Not seeing any Halloween offerings, i dug this up...

[quickbeard]

The full moon shone brightly onto the small clearing, while off in the distance a church bell's mournful tones finished their 11th strike. A cool autumn breeze blew a few leaves over the ground. It looked calm, smooth, and... safe. You had to be looking carefully to notice the slight ripples that appeared from time to time: as though something restless lurked beneath the surface...

Sandy cackled gleefully to herself as she examined herself in the full-length mirror. Starting with her high heel shoes, she carefully checked the fish net stockings for wrinkles or runs. She was especially proud of the glow-in-the-dark spiders that were mixed in the "webs". Her short black dress hugged her form tightly, from her full hips to the cleavage revealed by the cut of the dress. As she applied just a hit of green eyeliner to complete her witch's costume, she smiled and thought to herself, "YES, tonight I am going to cast my little bewitching spell on Mark and knock his eyeballs out!" She made sure that her long black hair hung perfectly down her back, and topped the costume off with the obligatory peaked witch's hat. She made one final spin in front of the mirror "Perfect!", and headed out the door. Tonight was such a calm night, she would walk to the tavern; after all, and it was only a mile through the woods.

Throughout the woods, and especially around the clearing, a light mist began to form, blanketing the ground in wisps of fog....

"Damn!" was the cry that filled the night air. Sandy bent down to take off her right shoe, and swore some more.... the heel had broken off a little over half-way down its shaft. She thought for a minute... She was more than halfway there, and she after all she had left another pair of shoes in Mark's car... Shrugging her shoulders, she kicked off the other shoe and continued down the foggy path in her stocking feet. As she walked through the oddly quiet woods, she thought once again just how lucky she was to have found that costume shop on the edge of town, especially since the pre-Halloween crowds hadn't seemed to have found it yet. She hoped that it had gotten enough business.... And now she muttered a few more choice curse words when an errant gust of wind picked up her hat and blew it off the side of the path. She looked around carefully for it... "There!", she could just see the tip of the cap peeking through the fog. Sandy just a few steps away when she noticed the wet squelching around her feet...

As if everything else that had happened wasn't enough, NOW her stockings were ruined by the ankle deep mud around her feet. "Well, just another step and I can reach that blasted hat and get the hell out of her.... Oh, shit..." Her voice wound down, the mud had sucked both legs all the way up to her knees; and it was so thick... She tried pulling first her right leg out, and then the other, but it was almost as if she had stepped into paste, the mud didn't seem to want to give her up. Then Sandy noticed that even though was too thick for her to get her leg free, she seemed to be settling in deeper with each motion. She grabbed her right leg with both hands, and pointing her toes down into the muck for better leverage, she tugged as hard as she could. The mud's only response was to pull her even deeper.. the hem of her dress just brushing the surface. Her struggles blew the fog around away for a moment, revealing the black mud that almost felt as if it was reaching for more of her, and then the mist filled back in hiding her waist in a promise of what was to come... `

Sandy moaned softly as she felt the moist earth beginning to soak through her panties, and she struggled to straighten her feet or even wriggle her toes. The only response was the mud's laughing gurgle as it rose up over her hips and circled her waist with a tight grip. It felt almost as if her feet were held captive.. her toes even stilled.. and her dress got strangely heavier with weight of the absorbed moisture. She tried pushing up, pushing away at the surface and found her hands held deep with the mire. And now her breathing came faster and yet more difficult as the mud tickled upward, climbing first one rib and then the next. The quicksand just below her breasts as though they might keep her afloat: then just as she was breathing a sigh of relief, spilled over her cleavage and took them for its own. Her hair first floated on the surface and then strand by strand disappeared into the quagmire. Her cries echoes unanswered into the night, save for an owl's answering call.

In the neighborhood tavern, where everyone really does call you by name, a gentleman dressed in a black suit covered with a red-lined cape, raised his drink to his friends as the clock finished the final stroke of midnight. The drink was, appropriately for the costume, a Bloody Mary. His friend slapped him on the shoulder " Well here's other All Hallow's Eve together! Mark, I am glad you are finally seeing someone, after all it has been almost 2 years since you lost your wife." He shakes his head, "Remember how she used come to this party waving that broom and making everyone laugh?" Mark shook his head ruefully, "We really did have some great times together..." He looks expectantly at the tavern's door, and takes another swig of his drink. "Ya know though? Is sure is a good thing that she never met Sandy. I have never in my life known anyone as jealous as she could be..."

The moonlight shines on the small clearing, almost spotlighting a witch's hat sitting there. The breeze blows a few leaves across its surface. It looks calm, smooth... and then next to the hat, a bubble bursts free...

[PM2K]

Nice submission, sir, and perfect for the season. Thanks, and Happy Halloween!