The Werewolf, the Jack 'O' Lanterns, and the Gargoyles

I'm walking through the gloom,
Alone in the darkness,
With only the occasional streetlamp
To light the way.

Kids dressed as fairies and pirates
Skip across the street,
Shouting and laughing as they go door to door,
Excited and eager to fill their buckets.

My own bucket is heavy
And I turn to go back to my house when--
--I freeze, and then relax.
It's just another kid.

He's dressed as a werewolf,
Wearing a suit covered in matted red-brown fur
And a mask with a pointed muzzle and
Sharp fangs that glisten in the moonlight.

He lumbers towards me, panting heavily.
His costume is so well done
That it looks lifelike,
Like he really is a wolf.

I suddenly realize that a group of girls
Who had been gossiping loudly moments ago
Have fallen silent.
They have disappeared.

Again I realize something:
The street is abandoned.
All the parties of laughing kids have left,
And every trace of people is gone.

I am alone with the kid
Dressed as the werewolf.
I turn back to him,
And see he has advanced further.

I get the feeling that I'm in danger,
But I'm frozen.
I can't listen to what my instincts are telling me,
To run before something worse happens.

The kid raises his masked head up to the moon
And lets out a howl.
It sounds wild and feral,
Just what I'd expect a werewolf's howl to sound like.

It echoes through the deserted houses,
Like a real wolf's cry.
I finally manage to step back as
The kid opens his mouth for another howl.

Shivers go up my spine as
His jaws open wider..
And wider... and wider...
...And I suddenly know that that is NO kid.

Rows of jagged teeth line its jaws,
Real teeth that could slice you finger at a touch.
The fur I mistook for fake bristles like porcupine quills,
And its tongue lolls out as it grins menacingly at me.

I stumble back as it ambles closer
And I can see every coarse hair on his pelt,
Every gleaming fang in his mouth,
Every glint in his red eyes.

And then I run.
I run as fast as i can and
I can hear the werewolf growling
As he gives chase.

Grinning Jack' O 'Lanterns
Sneer at me from their porches,
Their flickering faces carved
Into permanent grimaces.

I wonder how it is
That they can jeer at me,
Since they are only made of a plant,
But tonight the impossible is happening.

I am being hunted.

I race past a house surrounded
By a cold iron fence,
With two stone gargoyles
Guarding the gate.

As I flee they leap of their pedestals,
And although made from stone
They run lightly after me
As if made from clouds.

And they are fast.
The werewolf and the gargoyles,
The stone dragon that awakens when I pass it,
The ravens darker than the night that begin to stalk me.

They are gaining on me,
And I am slowing.
They are winning,
And I am losing.

I'm living a nightmare,
Longing to wake up yet unable to,
For this is reality--
--A dream come to life.

I wish it could be a dream,
Because in dreams you always wake up.
Perhaps I really did walk home and i fell asleep--
--Perhaps any minute now I'll wake up.

I'll be at the table with my bucket of treats
And my mother will have made hot chocolate,
And we will sit and talk and eat our candies and--
--I trip and sprawl onto the ground.

I look up and see the werewolf towering over me,
Poised to strike my death blow,
And I convince myself that it's a nightmare.
I will wake up NOW! i will wake up NOW! I tell myself.

I WILL wake up NOW!

And in the minute before the werewolf pounces
I have time to think one thing.
I know the answer but I have to ask it,
Have to ask before I die.

Why haven't I woken up yet?
                                                         
                                                                           
And I know, because it's all real...