‘You've both read A Christmas Carol, right?' I said.
'Of course,' said Clara.
'I haven’t,' said Lucas.
'Yes, you have,’ said Clara. ‘It's the one with the ghosts.'
I winced. I was hoping to avoid the "G" word in front of Lucas for as long as possible.
'No,' he said, wagging a finger at me. 'No ghosts.'
'They're not really ghosts as such,' I said, gesturing vaguely in the hope it might back up my point somehow. 'They're...'
'Yes?' asked Lucas with mock interest.
'Metaphors,' I said. 'Completely different to ghosts.'
'Uh-huh,' he said. 'And what form do these "metaphors" take?'
'Um...'
'Because if it's ghosts, I'm having none of it,' he said, folding his arms. 'I told you that at the start of this silly challenge.'
'Yes, but when have I ever listened to you?'
He glared, but I'm used to that so it was easy to ignore.
'Anyway, here's the first one now,' I said, deciding I wouldn’t be overruled by a figment of my imagination.
There's a first time for everything, I suppose.
'Can't we have them all at once?' said Lucas. 'Get it over in one go?'
'That didn't work for Scrooge,' said Clara.
'No, but I'm on a shorter character limit than Dickens, so it works for me,' I said. 'Here they are.'
Three forms popped into being, one a child in a wizard robe designed for someone much larger, a vampire, and a skeleton.
To their credit, neither Lucas nor Clara screamed much at all.
'Halloween is fun!' declared the tiny warlock, holding a bag aloft. 'Let's go trick or treating!'
'They won't do that,' said the vampire. 'They're too grown up for fun.'
'And then, it'll be too late for any Halloween fun at all,' moaned the skeleton. 'You know, on account of their being dead,' he added helpfully.
'Well, now we're thoroughly depressed,' said Lucas brightly. 'What next?’
'I don't know,' I said. ‘Have some Halloween fun, I suppose. Decorate the house, give out sweets, that sort of thing.'
'All right,' said Clara, stamping on Lucas' foot to stop whatever snarky comment he'd planned. 'Come on, let's carve a pumpkin.'
'Must we?' said Lucas as she dragged him home. 'It's messy and it smells funny.'
'Just shut up and do it.’
See, Clara knows what's expected of her in these prompt posts.
Come back tomorrow to see her brother Henry like you've never seen him before :) Saff x