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It’s quiet in the house, save for the tea kettle steam engine puffing on the stovetop. The whistle now pierces the air, and she goes to move it away. She sighs, readies her tea cup, and pours in the hot water. As it steeps on a cold Halloween morning, she moves the window curtain aside and gazes out into the backyard. There a figure stands, still as stone, red eyes glowing in the head. The woman quickly moves the curtains back, presses a hand to her heart, and wonders. Surely it is merely an illusion, she thinks. How could there be somewhere there? She was out in the deep country in a lone house surrounded by trees and space to breathe. If I just move the curtain aside again, he’ll be gone, she thinks.

Once more, she moves the curtain aside and peers out. There the figure stands, the red eyes even closer now. She quickly moves the curtain back and dashes to the front door. She presses her body against it, checks the lock, and looks through the peephole. There, a red eye looks back at her. “Go away!” she screams as she backs away from the door. Then there comes the pounding. So hard that the door rattles. The woman screams again and darts upstairs. She moves to the wall phone in the hall, picks up the receiver, and discovers the line is dead. Downstairs, the pounding continues. She returns the receiver to its cradle and the phone suddenly rings. She picks it up with a trembling hand. “Hello,” she says in a whimper. “Let me in,” the voice on the other end hisses. “Or you’ll be sorry.”

Then she hears the front door downstairs shatter and crumble. The thing out there has kicked it in. A muffled voice calls out, “Anybody home!?” Then there’s a laugh, a laugh like no other she has ever heard. She slips to the floor, so scared and panicked she can no longer move. Then she sees the figure loping its way up the stairs. He’s holding an axe. The red eyes are on fire. The mask surrounding them is hideous. The figure reaches the top of the stairs and the spot where the woman is hunched against the wall and crying. He holds the axe high above his head and lets out a horrifying scream of impending violence and death. Then as the terrified woman whimpers and moans there on the floor, the figure lowers the axe and removes the mask. He works to loosen the mechanical eyes. He looks down at her and grins, “Hey honey, Happy Halloween.”