banging on the door and sat on the steps. He didn’t know what to do besides cry.

“This is his house but everything down to the smell of him is gone, vanished like he was never here,” Mr. Frinkles thought to himself. 

“I’m sorry.” A distant, soft voice whispered in the air. Mr. Frinkles looked up but there was no one there. “Hello?” he asked.

Nothing but silence filled the air as a cold shiver fell over his body. As he started walking around the yard, he felt the nervousness take over his body. When he reached the backyard, he could tell something was wrong. “Hello?” Mr Frinkles asked again.

As expected, there was no answer. Mr. Frinkles turned around to be greeted by the lady from inside the house. “I told you there was no one here for you,” she knocked him over the head with something hard and heavy. Mr. Frinkles felt the blood drip from his head and through blurred vision he looked down the barrel of a gun. 

“The ghost of Carlos Diez will never fade,” said a voice sounding exactly like Carlos. But before he could speak, the gun goes off and Mr. Frinkles disappears, never to be seen again.