The Vow

The town of Mayhem is getting ready for the festivities Friday All Hallows Eve! The town goes all out for Halloween you would think it was Christmas. The small town does whatever it can to attract people, to help out its rocky economy.  

The Mayor of the town hopes that this will be the best one yet! This year is the third one that has been held in the town. It is the brainchild of Samantha Harrington the Head of the recreation committee. She came up with the theme from the folklore of the town itself which is quite fascinating and at the same time somewhat unnerving to read. The premise of it is, that there used to be witches who supposedly lived among the townspeople. They were outed by the townspeople. hunted down and killed by hanging. It was said that before the witches were hung in the town square on All Hollows Eve, they vowed that the town would one day cease to exist.  

The town was booked solid for the weekend people from far and wide flocked to the little town to partake in the festivities. There were pumpkin lights everywhere draped in the trees that lined the main street. Every year a group of local actors dress up as witches and patrol the streets trying to scare the many people visiting and enjoying the festivities. The main street lined with all variations of eerily lite Jack-o-lanterns carved by the local artists. Mixed in is a creepy mix of Halloween music coming from the local shops, along with black cats roaming the main street.

Mayor Sargent exclaims, "Samantha this is the best theme you have done yet!" Samantha takes a step back and looks at her work and replies, "You know I think you may be right, this year feels like we just may get best in the show, for this years' town Halloween Theme!" The Mayor gives her the thumbs up, before taking leave to make sure, that the fireworks are still a go for the night.

Samantha breaths in the crisp Autumn air and scans the main street to make sure that everything is in place. As she turns to make her way down the main street, she bumps into a woman with a group of other women, all holding what smells like spiced apple cider. "Oh, I am so sorry I didn't see you there!" Samantha says a bit embarrassed. "Samantha, that is perfectly alright I was not watching where I was going anyway, the Halloween theme is so eye-catching!" the woman and the group with her all nod in agreement. "My name is Reagan and my friends and I think your "All Eves Festival" is very fetching!" Samantha can barely contain her excitement as she beams from the compliment. "Thank you, so much please enjoy your cider and I hope you and your friends will make it to the fireworks coming up at 10 pm! Reagan finishes her cup of cider and says, "I would not miss it for the world…not for the world."  

Samantha practically floats over to the bandstand to get ready for the fireworks that night. She and all of the volunteers buzz around setting up the chairs and stocking a table with more cider, cookies, candy apples and many other spooky treats and refreshments. The Mayor and herself will make a brief speech before the setting off of the fireworks. It has become a tradition to tell the story or folklore of the town to coincide with the theme of the festivities…All Hollows Eve!  

The bandstand starts to fill up with people most trying to get a good seat or at least a good spot to set up their blankets to view the fireworks. The treat table is a hit and not with just the kids, parents and the like are all impressed with the treats and baked goods. All supplied by the local bakery. Many of the visitors voiced how they plan on buying some of the goods to take home.

The Mayor and Samantha make their way to the band and the Mayor steps up to the podium and speaks into the microphone. "Attention everyone, I want to say a few words before we set off the ceremonial fireworks" he opens a book with the folklore story in it and begins to explain it and then recite it to the attentive and captivated crowd. After the Mayor finishes reciting the story Samantha starts to give out gift bags to the crowd which are included in the All Hallows Eve weekend package, with the story included. The Mayor informs the crowd that there will be a question and answer session after the fireworks. The fireworks go off without a hitch and everyone is in awe of how impressive they are, the Halloween theme is shown through in the form of pumpkins, bats and of course witches exploding into the night sky!

As the fireworks show comes to an end some of the crowd head over to the Q & A area. The first person to appear before the panel is…Reagan she takes a seat and begins to inquiry about the town's folklore story. "Samantha I have one question since the town still exists…would it not be reasonable to say, the women that were hung, were in fact…not witches? Samantha pauses for a minute before answering her question. "Well, Reagan back in that time people were extremely paranoid of anything different and could not be rationally explained so unfortunately; sometimes they would take drastic measures and the hanging of the three women was the result." Reagan is quick to respond with a somewhat odd question. "Did the witches happen to proclaim that the town would cease to exist in the year 2020 on All Hollows Eve!?!" Samantha looks at Reagan dumbfounded and pulls her aside from the crowd.  "How how…did you know that it is not something, that is common knowledge to anyone…it is a confidential part of the folklore!"

Reagan beacons to her two friends, but they don't walk over to her, they begin to levitate and float over. Then Reagan begins to levitate and joins her two friends. They begin to float above the entire crowd. The Mayor exclaims to Samantha. "Wow Samantha how did you manage this, It is amazing it is so realistic!!" Samantha cannot believe her eyes and says. "I didn't do this!" The Mayor looks at the women floating above the awestruck crowd and before he can say another word the women start to chant. The crowd thinking it is all part of the festival continue taking in the spectacle. But little are they aware, they will never leave this town, nor will others ever enter the town again. The News Headline the next day is as follows "Entire town Vanishes…without a Trace!"