‘I think a picnic is in order to celebrate Billy B.s’ Birthday,’ Jane said with enthusiasm! ‘Isn’t it a bit cold for a picnic?..it is October 19th and there are a lot of leaves on the ground,’ asked Chet as he buttoned up his woolen sweater. ‘Well, all the better…there will not be a crowd and we can make our own party,’ Neva J. laughed. ‘Yes…and it can have a Halloween theme since Billy B. was born just a week before the Holiday,’ Darryl added. ‘We shall wear our gloves and scarves and heavy sweaters,’ Neva J. said as she clapped her hands together.

Giant City State Park had been resplendent with all manner of colored leaves but the rain and the freezing temperatures have lessened their glow. The massive rock formations and the quiet, except for a fox running by with his tail in the air and the continuous knock…knock…knock of an ambitious woodpecker lent its natural solitude to Halloween reflections.

‘What flavor is the Birthday Cake,’ Chet uttered as he licked his lips in anticipation. ‘German Chocolate…it is Billy B.’s favorite,’ Neva J. answered. ‘Did you bring the Merlot,’ asked Jane. ‘I never go anywhere without it…as you know,’ Neva J. said with a giggle. ‘Let us build a fire in the fireplace in the shelter..we can roast marshmallows and cook hot dogs,’ Darryl proclaimed.

‘I remember how much Billy B.’s dad loved a picnic and he loved to take them in the fall…and even winter,’ Neva J. mused as she poured the wine. ‘Do you recall the year that we went to Karrel Park and our teeth chattered due to the cold,’ Billy B. asked. ‘Or how about Grandma Askew wringing the chicken’s necks and frying them for the celebration,’ Billy B. added. ‘I do not believe that I ever saw a more frightening event than your Grandma A. wringing those chickens’ necks…she swung them above her head and the neck just got longer and longer and then she would whip them like a bullwhip and the head remained in her hand while the headless body would run about the yard looking for it’s lost head,’ Chet said with a look of fear on his face.

‘I will never forget the look on your face when you asked me to tell you about the Devil…and it was Halloween…and I shined a flashlight on my wide grinning face and told you that I was the Devil, Neva J. laughed. ‘You scared the pee pee out of me…literally…and I still get chills when I think of how you looked and how I felt,’ Billy B. said with terror in his eyes.

As the sun set and the fire crackled…Jane said…’Let us all join hands and say…Bloody Mary…three times…I am told that she will be summoned by such a request…’

After the three utterances, it just seemed colder and more than time to leave…when Chet said, ‘You may release my hand now…you are squeezing it too tight…and when Neva J. pointed the flashlight on Chets’ hand…there was no one there…