Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Full Moon Dare

The Full Moon Dare
By Erika M Szabo


As young teenagers, we always traveled in a pack. We did a lot of stupid things together and dared each other to do more stupid things. Well, we didn't eat Tide pods, jumping out of a moving car, sucking on shot glasses or anything that stupid, but we were pretty inventive too.

Usually, I made a joke out of it when the others dared me to do dangerous things such as jumping into the icy river but that mid-November evening they called me a chicken one too many times so I gave in.

The dare was to walk across the cemetery that only had two gates and was surrounded by stone wall. There was only one gate in and one gate out, there was no chance to cheat. Two older kids who did the dare the previous year became the self-appointed judges and walked to the opposite gate to wait for us rookies as we walked across one by one.


My friend, Steve, was brave enough to go first. We saw him for a little while walking down the close to a quarter-mile path between the tall headstones and dark mausoleums in the eerie light of the full moon. Then we heard a loud thump and his muffled cry that gave us goosebumps. We looked at each other ready to go after him when he yelled out, "I'm okay! Just tripped over a bench."

A few minutes later we heard a cheer from the other gate and one of the older kids yelled, "Who's next?"

Okay, let's get this over with, I thought and crossed the gate. I was scared. Walking across the cemetery was a shortcut on the way home from school and I'd used that shortcut a lot, but the headstones looked a lot taller and a whole lot scarier than in daylight. 

I kept walking throat constricted and knots in my stomach, but I kept walking. Suddenly, I saw a dark shadow from the corner of my eye. I turned my head and there it was, backlit by the moon, a werewolf. I saw it clearly as it raised it's head and howled. I froze and couldn't move a muscle. Although I screamed in my mind, I couldn't make a sound.


 My fright and flight response kicked in and I ran. I've never run as fast in my entire life than that night. I jumped over graves and bumped into headstones. Hearing thumping footsteps behind me and heavy breathing made me run even faster. 

Finally, I saw the gate and the three boys. I reached the gate heaving and my leg muscles aching. I stopped and looked behind me. "There is a... there was a..." 

"Come here, boy!" I heard one of the older boys as he bent to scratch a panting Sheppard's ears. "Where have you been?" 

It was a dog! Just a dog! There are no werewolves. I tried to calm my frazzled nerves. 
"What was there? Why were you running so fast?" the boy asked.
"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to get this stupid dare over with." I croaked out trying to save my dignity.

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Joe Bonadonna via Google+

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
As Halloween draws closer, #OurAuthorGang is all ready with some Trick or Treat posts to get Halloween kick started. Today we have author and illustrator Erika M. Szabo, who shares a little tale you might find of interest.
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Joe Bonadonna

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Good one, Erika! Ah, the old "I dare you" thing. Glad those days are over with.
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Yeah, those were the good old days :) No bills, no job, and responsibilities other than to brush and feed the dog and take the garbage out. The only worry we had was not having enough fun
 
+Erika M Szabo -- I always worried about homework and school tests, too.

Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Erika M. Szabo​ shares her spooky (and true) tale of a dare on a dark night on #OurAuthorGang! Stop by and check out today's post!
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Ruth de Jauregui

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
LOL, oh my gosh, what an ending!! I probably would've been frozen in fear. Great post Erika!
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The fright and flight response kicks in quickly :)

Little oleme

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Werewolves, spooky cemetery, oh my...
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Chris Weigand

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Scary Glad you got out of it safely.
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At that age, it was scary. We weren't desensitized by scary movies at a young age back then ;)

Chris Weigand via Google+

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Take a spooky adventure with Erika Szabo
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Cindy Smith shared this via Google+

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
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Cindy Smith

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Love it, that is funny!
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Yes, looking back it was funny, but as a teenager, I was scared witless when I thought a werewolf was chasing me :)

Toi Thomas

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
What a fun story! I try not to compare one generation to another, but I feel like every generation before the current one had more imagination because we weren’t as symbiotically connected to tech as kids are now. Wonderfully spooky and entertaining. Great post.
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Thanks Toi :) Yes, you're right. When kids have an "app" for everything and games for entertainment, they forget to use their imagination. Without smartphones we were pretty inventive to entertain ourselves and we made personal connections instead of cyber "friends"

Eva Pasco

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
The darkness does distort reality, and our imagination magnifies eeriness.  I enjoyed the story!
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Yes, fear added to it, my imagination ran as wild as my feet ;)

Toi Thomas via Google+

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today, Erika M. Szabo shares a spooky and entertaining story of teenage angst. #OurAuthorGang
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Erika M Szabo shared this via Google+

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
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Nikki McDonagh

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Oooh! Chilling. Noises in the dark are always scary.
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It scared me senseless and I imagined the worst but kids are resilient and recover quickly from the shock :)

Lorraine Carey

3 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
You brave girl! Yes, the crazy things we did when we were young. You have this now as a memory to look back on and smile.
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+Lorraine Carey Done shopping, now I'll accept your challenge to take a nap :)
 
+Erika M Szabo Good. I'm taking to the bed early tonight. Have a good one. xx

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