Week 3 Storytelling: Halloween Mystery

It was Halloween and Richard was having a Halloween party at his house. He had bought decorations, chips, candy, soda pop, and had invited all of his friends. Since it was Halloween, everyone was required to wear a costume. Richard decided to be an aviator. He put on his leather pilot’s jacket and aviator sunglasses and headed downstairs to finish putting up the decorations before his guests arrived.

On the walls of the kitchen were fake spiders and some cobwebs. The kitchen table had a tablecloth with little ghosts on it, and there was a goofy-looking skeleton hanging from the front door. He had everything he needed for the party.

It was ten o’clock and his friends began to arrive. "Ding-dong" went the doorbell as the first guests arrived. It was his best friends Sam, Jason, Ned, and Harry. They were all dressed in super cool costumes. Sam was a pirate, Jason was a fireman, Ned was a caveman, and Harry was a soldier. Their cheers of excitement roared throughout the house as they ran into the living room and kitchen. Soon other guests began arriving and the party really started to be a hit.

Guys and girls were dancing to Monster Mash in the living room while others were conversing and drinking in the kitchen. All in all, everyone seemed to be having a really great time. Richard was very happy that everyone was enjoying themselves.

Richard was in the middle of a drinking game with his buddies when all of a sudden the doorbell rang. He walked over to the door, opened it, and there, standing in front of him, was the most elaborate zombie costume he had ever seen.

“Hey,” said the zombie. “It’s me, Vince.”

Shocked, Richard had no idea what to say.

Richard was one of those guys who got along with everyone. All of the girls liked him, parents loved him, and the guys enjoyed his company as well. The only person Richard did not get along with was Ray; you could say Ray and Richard were mortal enemies. Ray tormented Richard. He would go out of his way to make Richard's life miserable, whether it was stealing Richard's girl friend, spreading rumors about him, ruining Richard's parties, or trying to take Richard's job.

Well Ray had a brother and that brother was Vince. So Richard was very confused as to why the brother of his enemy was standing at his door step.

“What are you doing here?” Richard asked.

Solemnly Vince replied, “I can't be around Ray anymore, he's gone crazy. Please let me in.”

Wondering why their friend had not rejoined them, Sam, Jason, Ned, and Harry appeared at the door to see what the commotion was all about.

“What’s going on?” Jason asked.

“It’s Vince,” Richard said. “He wants me to let him into the party. What do you guys think?”

“Dude! Don’t let him in!” Sam began. “He’s a traitor and will always be a traitor!”

“Yeah!” Jason exclaimed, chiming in. “How will be able to trust him? We all know he is just going to tell Ray where our party is and ruin it!” 

Richard patiently listened to each of his friends as they spoke their minds.

“This does not fly with me,” Ned stated. “How can we trust him when he is Ray's little brother?”

Richard looked at his best friend Harry and said, “You have not said anything. What do you think?”

With a deep breath Harry said, “I hesitate to say anything because I disagree with everyone else. Vince is not evil-minded, he just made a mistake. We all make mistakes in this world, but is it worth hurting someone over? I say let him in and we can have some fun!”

After listening to what Harry said, Richard knew what he had to do.

“I agree with Harry,” Richard declared. “After all, Vince did come here knowing he was betraying Ray, which took a lot of guts. No matter what happens later, he still deserves a second chance. And even if something bad happens, I will sleep well at night knowing that I did the right thing.”

With smiles upon their faces, Richard and the guys welcomed Vince into the party. Everything was right again, and they partied the rest of the night.

Happy Halloween (Source)

Author's Note. 

This is based off of the “Across The Ocean” in the book The Ramayana. The Halloween party was used as a way to pull focus on the situation between Vibushana and Rama. In the story the men are at an army camp, so making the story at a Halloween party allowed for the confrontation to still be on Rama turf while also making Rama’s virtuous decision the main point of the story. Halloween is generally a time where goals and goblins come out to scare people and integrity and virtue essentially go out the window, much like in war. Having those personal traits during a time when they are usually absent draws ones attention to their importance and rarity. I also felt as though Halloween would just be fun and silly. 

In the story Rama is unsure of what to do, so he seeks the opinions of his advisors. Three advisors tell Rama to send Vibishana away, but Hanuman believes that they should protect and accept Vivishana because he can tell that Vivishana has a good heart, pure soul, and should not be punished. After hearing this, Rama is pleased and decides to accept his enemy’s brother, exclaiming that it is the right thing to do.

In my story, I chose to change the character’s names, with the first letter of the character’s name from the original story being the same for the character’s name in the retelling. Instead of Rama, he is Richard, and instead of Vibishana, he is Vince, and Ravana, who is Rama’s enemy, is Ray. The quote, "knowing I did the right thing," is right out of the book. It is actually what led me to choose this story in the first place. Rama’s integrity is a lesson that can be learned by all.

Bibliography. Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana.