Welcome to my story for the #FallWritingFrenzy 2021 contest. Here are the rules. You select a photo from the contest blog post and use it to write a 200-word children’s story. I selected the photo above.

The contest has awesome prizes from @KaitlynLeann17@LydiaLukidis@Ms_Holliday93 and many amazing donors!! Such a fun contest! A big shout-out to the Lima Tertulia Writers too!

I hope you like my story! Please comment below and like it on Twitter (@dtowbin). Thanks so much!

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I stand alone on the lawn this cold and dreary Halloween eve, clutching the strange invitation.

Inside the mansion, a light switches on. Is someone there? Suddenly, the lights in the other rooms flicker on too. Unearthly music begins to play. Is this all just for me?

I take a few more steps closer. I hear a rhythm to the music. Thump, thumpity, thump. Then a shape appears in the picture window. Quick as a blink, it disappears too. Then another shape, then another. They ooze from one window to another, slinking, sliding like so much green goo. Long, stringy, eel-like creatures appear from the shadows, giving the house an otherworldly swamp feel. I smell the mossy decay. Why are these creatures invading the mansion? What are they up to?

The invitation says, “Come if you dare” and I’m no chicken! Time to face the music.

The door swings open. Amid the darkness, a light shines. Something green and shiny shoots out and grabs my wrist. Slippery, slimy, and covered in glop, the long tentacle pulls me inside—and straight into the party. Ha! The monsters go thump, thumpity, thump, dancing to the Monster Mash!