Halloween: Just Around The Corner.

"Patio Sanctuary"

by Nancy

It started out as a typical day...

With the typical routine...

And going to the local Post Office was on the list.

It was Ben's turn to empty out the over-stuffed box of mail while I waited in the car. We knew the box was going to be crowded since we hadn't been there in a week (we don't go into town every day, you know). Boy were we right!

The Post Office was creepily silent, in a creepy way that only the Post Office can be. Sterile, a wall of metal doors, your feet squeeking against the floor with every step. With the turn of a key, the door was open and paper and celophane seemed to be spilling out of the front immediately. Ben started to empty and exmine each piece, unable to even see light peering through from the other side of the hole.

A Trade-A-Plane for Ben,

Pottery Barn coupons for Nancy,

Bills,

Bills,

Credit Card offer...
Blah,

Blah...

(I mean, really, after the Trade-A-Plane and the PB coupons, what else do we care about?)

Just then, a voice broke the Postal silence and boomed from the other side of the opening (now empty). "HOW ya doin' today?"

Ben looked up, startled, to see the other end of the box completely covered with a face. The only thing he could see was an eyeball staring back at him. Ben jumped back and let out an audible, "Ahhhh!"

"SO! How's the new farm comin'? You busy yet?"

Ben, heart still pounding from the shock and creepiness of only being able to see the eyeball, stumbled just a little in his response. "Uh...everything's going well, Thank you."

"Well, good to hear. Have a great day!"

As he got back in the car, laughing, Ben thoughtfully stated, "I forgot that every one here knows where every one else if farming. There's no such thing as just slipping in and slipping out of a place discretly."

But, seriously, someone needs to tell that guy to stop sneeking up on people like that.