Skeleton picnic 2 I mustache you a question

            It was a cold dark night in the haunted forest, ghosts moaned in the distance, rustling could be heard in every direction and occasionally a menacing laugh would echo through the trees. The Haunted Forest used to be part of the Autumn forest, which was a forest full of life and eternally stuck in autumn. The whole Autumn forest had towns, animal life, brightly colored flowers and autumn colored leaves on every tree. Then a necromancer built an awful spire of evil magic on the western most end of the autumn forest. The corruption from his undead soldiers and evil magic twisted the trees and brought spirits up from the netherworld. After the Necromancer’s defeat the haunted forest remained cursed and haunted.

 

            Soldiers brought a powerful mage to heal the haunted forest  and while they successfully drove out the spirits in the southern edge, the forest never returned to its full beauty. So the humans of the Autumn Forest grew to know their neighboring forest to the west as the Haunted forest and the southern edge of the haunted forest became known as the Dark Forest. The Dark Forest was no longer haunted or cursed by magic, but the trees were black as coal and never grew bigger or bloomed with flowers or leaves. This is important because in order to survive a trip to the haunted forest, someone would have to be as fearsome and powerful as the forest itself.

 

            On that cold dark night in the haunted forest a figure casually walked along a broken path. The figure had its hood up and stood about five and a half feet tall. The figure stepped into a clearing to find a group of skeletons all mashing their teeth and guzzling down beans and wine. This event was some sort of picnic for skeletons.

 

            The figure watched for several hours, fascinated by the sight. It wasn’t a well known fact that skeletons were in fact quite social. The figure stepped out into the clearing and was instantly noticed by the entire group. The figure stepped forward. The figure was a boy, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, track runner pants and casual white and black sneakers.

 

            “Sorry kid, humans aren’t allowed!” Shouted one of the skeletons. The whole picnic of skeletons turned to look at the boy and some of them stood up menacingly. Bob the skeleton, who had organized the picnic, stood up and walked calmly over to the boy. “Excuse me, how did you find this place?” Bob asked calmly as his fellow skeletons seemed angry and confused at a human visiting their picnic.

 

            The boy had pale skin and the hood from his sweatshirt hid half of his face. He had short dark brown hair and one visible eye that was a striking blue. “I am searching for something, the forest…” The boy stopped and chose his words carefully. “The forest, led me here. It let me in. Trees moved out of my and apologized when I bumped into them” Explained the boy. A look of fear washed over the entire group of skeletons. “W-what are you?” Asked Bob who tried to stay calm but was so nervous his totally real and not fake mustache almost fell off.

 

            “I-I don’t know” Replied the boy. He sounded sad and confused. He stared down at the floor in shame. Bob realized that this boy might have parted the most dangerous forest in the land, but he was still just a boy and seemed lost as well. Bob patted the boys shoulder with his skeletal hand. Bob’s skeleton fingers felt hard and weren’t very comforting. The slender bones of each finger provided no warmth or softness, it was like trying to comfort someone by placing a bare tree branch twigs over their shoulder.

 

            The boy looked up at Bob and smiled. Though a skeleton hand isn’t comforting the kind gesture was. Bob was pleased and placed his hand on the boys back, leading him to the group of skeletons. “So what is you name? Are you hungry? We have red beans!” Bob said, proud that he actually had human food to offer the human. This was the only time of the year Bob ever had any food to offer anyone, as the skeletons don’t eat and the beans are just for ceremony.

 

            “my name is John. John Pharris. Yes, I am hungry, thank you” the boy spoke slowly and carefully with each word as if trying to keep some secret or truth from slipping from his lips. John sat down at the table at was given a bowl of cooked red beans. The beans had been cooked hours ago and were now as ice cold as the frigid October winds. John didn’t care about the taste or temperature of his food and began eating the red beans a few at a time, picking them up with his hands and chewing each bean carefully. The skeletons watched in wonder and amazement.

 

            “I haven’t seen a human eat in hundreds of years, did we all used to eat like that? Did I used to eat like that?” Asked a skeleton wearing a medieval era shirt and pants. “Probably, though I remember eating with a fork and also being more refined” Bob replied, posturing himself up and rubbing his mustache between his forefinger and thumb bone. Bobs mustache was a black and bushy mustache that was almost long enough to touch his cheekbones and the mustache curled up at both ends.

 

            “D-do any of you guys know about the grave wagon?” Asked the boy after a few moments of silence. None of the skeletons wanted to answer and possibly incriminated themselves. Earlier, during the picnic, Bob mentioned that many humans blamed skeletons for the grave wagon attacks on human cities. “We are as equally aware of the Grave Wagon as any other creature is” Bob explained.

 

            “You guys seem nice, I don’t think you guys are involved” Said John. “We didn’t say anything about being involved one way or another” Bob said nervously. “I felt it. I can’t read thoughts but I feel intentions. You are worried about me blaming you for what happened to me…” Replied John but then trailed off. His eye stared off into the air as if watching a horrible memory reply in his mind. “What happened to you boy? I would like to help but I don’t know who or what you really are” Explained Bob. Some of the other skeletons had crept away and left the picnic out of fear of the child and fear of humans in general but the majority seemed to share Bob’s concern for the boy who seemed to have been one of the few humans in history who survived the Grave Wagon’s attack.

 

            “My town was attacked out of nowhere, this was years ago. I’m fourteen and was barely nine when the grave wagon attacked. It appeared out of nowhere as if it was a hologram or an illusion. Things poured out of the wagon, monsters or shadows. I escaped with my parents. The town crumbled behind us as we drove away in our car. I was so scared the whole time.” John explained but had to stop. The memories were still painful even after all of these years. A single tear fell from his one visible eye. “I escaped with my parents as the trees came to life and attacked us. It was like the trees in this forest. But when I came to this forest the trees were nice to me. The trees from my town weren’t nice when they came to life. The car crashed and my parents and I survived the attack” John explained. “Geeze, maybe the kid should have some wine too” Said one of the skeletons, a skeleton dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, who sounded sympathetic and wished that he could get drunk after hearing that story.

 

            “My parents and I got separated years ago and I’ve been on my own ever since” John added, not responding to the offer of wine. “We don’t know where the Wagon is or where it comes from. We also don’t know how you survived the forest coming here. The trees here aren’t nice, this is the Haunted Forest, unless you are undead like us you wont be able to get through the forest easily. I’m a skeleton and the trees are still jerks to me!” Bob exclaimed in indignation. “How did you get the trees to actually move for you?” Asked a skeleton wearing a fancy party dress in the style of the nineteen twenties. “I was injured in the attack. The grave wagon’s magic struck me…” John said, his words trailed off as his right hand lifted up and pulled his hood down.

 

            The entire right side of his face was a black shadow with no hair or nose. Half of his mouth was a human mouth and the other half was a row of sharp teeth with no lips. His left eye was a striking blue and his right eye was an empty socket if darkness. “This explains some things. The Forest is afraid of you, its afraid of the Grave Wagon’s magic. I can assure you whatever evil magic the Grave Wagon uses, it does not come from this forest. I don’t know if it even comes from this world” Bob explained. He was concerned for the boy and was the first one to even not recoil in fear at the sight of John’s full face. Bob had seen worse looking monsters and didn’t even flinch at the shadowy face of John.

 

            John lunged forward and gave Bob a hug. John hugged Bob around his chest, Bob’s ribcage and spine were easily felt through Bob’s suit jacket and raggedy shirt. “Thank you. I needed someone to treat me normal. I don’t think I can live with humans anymore” John said, tears welling up in his one eye. Bob patted the boys head. “I know what will cheer you up” Bob said putting one finger in the idea to gesture that he had a good idea. Bob reached into the pocket on his sports jacket and pulled out a small bushy mustache. “I always have back up” Bob whispered so that the other skeletons couldn’t hear. Bob stuck the mustache to John’s face in one quick motion.

           

            John moved back and felt the bushy mustache on his face. The new facial hair distracted from the razor sharp teeth on the right side of his mouth and made John look slightly more human and also slightly sillier. “Look what I just grew!” John announced with a laugh. The last of his tears trickled down his face as a loud laugh escaped his mouth.

 

            “Boys can’t grow mustaches! Especially that fast!” Shouted the skeleton with a t-shirt and jeans. “Of course he can! Look at that skin! Human skin grows hair” Bob said, defending John’s new mustache. “SKELETONS CAN’T GROW THEM EITHER!” Shouted a skeleton in a flak jacket. “IT’S REAL! OK YOU GUYS?! ITS REAL!” Bob shouted back. “It’s real” Bob said to John. “It’s a real mustache, the others just like to tease me” Bob explained to John. John winked at Bob. “Don’t worry, I know it is” John said. If Bob had skin he would have given John the biggest smile.

 

            John the survivor of the Grave wagon and Bob the skeleton talked and ate red beans for the rest of the evening. John didn’t have anywhere to go and had run out of leads for chasing the Grave Wagon. That’s when Bob told John of a town full of monsters and spirits called Hallows End. Since the Haunted Forest had already accepted John as a fellow monster, John could travel to Hallows End unhindered. Bob also explained that a few of the leaders of Hallows End were as old as the forest itself and might know more about the Grave Wagon. John would go on to visit Hallows End and even learn some secrets along the way. But that is another story for another time.

 

            For now I suggest treating yourself to some good food, warm blankets and if you see any skeletons with mustaches say Hello.

Skeleton Picnic

Deep in the Haunted forest, on a cold night in October, thin shambling shapes traveled to a clearing of dead grass and one large table. The table was a giant tree stump that was carved into the shape of a table and was in fact still rooted into the ground by the massive roots that once fed a mighty tree. The stump was once a giant tree but now it served as a permanent table in this clearing. The clearing could only be found by those who already knew were it was and anyone traveling through the Haunted Forest would never find it by accident.

 

            The Haunted forest liked to trick travelers and lead them to their doom. The Haunted Forest let people safely travel to the Halloween village of Hallows End, but they were only guaranteed safety on Halloween day and the morning after. This strange clearing with its equally strange root table was so private that it must be host to the most evil and gruesome of events. On this chilly October night, the clearing had become the grounds for the Skeleton Picnic.

 

            Spooky skeletons shambled through the Haunted Forest unhindered by its trickery and curses. The clearing soon filled with undead figures, each dragging large heavy bags. Their bones rattled as they walked, the sounds of uneven foot steps echoed through the area as an army of skeletons shuffled and staggered over the dead grass. They all made their way to the center table with their bags. Each bag was hoisted up and dropped hard on the root table.

 

            Each of the bags spilled open when they hit the table revealing plates, cups, lanterns, miniature pumpkins and many jars of red beans. The skeletons got to work setting up lanterns in the clearing, the dark of night was pushed back into the depths of the forests by the small lights of a dozen lanterns hung up on metal rods. Each rod was stabbed deep into the ground and had a small hook on the top. The lanterns were hung from the hooks and would sway slowly in the cold October wind.

 

            The Skeletons set up the dishes in a big circle around the table and placed bottles of wine scattered through the center. Large jars of red beans were poured into oversized wooden bowls. The skeletons all sat on the ground in a circle around the wooden stump table, once they were all positioned they remained silent and motionless.

 

            A skeleton wearing a black vest, brown coat and brown pants, stood up and began to speak. “Greetings everyone, I am glad to see everyone was able to join us. Well, everyone except that Steve…” The Suit wearing Skeleton paused mid announcement and muttered curse words under his breath about Steve the skeleton. “Everyone who takes this picnic seriously made it, and for that I am grateful. As most of you know, I am Bob the treasurer of the “skeletons for the banning of dogs” club and also in my past life was an accountant for a promising tavern in the Autumn forest” Bob the Skeleton announced. “Yeah, accountant and a skeleton with a totally real mustache that isn’t fake” shouted a skeleton wearing torn jeans and a t-shirt. Several skeletons laughed and elbowed each other in the rib bones. Bob stared at the t-shirt wearing skeleton for several seconds, if he had a face his eyebrows would be furrowed. “Yes, it is totally real, So I am not sure why you said it like that” Bob said as he straightened the mustache on his face.

            Bob began again with his announcement “For those of you who are new here, Welcome and I hope you make it a tradition to join us every year. We are here to enjoy the company of our fellow Skele-brothers and sisters and talk about issues we skeletons face. Now before we get to all of that lets enjoy our traditional meal of red beans and wine” Bob announced as he adjusted the collar of his coat.

 

            The skeletons each took turns pouring red beans into their bowls and wine into their cups. The Wine and red beans had been a tradition of the skeleton picnic for over a hundred years and no one could remember why they even served food and drink at all. Many of the skeletons just assumed it was left over habits from being alive.

 

            The skeletons all started eating and drinking, immediately staining their torn clothes and the ground below them with red wine and bean paste mashed. The skeleton group ignored the wine and beans falling through their ribcages and onto the floor and pretended to have taste buds and stomachs. While many skeletons made fun of Bob for his totally real/not real mustache, every skeleton did some amount of pretending at one point or another.

 

            Bob stood up looking official as he straightened his red stained clothes and made a noise that resembled a human clearing their throat. “I have a few announcements, this is news that is relevant to all skeletons but I will have to settle for informing the skeletons who actually showed up at this meeting. First. The Grave Wagon has been active again. Every year this giant machine appears from the fog and decimates human cities. Normally that would not be a skeleton problem but many are saying that skeletons are involved. I refuse to believe this but I must mention it anyway. Humans and the monsters of Hallows End are whispering about skeletons and possessed humans being the culprits. Even if this is false, the fact that others believe it to be true will make our travels harder. So for now I urge skeletons to stay in the haunted forest and if any skeleton IS responsible for this destruction they need to step forward and take ownership of this carnage so that the rest of us wont be dragged down by his or her actions” Bob announced in a serious tone. Whispers and muttering was heard among the skeletons. Most seemed genuinely upset by this news but some cheered at the thought of humans being destroyed.

 

            “Secondly some goblin scientists have found that bone can grow hair and that it IS possible for skeletons to have some hair on their head or face” Bob said with conviction. “Your MUSTACHE is FAKE!” Shouted a skeleton in a blue hooded sweatshirt, his boney hands forming a cone in front of his mouth as to echo the words further across the table. “ITS REAL!” Bob Shouted back, his neatly pressed clothes becoming as ruffled as Bob’s nerves were. Bob touched his mustache to make sure it was on tightly, he did this as a reflex and didn’t realize he was even doing it.

 

            “Last bit of news Nyx and Poe, the self proclaimed Czars of Halloween have asked me and many skeletons to help with this years Halloween party. They say it will be important for skeletons and will be lots of fun. I don’t always agree with humans having such leverage in Hallows End but if they make a party that shows how fun and helpful skeletons are, maybe it will combat the bad press bestowed on us by this dreadful Grave Wagon” Bob explained to the group. More muttering could be heard. Many of the skeletons liked the sound of a skeleton themed Halloween party and were more concerned with the fun it could provide than the positive reputation that Bob was so worried about.

 

            The party continued on after the announcements. The cold October wind blew through the dark Haunted forest but the skeletons didn’t have skin and didn’t feel the cold. The talked and ate red beans unfazed by the cold Autumn air. The night lingered on and fog drifted into the clearing from the surrounding forest. The skeleton picnic was on its one hundred and eleventh year and the members of the picnic had been undead for a range of years. Bob had been a skeleton for almost fifty years and though he was in charge of the meetings he wasn’t the founder.

 

            Autumn was in full swing and Halloween approached slowly and steadily. It was in October that the Haunted forest and surrounding area would be more exciting than any other time of the year. The bravest of mortals might seek such excitement and if they were careful and wise they would not only find excitement but would also find that they still had breath in their lungs on November 1st.