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Halloween Story Contest 2012- Honorable Mention
updated: Oct 30, 2012, 5:16 PM
By Jeanetta Adkins
Sunlight shone through a crack in the curtains. Dawn had arrived, and with it another
beautiful day in Santa Barbara. In the distance, the bells of the Mission tolled, and a train
whistle signaled its passing. Birds sang out and the sounds of traffic were just beginning.
Everything seemed so regular, so normal. And yet, nothing was normal at all...
I had stayed up way too late last night, watching the Real Housewives of Santa Barbara and
wondering where in the world they found those women, Montecito perhaps? But regardless, I
was totally taken in by the gossipy goodness and passed out on my couch.
A flapping, sound awakened me and I woke to find a bat trapped in the room with me.
Jumping up, I ran for a broom to try and shoo it out the door but before I could make it to the
kitchen, I felt it get tangled up in my hair and it suddenly became a life-and-extensions
struggle as I frantically tried to pull out the bat without losing my `do! We both ended up in
the yard, well, all 3 of us if you count the extensions that were definitely loose and he seemed
to be the winner since he flew away unscathed. Me, I needed an appointment with my
hairdresser asap. Luckily, our mothers are good friends or I would have been wearing a
ballcap for a month.
When I arrived at Grateful Head, eyes burning from the sunlight since I couldn´t locate my
sunglasses before leaving the house, Gerardo rushed me to the back of the salon, fearing
that the mess on my head would scare the other customers. As he worked frantically to free
the rest of the extensions and make me at least semi-normal again, he asked about some
strange marks on my neck and showed them to me in a mirror. 2 little puncture marks,
perfectly round and only slightly swollen could be seen after my hair was moved away. They
didn´t really hurt, but now that I had seen them, they itched a little bit. He looked horrified by
them and I asked why. "Haven´t you heard what is happening around here?" he said in a
quiet, conspiratorial tone. I just shook my head slowly, beginning to get worried by how
scared he seemed and I noticed he had stepped away from me just a bit. "There are people,
normal, everyday people, being turned into monsters and it seems to always start with the
bite of a bat!" One of the shampoo girls heard him and came running back to us to tell me a
story about her brother who had been recently bitten and was acting very out of character.
He had always been an avid surfer and now avoided the beach unless totally wrapped up
head to toe in UV blocking clothing and oddest of all, he had stopped eating meat and had
abruptly began talking about voting a straight Democrat ticket in the upcoming election even
though he had been a lifelong Republican. She got too weepy to continue and ran off.
Gerardo went on to talk about people become zombie-like vegans who wouldn´t touch a
piece of bacon if their very lives depended on it, people who had been Conservative their
entire lives, suddenly protesting on State St at random times over seemingly odd issues like
Save the Salp, or taking up petitions against life flight helicopters that make too much noise
polluting the peace of Santa Barbara.
I began to feel nervous and darned if those bite marks weren´t itching even more. So I
brushed off his concerns with a laugh, tipped well and hurried outside. The sun seemed a
LOT brighter than normal, where in the world was my sunscreen? I realized I was famished
as I got in the car but I couldn´t seem to turn into the Habit. All I could think of that sounded
tasty, was... KALE!
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