There's a Monster Pony Outside My Window

by Halira


Chapter 7: Halloween Night

Halloween night was always a long night that involved a lot of exercise. Wendy was glad it was almost over; her feet were killing her. 

The neighborhood had a general way of conducting things on Halloween night. All the kids on their street would travel together more or less as a group. They might divide the group slightly, so the kids were going to two different houses at once instead of overwhelming any single one. Each household would try to send at least one parent or older sibling to help chaperone with the rest of the adults, but there was always at least one household or more that had to leave their kids in the care of the group. Work hours didn't always agree with the holidays, after all.

They always started down by the school and worked their way back to their street, walking up and down each street along the way. The hope was that all the walking would be enough to tire the kids out, and they wouldn't stay up all night on a sugar rush from their candy. That was the theory, but Wendy had found that the only ones that tended to be worn out at the end were the adults, and the kids still ended up with enough energy left over to last them for days. 

This time around, her kids were starting to drag as they finally reached their street and the last leg of the night. Staying up all night and then only getting two hours of sleep seemed to have done the trick. Less than twenty houses to go, and they'd be done for the night. It was a good thing, too, as it seemed that the cops that had been stationed in the area had all suddenly pulled out, returning them to the usual lack of police security. Something big must have been going down elsewhere to pull them all out like that so suddenly. She would have to check the news tonight to find out what, if she could keep her eyes open long enough. 

"MOMMY!!!"

Wendy's heart skipped as she heard Charlotte screaming and immediately turned to run to her. However, she had barely turned when Charlotte slammed into her legs and buried her face into Wendy's legs, crying. 

Wendy ran a hand across her daughter's head. "What's wrong, baby?"

Charlotte kept crying as her sisters came walking calmly back. 

"Mister Lewis was dressed up as Freddy Kruger and scared her," Andrea explained, sounding annoyed. The annoyance seemed to be directed more at her baby sister than at the man who had terrified her. 

"She's such a little chicken," Kristin said, sounding just as annoyed. "It was obvious it was just Mister Lewis. He wasn't even wearing makeup."

"Be nicer to your sister," Wendy scolded. "You two were scared just as easily when you were her age. Need I remind you why you three ended up staying home from school today in front of all your friends?"

"That's different!" Kristin protested, and Andrea immediately elbowed her in the stomach to silence her, giving a pointed look at the nearby kids. Kristin looked and realized she was about to provide fuel to potential teasing and buttoned her lip. 

The two of them hurried off to the next house, but Charlotte stayed clutched to Wendy's side. Wendy put her hand on her daughter's shoulder and let her stay. The poor dear had to be overtired and overstimulated. It was doubtful she would go to any other houses for candy. The size of her trick-or-treat bag suggested that it wouldn't be a significant loss. Wendy was content to let Charlotte stay by her side. 

Joan Westoff came up beside them as they walked. "Can you believe Greg Lewis; dressing up as one of those R-rated monsters? I can't believe they sell costumes for those things; think of the children! Movie monsters these days are so violent and bloody! I would never let my kids watch something like that. It's not like the good old days when we were kids. When I was a kid, we were fine with a white sheet with eye holes cut out."

Wendy gave Joan a cross look. "I think walking around with white sheets over their heads might get our kids attacked by the Blood and Crips, and I don't think Misses Brown would be too happy either."

Joan looked confused. "What? It's just a ghost costume."

Some people were painfully oblivious to some things, and Wendy wasn't sure she had it in her to explain exactly what was wrong with that concept to her friend.

"White sheets with eye holes worn over the head," Wendy said slowly, hoping that she didn't have to spell this out.  "Think of what that also resembles, especially to someone of color."

"I don't know what you're talking—" Joan began before clamping her mouth shut. The recognition entered her eyes, and her cheeks reddened. "Oh…"

Wendy nodded. She was glad she didn't have to explain further. It brought up bad memories of her husband's parents and grandparents, family that she and Charles never wanted her girls exposed to. It was sad that the girls would grow up lacking the extended family that most of the other kids they knew had, but there was too much hurt and hate. She and Charles had agreed that their daughters would never be exposed to the hateful rhetoric or bloody legacy of the rest of the family. The only family they had any regular contact with were Wendy's mother and little sister. Wendy's mother had cut herself off from the rest for similar reasons, and Wendy's little sister wasn't any older than Andrea. 

Joan seemed inclined to change the subject from the good old days after an awkward pause. "So, tell us about our new neighbor. I saw that she went over to your house. A couple of us have tried to meet her, but she never answers her door when we ring the doorbell or knock. Your family are the only ones who have spoken with her."

Wendy blinked. "Really? Well, she might have been asleep when you visited her. She keeps odd hours, staying up most of the night. Her name is Miss Newman, and she has yet to say what her first name is. I'm not really clear about what she currently does for work, but she said she is a sociologist and was formerly a preacher and a mayor. She's rather odd, to tell the truth."

Joan hummed. "No one ever saw her move in. Miss Myers and I wondered if she could be a squatter, not that we are accusing her of that. There have been strange things going on since she moved in."

Wendy shook her head. "I actually called the company that was selling the house today. She checks out. The property went off the market the same time she moved in. She's odd, but she's legitimate. What strange things have been happening? I haven't gotten to hear any gossip the last few days."

"Miss Myers says that she's been hearing things running around on the roof of her house, far too big to be squirrels. Misses Brown heard the same thing on top of her house," Joan explained. "I haven't heard anything on mine. Have you heard anything?"

"There was something yesterday, but Charles was sure it was in the crawlspace," Wendy answered as they continued to walk to keep up with the kids' advancing down the street. "However, now that you mention it, my kids keep claiming they've seen things on Miss Myers' roof. Charlotte claims it was a vampire pony. Andrea and Kristin were less sure what to say about what they saw, but they claimed it was monsters too. I'm thinking it was a large hawk or eagle or something like that. Charles found blood out front by our tree, and he thinks a hawk got a squirrel."

Joan rolled her eyes. "Your kids aren't the only ones having wild fantasies. Mine gave me this unbelievable story about a dark van in the alley that had a unicorn in the back."

Wendy laughed. "A unicorn? Maybe it is in league with the vampire pony. There must be some TV show that premiered recently that we all missed, and that's where the kids are getting all this."

Her friend frowned. "Maybe that dreadful She-Ra cartoon? It has a unicorn that flies, doesn't it?"

Wendy stiffened. "Why is that cartoon dreadful? My kids enjoy it."

"And see what ideas it is giving them?" Joan replied. She then briefly glanced down disapprovingly at Charlotte, who was dressed as a Transformer robot, but then quickly hid her look. "It is not a proper girls' cartoon. We shouldn't be letting them watch such things. There are proper things for girls and proper things for boys. We need to reinforce that; otherwise, they may end up growing up and becoming like one of those people getting AIDs."

Wendy suppressed the urge to shout at her neighbor. How dare Joan imply such things! Her daughters were free to enjoy what they wanted, and she was not going to deny them just because it didn't fit neatly into a gender role. Was she supposed to tell Andrea that she couldn't be a police officer because that wasn't a woman's job? She wanted her kids to be successful, and they wouldn't be successful working strictly traditional women's roles. It wasn't like they didn't have any interest in conventional girls' things. Both Andrea and Kristin loved their Barbies and eagerly wanted her to teach them about makeup. Kristin loved video games. Charlotte had as many 'girl toys' as she did 'boy toys'. Assigning roles to such things was just plain stupid, and it taught little girls to be complacent and subservient. Both Wendy and Charles had to work to keep their family afloat. How much better would things be if Wendy's now-deceased father had brought her up teaching her how to be successful rather than insisting a woman's place was homemaker? How much better off would her mother and young sister be if her mother had been taught any skills before finding herself on her own?

Still, yelling at Joan would only make Wendy a pariah in the neighborhood. The Westoffs were the ones who planned all the neighborhood events and get-togethers, and having a falling out with them would only hurt her kids. 

"I think it is harmless," Wendy said calmly, and she nodded at the Westoff house. "It looks like we've reached your home. I'll try to talk to Miss Newman about getting out to meet you and the rest of the neighbors. I already mentioned you normally do a barbeque for newcomers, and she seemed amicable to it. Quick warning, she says she doesn't eat much meat, something about a medical condition or something. She says it upsets her stomach. She's older than she looks, and you know how medical conditions multiply as we get older."

"Oh, I'm well aware. Don't get me started on my father's endless hospital visits," Joan said with a groan. She then beckoned her kids to her. "Okay, kids, time to say goodbye to your friends and go inside. No eating any candy before I check it! You never know what some crazy satan worshiper might have tried to slip in."

Wendy shook her head. The news always went on about razor blades and poison in candy, but she had never heard of anyone finding any. 

She turned her gaze to the roof of the Myers' house, thinking about what the Myers had said about hearing things and her daughters had said about seeing things. She frowned. Had something just been there before she looked? She had thought she had seen movement, but it seemed all clear now. Maybe it was just her imagination acting up on her after hearing so much about things there. Her daughters weren't the only ones up on short sleep either. She had been up at three in the morning dealing with their latest nightmare. She'd need to get to bed early tonight. It was going to be a long day tomorrow. 

With the Westoffs gone, it was just her and her kids now. Andrea and Kristin were currently on the porch of the Myers house and getting compliments about their costumes from the older couple. This would be the last one since the only places left were their house and Miss Newman's, and Miss Newman had her lights off, indicating she wasn't handing out candy. The older woman had said she wanted to isolate herself today for a day of rest. It seemed an odd day to do it, and it being a Friday, there didn't seem to be any religious reason behind it. Maybe it was just her only day off from doing whatever it was she did for work. 

Andrea and Kristin apparently didn't get the memo and had left the Myers in the direction of Miss Newman's house. 

"Stop! Her lights are off. You have seen plenty of houses with their lights off tonight, and you know what that means. She has no candy," Wendy called out to her two older daughters.

The two had already crossed the street and turned to stare at her from the sidewalk. "Mom, we wanted to see Miss Newman!" Andrea protested. 

"You can see her some other time. She isn't—"

"MOM!" Andrea and Kristin suddenly screamed together, pointing behind her in terror. 

Wendy turned to look at what had given them such a fright, but something slammed into her and Charlotte, hard, hard enough to send them both flying into the street. It was a shock, but Wendy's instincts were on point, and she immediately pulled Charlotte close to cushion her. 

They landed painfully in the middle of the road. Charlotte was crying, and Wendy could already tell that her own shoulder had some sort of injury from hitting the concrete, but her main concern was about her daughter.

"Baby, are y-you okay?" she fearfully asked through the pain. 

Charlotte wouldn't have had a chance to answer, even if she wasn't bawling. The screeching of tires caught both their attention as a vehicle came hurtling down the street at breakneck speed, headlights locked on them. There was no way they would be able to get out of the way in time; Wendy could barely move at the second. 

She closed her eyes and gripped Charlotte tighter, bracing for the impact, and then suddenly she found herself flying through the air again, only it wasn't because the vehicle had hit her. She struck the sidewalk in front of her house and heard the car whoosh by with someone inside it shouting a curse in rage. Had they been trying to hit her?!

Hitting the concrete sidewalk like that hadn't been any better than hitting the concrete of the road, and Wendy was in extreme pain. Charlotte was still crying in Wendy's arms, but the fact that she was crying at least meant she was alive. Although Wendy was unsure if she could move her arms from her daughter in the condition her shoulder was in. 

Charles was already pulling her up into his lap. "Wendy! Wendy! Are you okay? Is Charlotte okay?! Please be okay!"

"The monster tried to kill Mom!" Kristin cried. 

"I-I'm hurt, but okay. Sh-shoulder hurts bad," Wendy managed to answer through the pain. "Ch-Check Charlotte."

Charles did as instructed, pulling their daughter from her arms and eliciting a fresh gasp of pain from Wendy. "Sorry! Sorry!" he cried as he heard her whimper. He was near hysterics himself as a crowd gathered around them. 

"I'm calling an ambulance!" Miss Myers yelled from somewhere nearby. 

Charles nodded and continued to check their daughter over with the child still sobbing uncontrollably. He then sighed in relief. "Charlotte's okay, other than some scratches."

"What...what hit us?" Wendy asked as she tried to force the pain down. 

Charles shook his head, tears streaming down his face. "I don't know. I had turned to go turn the porch light off, and the next thing I knew, Andrea and Kristin were screaming. I'm so glad you were able to get yourself out of the road in time. I swear that driver had been aiming for you."

"It was the monster!" Andrea cried. "It came down from Miss Myers roof and hit Mom into the road, then flew off!"

Wendy didn't have the energy or focus to tell her daughter there was no such thing as monster ponies. "I didn't get out of the road. Someone shoved me or something."

Charles shook his head. "Honey, you must be misremembering after the fall. There was no one there. I was already running for you. The closest ones to you two were Andrea and Kristin, and they were frozen in shock."

Wendy shook her head, wincing in pain. "That's impossible. I could barely move."

"It's what happened. There wasn't anybody there, hun," Charles assured her. 

Wendy knew that there was no way she jumped out of the road, but didn't argue it further. Spending energy talking hurt at the moment. Charlotte was safe, and an injury to her shoulder was not as bad as things could have been. That was what was important. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the door to Miss Newman's house silently close.