Beautiful Misery
Every Halloween, my family and I would travel to a small town in Louisiana—Breaux Bridge. It was known for its famous bridge, of course, but we traveled there only because of my dad’s work. He designs decorations for each holiday, but Halloween is his favorite. He always goes all out for it, so back when he was in college him and a buddy, my Uncle Danny, bought this building in Breaux Bridge and turned it into a haunted house featuring all my dad’s scariest designs. He hired a few people to be scarers. They do a really great job at it, too.
My favorite is Mr. Hawk. He dresses in a suit with a large trench coat and wears a black plague mask that has blood dripping from it. He also carries a clock that dangles from his wrist; he waves it around slowly as he stares down people who walk past him in the house. Anyway, we pull up to Uncle Danny’s house. My cousin Samara, who is only three, rushes out. I jump out of the car and go straight to her. She jumps up into my arms, and I catch her.
“Hi there,” I say.
She says hi back, and we all go inside after my dad grabs our bags. Mom talks to Auntie Shona and catches up, as if they don’t talk every day on the phone. I usually share Samara’s room with her while we stay. It’s only for a week. Dad leaves right away with Uncle Danny with some decorations for the haunted house. I unpack my things and listen to music.
Later that night, I go outside to take a walk. It’s usually a quiet neighborhood. As I’m walking, I see a girl; she’s lying on the grass, staring up at the stars. She looks around my age. I walk over to her and ask,
“Are you stargazing?”
She jumps when I speak and places her hand over her heart.
“Gosh, you scared me, but yes, I am.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No worries. What are you doing walking out here alone anyway?” She asks.
“I just like to take night strolls. I’m Brielle, by the way.”
“Oh, well, you shouldn’t. I’m Palina.”
I look at her, confused, and sit beside her.
“Why shouldn’t I?” I ask.
“Have you ever heard the myths of Breaux Bridge? Like the actual bridge itself, not the city.”
I shake my head. She takes a deep breath and says, “Well, there’s a lot you need to learn.”
I look at the time on my phone. It’s almost midnight. I look back at her and ask, “Can we meet up tomorrow? I can give you my number.”
She nods and hands me her phone.
I text her first thing when I wake up. She answers immediately. She asks me to meet her at a coffee shop in town. I get dressed and head to the kitchen. I see my mom sitting with Auntie Shona.
“Morning, Mom. Morning, Auntie,” I say, grabbing my shoes.
“Good morning. You’re up early. Where you off to?” My mom asks.
“I made a new friend, Palina. We’re going to meet up at the coffee shop in town.”
She simply nods. Auntie Shona smiles and shakes her head.
“That girl is an odd one. Palina? She’s always going on about these crazy stories.” Auntie Shona says.
“Maybe she’s onto something,” I say.
Auntie Shona shrugs. I put my shoes on and head out. I decide to walk since it’s not too far. As I walk in, I see Palina sitting at a table all the way in the back corner of the shop. I can see her better since it’s daytime. She has red hair and dark freckles. Her eyes catch my attention the most. They are two different colors. One is brown and one is blue. I sit at the table.
“So, let’s get straight to it.” She says.
I nod and sit back.
“Years ago, in, like, the 1900s, a family used to live right near the Breaux Bridge. The Mortons. They were like any other family. A mom, a dad, a son, and a daughter. They had a little farm. No one paid any mind to them. Until one day, they vanished. Just gone, like nothing. People searched and searched. Nothing. About a week later, people started seeing weird things on the bridge. Some would say they’d see a girl walking up and down the bridge at night. Some claimed to see a boy sitting on the railing, kicking his feet. And some would see an older man and woman holding hands walking in the middle of the road. They were only black figures; no one could ever describe a face, but it had to be the Mortons. And to make this story even better, the week this started happening was the week of Halloween. After that week, the figures never appeared. Until the next week of Halloween. And every other Halloween week after. I’ve seen it myself. I’ve seen a lot of things. No one ever believes me, but the Mortons- I’m not the only one who believes in that.”
I let out a breath. I don’t even know what to think.
“Wow, um, that is really crazy.”
“It is indeed. You have to experience it.” She insists.
“I don’t know.”
“Come on! Halloween is in two days. That’s when all four figures come out! It’s so spooky.” She says.
I sigh and say, “Ok, ok. I’ll do it.”
She claps and smiles.
“This is going to be fun.”
I smile. I sure hope so…
I don’t take a walk that night. The story did creep me out a bit. I can’t deny it, but I’m not so sure how true it is. I sleep it off. The next day is the opening of the haunted house. My family always goes to experience it first. It’s pretty good, but it doesn’t scare me like it used to. We don’t do much for the rest of the night. I stay in Samara’s room until I fall asleep.
It’s now the night before I go with Palina to the bridge. My stomach is churning a bit as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. I’m nervous to do this tomorrow. It’s going to be at night. I will trick-or-treat with Samara, Mom, and Auntie Shona first. Then I’m going to head to Palina’s house. I close my eyes and try to take my mind off it. I mean, it can’t be that bad. Right?
Around six the next day, I put on my angel costume and grab a pillowcase. We trick-or-treat around the neighborhood until about eight and then go home to see what we collected. It is a pretty good candy haul this year. I change into normal clothes after sorting out some of the candy and I get a text from Palina. She asks me to go over and sends her adress. She only lives a little down the street. I walk over to her place and knock on the door. She opens it up and comes outside.
“You ready?” She asks.
I nod and she gets in a red car, I’m assuming it’s hers. I get in too. We don’t speak as she drives to the bridge. Surprsingly, we aren’t the only people here. I see at least four or five other people. We get out the car and go to the sidewalk. She sits on the floor, bringing her knees to her chest. I sit beside her.
“So, when do they come out?” I ask.
“Once the sun sets.” She says, staring at the sky.
I nod and check the time. Eight-fifty. The sky is an orangish-pink. The sun hasn’t fully set yet. We sit in silence watching the bridge and sky. Around nine it gets really windy and leaves blow across the bridge. We even start to hear groans and whispers. I get the chills, while Palina smiles, clapping softly. It’s dark out now. Dim street lights light up the bridge a bit, but they are flickering.
Everyone goes silent as these strange things happen. My heart races. I stare at the middle of the bridge. From the far end of a bridge, four dark figures come walking, hand in hand. As they walk, the wind stops and leaves go still. I stop breathing for a second. They walk towards the middle of the bridge and sit in a circle. They raise their arms to the sky and the light from the moon shines down brightly on them. Then they all let out horrible screams. I cover my ears.
Afterwards, they walk closer to all of us watching. I slowly scoot back away. Palina and the others stay perfectly still. They stop a little before us, but they do nothing and then walk back towards the end of the bridge they came from, disappearing into the night. I stare in shock. Palina waves a hand in front of me.
“You okay? Pretty cool right?” She asks.
“Cool? That was creepy.” I say.
She laughs and shakes her head.
“Yeah, that’s usually what people say the first time they experience it, but to me there’s a deeper meaning. They use this night to release whatever pain they endured. And they always come over to us watchers to show thanks for someone actually seeing and hearing them. It’s actually beautiful in its own way.” She explains.
I stare at her likes she’s lost it, but then I really think about it. She’s right.
“That makes so much sense.” I admit.
She nods and says, “Let’s go back to my place. I’ve got plenty more stories.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”