A Halloween Story: All Saints

[Bill Floyd]

It was long past midnight when they got back home, empty beer cans in the yards and toilet paper streaming from the trees and candy wrappers tumbling in the gutters.

Turned out that most of the kids in the neighborhood knew where the three of them had gone, and when Laura's father finally tracked down Katy Daly she'd come clean about the cell phone ruse and pointed the searchers in the right direction.

Back inside their house, Laura's father started to make a speech of some kind, some jive about how he'd nearly come undone with worry, but Laura interrupted him and said, "I'm sleeping with a knife in my bed from now on and the next time you come near me you're gonna lose whatever you try and touch me with," and then walked back to her bedroom leaving her mamma and daddy to stare at each other in a newly fragile version of the silence that had defined them for too long.  

Just down the street, Owen and Burke stood with arms around their mother and watched as she emptied her pill bottle into the toilet, tears running down her face, asking for a forgiveness that neither of them had begrudged her in the first place.  

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The next day came up cloudy and Owen was the first to awake, lying in bed and wondering at the courage it must have taken his little brother to keep looking for him after everyone else had given up, and this wondering made his heart beat stronger with every moment that passed, and when the knock came at the front door he rose and moved quietly through the house, thinking he'd have a few choice words for whatever detective or reporter had dared to disturb their hard-won peace.  

But it was Laura there on the front steps, pale and wan and more beautiful than anything he'd ever seen, and when she said, "Hey," with her hands down in her pockets real deep and a look on her face that suggested a world that could be cruel but managed, he came and stood in front of her and said, "Hey yourself," reaching out with both hands.

[Angela]

"cruel but managed" - so true so true.  I'm wordless.

No. I'm not.  I just want to simply say I enjoyed the series very much and the two of you make quite a team.  Thank you both for putting forth that kind of effort.

[Jeanette Cheezum]

I think Laura went to the right set of arms. I like this Hogan-Floyd team.

[Gita]

I cheered for Laura's candor and bravery, for "a newly fragile version of the silence that had defined them for too long, " and for "a forgiveness that neither of them had begrudged her in the first place, " which was so beautiful that I started down the short trail to tears. Then I really fogged up at "wondering at the courage it must have taken his little brother to keep looking for him" because that's what we all need in this tough world. But the big honking boo-hoos came out with he came and stood in front of her and said, "Hey yourself," reaching out with both hands.  Wonderful collaboration, you two.

[Diana E. Backhouse]

I'm so grateful to you, Bill, that this story has a happy ending. Many times, I've doubted that would be the case. Thanks to Jamie and you for the ride. It has been a scary one.

[Paul de Denus]

Dudes- my hat's off to you both on this collaboration- that was quite a challenge but you both pulled it off nicely. Shows your skill of writing and imagination. Take an extra treat this evening and also a bow. 

[Jamie Hogan]

That's perfect, brother. As a reader, I wanted to leave this with exactly the feeling you just created. "...newly fragile version of the silence..." and "...forgiveness that neither of them..." were unbelievably perfect conveyances of what this was about.

As a writer, damn this was fun. Like you said, wasn't always perfect, but it was always a pleasure. Thank you, kind people of 6S, for indulging us. As Bill said, you remained patient and attentive and thoughtful, even when stuff happened that was a little off the wall. Hope you had as much fun as we did.

[Bill Floyd]

Happy Halloween you sick bastards.  

This is the first time Jamie and I have collaborated on any writing project with anyone else.  It was an experiment, and as such it didn't always work perfectly, but we did challenge each other in ways that will hopefully prove to be positive going forward.  

Thanks as always for your time, attention, and thoughtful comments.