National Day on Writing (and Research) by Frances FitzGerald

The official National Day on Writing was Saturday, October 20, but Madonna celebrated the event on Thursday, October 18. Carol Vandenberg of the Library and I combined this event with the Halloween Research/Write-a-thon, which has been a staple of Take 5 entertainment since 2009.

Supported by our capable librarians (which included Lauren Ziolkowski) and tutors, Carol and I provided light-hearted, Halloween-ish prompts for participants to write responses to. Sarah Kosel, one of the tutors, taped construction paper on Take 5 windows for “round-robin” stories. She started each story, and participants were invited to add a sentence or two to further develop these spooky tales.

Other tutors who helped out were Lawren Dame, Kayla Daugherty, Hannah Faber, Clarissa Powaser, Sara Sabadosa, and LaMonica Williams.

From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., we collared students, staff, and a few faculty members to participate by getting help with research or writing, reading something aloud, adding to one of the “round-robin” stories, or writing a response to one of our prompts. Those who got involved put their name and phone number in a raffle, and we drew names at random intervals. Based on the number of names in our raffle, at least 75 members of the Madonna community contributed something for the National Day on Writing.

In preparation, we had purchased plenty of candy and Dollar Store treasures such as inflatable spiders, glow-in-the-dark skeletons, severed hands and feet (fake), and a spider-laden boa. Our grand prize was a $25 gift certificate for Barnes & Noble. Connie Tingson-Gatuz’s office helped subsidize the costs.

Desmond Thompson, a Madonna freshman majoring in communication, won the grand prize.

Following are the “round-robin” stories (formerly called “traveling stories) and the responses to some of our prompts:

Frances FitzGerald is MU's Writing Center Coordinator

Halloween Alternative by Katelyn Taromina

To not abide by the norm can be scary and cruel these days. Jessica and her family do not celebrate Halloween. Instead, they embrace the fall and have endless festivities. Jessica may get teased for not dressing up and not going door to door for candy, but her festivities are beyond-belief fantastic.

First, their entire family wakes up to pumpkin pancakes with a mountain of whip cream. Who wouldn’t like to stuff their face with that delicious meal? Then the first activity begins. They decorate homemade leaves. Jessica loves sparkles, so her leaf looks like a disco ball leaf. After every member in her family finishes their leaves, they string them together and hang them above their door.

Next it is lunch time! Their lunches lack the normal nutritious meal, but they are more like a contest. The contest is a corn-eating contest, not to eat it the fastest, but to eat the most. It is a crazy mess. Corn kernels are flying everywhere. There is endless laughter, and no one is thinking about trick-or-treating, just having a great time with the family.

Last, the night ends with a delicious meal. It includes homemade crispy chicken and mashed potatoes. However, the delicious dinner is not the highlight of the night. The final activity is to make homemade caramel apples. There is a table covered with a pile of apples as high as a mountain. Another table has hot caramel to dip them in, and the last table is covered with every unhealthy topping possible. The less nutritious, the more delicious.

Overall, the night is perfect, and filled with fun from the beginning until the end. It may not be the norm, but their family wouldn’t have it any other way. They are filled with endless fun and eating. Being together would be all Jessica’s family needs!

Written in response to a National Day on Writing prompt

           

Friday the 13th by Yvonne White

I watched a horror movie one Thursday called Popcorn. It was a story about a skeleton that murdered students who went to movie theatres to watch movies. I found the movie to be a bit boring. In fact, it was so boring that I slept. The next day, which was the 13^th, I hung out with my friends. All of a sudden, a skeleton popped up in front of us with an axe. We screamed and ran. The skeleton kept chasing us. “Run, run!” I screamed. The skeleton, which was glowing, killed all my friends. Then the skeleton disappeared.

I told the police about it, but they laughed and called me crazy. It took me some time to forget about the skeleton and overcome my grief.

Five years later, it was Halloween. It  was also the Friday the 13^th. I was dressed as a dead ghost. I was driving to a Halloween party when  the skeleton popped up and said, “At last we meet again.” I rushed out of the car and screamed for help, but no one came. The only way to defeat this creature was by facing it. I turned to look at it sternly. The skeleton, seeing my courage, screamed as he began to melt until he was no more. I went back to my car and drove to the party and enjoyed myself.

My superstition had been that Friday the 13 means bad luck, but not anymore. The only way to defeat fear is to stand boldly against it.

Breathless--Round Robin Story by the Take 5 Writers

I knew it had been a bad idea as soon as I saw the bloody entrails spilling out of the fridge. It’s never easy living with a carnivorous zombie, but he is my husband, after all. I should have known it wouldn’t work out on our wedding day when he tried to eat raw meat in an extremely dark hallway before the ceremony. 

Many creepy and crazy things happen in that secret, dark hallway. It was very smelly and the lights in the hallway went on and off. At first, I thought my husband was joking. I guess not! They kept flickering on and off, on and off. Finally, they stopped. Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw something coming towards me, getting closer and closer. 

After all that, I ran to the basement and turned the TV on. Every channel I switched to was a horror movie. And I really hate horror movies…zombies, aliens, vampires…they are all too scary for me! So, I ran out of the basement to the bathroom, hoping I would feel safer. With the lights off, though, all I could think of was Bloody Mary, so I ran out of the bathroom. I was greeted with the sounds of my husband and his zombie friends cheering as they watched the Detroit Tigers beating the Yankees in the ACLS. 

While they watched the game, I took the opportunity to call up the zombie wives. We had a cup of coffee. I thought my night had finally come to a happy ending until I pulled out my phone and I saw that I had a message. I read it, and it turned out to be a virus that turned my phone into a bloody lung.  I threw it out the window and watched as it “breathed” its last breaths, lying on the concrete.



Consulting Detective--A Round Robin Story by the Take 5 Writers

Had I realized what I was getting myself into when I responded to the ad for an assistant to a consulting detective, I might have thought twice, especially considering that the detective was a vampire and worked only from dusk to dawn. 

I had spent my entire life trying to find kryptonite, when all I needed was Holy Water. I found out too late, and the detective turned me into a vampire as well. But as a vampire, I was determined to get some blood no matter what was in my way. I figured I would need to find a large group of people to provide my next meal. 

Being from Bangladesh, I had never known anything about Halloween when I came to the USA, and now I was going to a Halloween party at my friend’s house. Wearing a vampire costume, I was ready for some blood! 

While at the party, my pet cat transformed me into a magical wardrobe and I entered Narnia.  The place had weird creatures and animals talking to themselves. A wild Pidgey offered us a chocolate bar. My cat and I ate it slowly but surely. Then a squirrel gave birth to a Pegasus. And a rift of time and space opened up to me and the other travelers from the Halloween party. Or so I thought. The few travelers who were able to come through were attacked by the squirrels that had given birth to the Pegasus. The travelers were never seen again. 

Then he fell off his bike of pretzels and the turtle was alive. Ha ha ha woah! I was scared. This was the first time I'd ever encountered a turtle. I didn’t know they were so green. The hard shell on his back was a mystery to me. The shell was not the usual shell. It looked like a plaid shirt.  So I dove right into the shell, and I scared the poor turtle so badly that he didn’t know what to do. 

I said, “You didn't know I was magical, I take it?” 

“Indeed I did not,” answered the turtle. 

We dwelled together peaceably for a few minutes. Then my friend walked into the room. He was wearing a New York Yankees jersey and saw a tiger in the room. The tiger roared loudly and chased him out because he was representing the wrong team. He changed his jersey to represent the Detroit Tigers, and things were peaceful.   

Alternative Halloween by Timothy Knopp

It was Halloween day and all Lisa’s friends were at a party. She was at home with her family having a barbeque. She was sad that her friends made fun of her, but she was happy to be with her family.

Psycho Pumpkins--A Round Robin Story by the Take 5 Writers

You would think a pumpkin patch is a perfectly safe place to be but, as I discovered, that isn’t always true.  Especially when those pumpkins come to life and start spitting pumpkin seeds at the speed of bullets. Luckily, since they have no eyes, their aim is terrible, and I was able to avoid the seeds. But I tripped while running, and I crashed into some freshly carved pumpkins, or what I thought were freshly carved pumpkins. 



 

Upon further examination, those large, circular and oblong-shaped heads weren’t from the local pumpkin patch. I was startled beyond belief and scared to look into their eyes. I ran faster than the speed of light. When I looked back, I saw those evil pumpkins with laser green eyes rolling after me. 

 

Of course, I slipped down the hill that magically appeared and fell into a 10x10 hole (you know, the ones they used to make in the movie Holes). The pumpkins were rolling down at lightning speed, all determined to land in the hole with me. Would I be buried alive? My face was covered in sweat as I lay in this dirt hole. 

 

As I tried to get up, the pumpkins pushed me back down forcefully. I looked for a safe place to put my body, because I had come to the pumpkin patch to do some serious work. I needed data for my statistics project, and I had come to the pumpkin patch to record the amount of time it took each group of visitors to choose a pumpkin. I had nestled in to watch the groups of visitors as they examined the pumpkins. I never thought that any type of supernatural activity would take place. I needed data that was measurable, not terribly scary for horror stories. 

 

Oops, here came a group intent on choosing a pumpkin. How long would it take? I kept quietly trying to reassure the pumpkins that my goal was purely scientific. I was just there to watch! It seemed all the visitors were wearing heavy clothing, protecting their faces; it was not a cold day! 

 

As the day progressed, out of the corner of my eye, I swear I caught a glimpse of an orange on a man’s face. Had he come to the pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin, or was a pumpkin after him?  Just then, I saw the jack-o-lantern that was chasing him! Aaaaggggghhh! Then the pumpkin met another pumpkin and they fell in love! Then one day, the couple got into a really big argument.  Then the two pumpkins busted open.

Stepfather by Sara

 

If I woke up on Halloween morning and realized I was placed in a scary movie, I would most likely be in Stepfather. The reason for this is because I can relate to the main character. This is also one of my favorite movies.



Hero of the Tale by Rebecca

 

If I woke up, and I was placed in a scary movie, the scary movie would be sinister. If I was a character in there, I would probably be the main character. The main character would try to discover what happened to the families that got murdered. I would do the same.

 

 

Warding Off Dragons by Matthew Neal

 

During All Hallow’s Eve, it is customary in some parts of Latin American countries to offer prayer in intercession for the person one is named after, especially if it is a canonized saint.

           

Folklore has it that men who are named Jorge (Spanish for George, from St. George who slew a dragon) are cursed. St. George must fight the dragon now on All Saints Day. He needs as many prayers from the land of the living so God will grant him the strength to keep the dragon in Hell for another year. Failure to have all of the necessary prayers means the dragon will devastate the lives of the others after St. George, so that it may once again plague all of Christendom.

 

 

Happy Halloween! by Kathy Marcath

 

Happy Halloween! I’m so excited. This year we’re going trick-or-treating with the neighbors, Shelly and Dina. We’re all dressing up as princesses. Mom yells, “Let’s go!”

 

We have our steps all planned out. We know where to get the biggest candy bars and who gives Crackerjacks! I hope to get a box of Sugar Bears. Dina, the practical one, wants money! The night is going great, our goodie bags half full.

 

At our last stop, we see this old lady dressed like a witch, laughing all the while. She drops a brown paper bag in our candy bags. In a state of shock from her, we walk back to our car. Once inside we open the bags to find celery sticks! “Celery sticks! That’s awful, that mean old witch. Let’s give them back.” Then Shelly says, “No, I like celery. Besides, we said ‘trick-or-treat.’ Next year, we’ll trick her!”

Written in response to a National Day on Writing prompt

Really? Celery? by Joshua Ames

 

 

 Every kid who decides to go trick-or-treating expects to receive an enormous amount of candy, which is why kids travel from house to house. It is a wonderful feeling to knock on someone's door and candy is distributed into your goodie bag. When I was a kid, I was a candy fanatic, so trick-or-treating was one of my favorite events.

 

If I was on a roll, receiving candy from each house I traveled to, I would continue my journey until I ran out of luck. If someone chose to offer me celery sticks during my trick-or-treat session, I would say no thank you, but it is the thought that counts. When I was back at home, I would laugh at the situation with my family.

Written in response to a National Day on Writing prompt

Lawren Dame and friends at the National Day on Writing

LaMonica Williams at the National Day on Writing

 

 



Desmond Thompson and friend at the National Day on Writing

Kayla Daugherty at the National Day on Writing

Jeremiah the Hero by Darious Thomas

The intruders attempted to enter through the door, but the inside was secured tight with chains and locks. This did not stop them from breaking into Jeremiah’s house. They shattered the window on the side of the house, searching for Jeremiah. Jeremiah knew he was not alone in his house anymore, so he grabbed his aluminum bat and prepared himself to die.

 



 

The intruders split up. One raced upstairs and the other searched downstairs. As soon as the intruder got upstairs, he saw the diamonds that Jeremiah had set out for a distraction. Once the intruder fell into the trap, Jeremiah jumped out of the closet and bashed him over the head, causing him to faint and smack the ground viciously.

 

The other intruder heard the upstairs bump from downstairs, so he sprinted to the scene just to see Jeremiah standing over his friend with a bloody bat. Jeremiah charged at the last intruder, causing him to flee back downstairs and out the door. Jeremiah was paranoid, but at ease, because he defeated the enemies who defeated his family.

 

Written in response to a National Day on Writing prompt

It Just Depends by Diandra Chmulewski

 

 

Q: Describe what life would be like if your Halloween mask was permanently stuck to your face.

 

A: This could go either way. For example, if my Freddy Krueger mask was stuck to my face, life would be rough. It would be hard to find and keep a job, or kiss my boyfriend, a babysit the three kids I watch twice a week.

 

On the other hand, if a Batman or Catwoman mask was stuck to my face, life would be good! I would pose for pictures all the time, sign my autograph for anyone who wanted it, and probably  live up to my legacy and try to fight crime.

 

Which mask stuck to my face would ultimately determine my future.

Nightmare of Celery by Christine Stowers

 

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and as a child I would always look forward to trick-or- treating. In fact, I would often dream the night before of filling my pillowcase with enormous Twix, Snickers bars and Skittles. I imagined dressing up in my costume and running from door to door with my siblings.

I knew that if someone gave me my favorite treat, I’d grace him or her with my brightest smile.  Even money in my Halloween bag could bring delight. However, there is always the dreaded possibility of receiving some horrible healthy snack. Some adults would attempt to ruin my fantasy with apples, animal crackers and such. These foods are bad enough, but I could imagine worse.

What if, after all of my extensive planning, choosing a costume and preparing my belly for delicious goods, an adult dropped celery in my bag? Celery? Not only is celery my least favorite food on Earth, it in no way implies Halloween. Halloween is fun and exciting. Celery is boring and pale green.

I’m not quite sure how I’d react in that scenario. When a child is instantly overwhelmed with disappointment, her reactions can be unpredictable. I’d probably smile anyway while secretly dreaming of returning later. The smile would be used to mask my intentions of vandalism. Perhaps I would accept the celery and, once the door was closed, toss it into the bushes. Maybe I’d opt to stomp on it, relieving tension by crushing it under my feet.

However, none of the above options fit my personality. I was always a brutally honest child.  I can say with confidence that I would have returned the celery saying, “Is this a trick or a treat?”

 

 

The Scream Mask by Annie Rossow

 

 

I can just imagine the taunting sneer on the face of the Scream Mask. I can imagine the blind terror as my current reality steps in. The disguised voice gives me chills, just thinking about it. I imagine the searing pain as his unforgiving blade drew across my pale skin. I could feel the heat of the warm blood as it escaped from inside.

 

The rush of adrenaline invites me to the fight or flight state:  Do I let my barely begun life end or do I fight back? Letting the adrenaline take me, I decide to fight back. With the odds stacked against me, I fight with every last ounce of my being. My life will not end because of this sinister being. He shifts his weight and pins me beneath him. He raises his arms against me, as if to seal my fate. In a last attempt for freedom, my arms break free. I am weak and know my blood surrounds me; the end is quickly coming. My arms catch his, the knife inching towards me with every passing second. 

 

The knife flies from his hands. Distracted, I push him from me. I manage to race to the knife. Covering my wound with my hand, my other hand grips the knife. He laughs at my feeble attempts to gain power. He nears me; I attack him with as much fury as I can possibly summon. I plunge the knife as far as it would go. The blade meets and punctures his beating heart. He falls before me. I unmask him and reveal his identity. 

 

I just killed my ex- boyfriend.