Gibberish: Flash Fiction Friday - Halloween
October 31, 2025
Scoot’s Assignment: Write about a novice ghost, with the phrase “unsettled safety,” a character who hates Halloween, and the sentence, “Don’t go in there.”
The Littlest Ghost
Billy died on All Hallow’s Eve, crossing the street to holler “Trick or Treat!” one more time. But he never made it to the doorstep. Mr. Travers was drunk and didn’t notice the boy flitting into his headlights until it was too late. Little Billy had become a little ghost.
It had all happened so quickly, that he didn’t have time to be frightened or feel any pain. His spirit watched from the unsettled safety of the sidewalk as Mr. Travers drove off, squealing his tires and leaving long tracks of rubber behind on the asphalt. Then he stood alone in the cold silence, wondering what he should do. He floated through town, until he at length arrived at the graveyard.
“Well, if I’m dead, I guess this is where I belong,” he muttered, and proceeded to fade through the stone wall surrounding the granite monuments. He was getting used to not being able to touch anything with his phantom fingers, so was shocked to feel someone grab his arm and pull him back.
“Don’t go in there,” a tall ghost cried, “If you do, you’ll be trapped forever!”
Billy turned to see who was clutching his arm, and there stood a teenager. “You can touch me?” he asked, surprised.
“Well, yeah, kid, we’re both ghosts, you know. My name is Jason. I’m going to show you the ropes, since you’re a novice and all. Lesson number one: Don’t ever go into an enclosed area or you won’t be able to get out. I found that out the hard way when I first became a ghost. I tried to hide out in Mr. Perkins’s old barn and got stuck in there for a while. Lucky for me that barn was so decrepit, that when the strong fall winds knocked a big ol’ oak tree down on top of it last year, it got scrunched to pieces. Once the barn was wrecked, I was free to wander again.”
Billy nodded slowly as he took it all in. “I remember when you died a couple of years back. It was a hit and run, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Jason confirmed. “Just like what happened to you. It was Mr. Travers both times. I used to like Halloween, but Mr. Travers made it so I hate it. I know the guy has problems, but he has no sense of responsibility. He’s a menace, somebody ought to do something about him…” Jason was quiet for minute, as an idea began to bloom. “Hey, Billy, you wanna get even with him?”
“Well, no,” Billy cried, I don’t want to kill him or anything!”
“No, I don’t mean to kill him. I just wanna scare him so good that he never drives drunk again. I wanna make it so he never runs anyone else down, ever again!”
“So how do we do that, Jason? We can’t touch him, right?
“Right. But we don’t have to touch him to scare him,” Jason asserted.
So Jason and Billy decided to haunt Mr. Travers’s car. They floated over to his house and waited. Mr. Travers didn’t go driving for a long time, in fact he didn’t go anywhere. The police hadn’t figured out that he'd killed Billy, but he was still afraid to leave the house. He kept thinking about the small child he’d run over, and for a short time the guilt kept him sober. But eventually the demons in his mind tortured him to the point that he had to drink again, and he hopped into his car. As he drove towards the bar, he never noticed the two ectoplasmic boys clinging to the ski rack on his vehicle’s roof.
Billy and Jason waited outdoors while Mr. Travers went inside to drink -- they didn’t want to risk spending eternity in a bar! But when he stumbled back out, they were ready for him.
Mr. Travers shuffled towards the driver’s side, with Jason creeping right behind him. Just as he stuck the key in the lock, Jason screamed out a long, wailing cry, a cry that would chill any human to the bone. Mr. Travers dropped his keys and looked around wildly. He managed to scoop them up from the pavement and unlocked the door. He put the key in the ignition, and as the headlights came on, he saw Billy standing in the beams, staring as balefully as his young face could manage. When he leaped out of the car to look, Billy made himself invisible.
And so the young ghosts tormented Mr. Travers, until his mind finally snapped. He rushed back into the bar and begged the bartender to call the police. After they’d arrested him and driven him back to the station, he not only confessed to Billy’s hit and run, but also to Jason’s. He was jailed for manslaughter and also lost his license -- Mr. Travers would never drive again for as long as he lived.
As for Billy and Jason, they found an unfenced graveyard at the edge of town, where they could meet with other ghosts and come and go as they pleased. They took to hanging about outside the bar on weekend nights, cheerfully scaring the pants off anyone too inebriated to drive who tried to get into the driver’s seat. The town became a much safer place. And Jason had so much fun with the hauntings, that he even got to liking Halloween again. And so he and Billy, the littlest ghost, became friends for all eternity.
Madcap mishaps ghost riders rage put dunk drivers in the cage.
I really like that! I apologize for being tardy, but got behind on email. I believe this is just as good in the middle of November, as it was on Halloween!
Your work is great, Jeannine.🌟