[spookies] Not So Scary Stories

Pearl was excited. No. He was way more than excited.

After so much pleading and begging to Lucius, the one normally in charge of the event schedules and choosing the symps for each activity, to pleasepleaseplease let him be in charge of organizing the yearly Lunisolar Festival campfire for the community camping trip, he finally got his wish after his friend visited to let him know. He knew that he wasn’t someone that other symps would think of as scary, his delicate appearance making others think he would blow over with a simple wind or that he would faint upon hearing a simple unknown noise or scary story when in actuality though, Pearl really enjoyed scary stories and movies. He loved the thrill of a suspenseful silence before the big scary reveal, the twists and turns that some stories took before finally the bad guy was either caught or he somehow got away with it. 

Pearl wanted to make sure that all the symps and ara attending would feel that thrill through various ways so he started brainstorming, taking out his trusty pocket notebook and pen and flipping towards a blank page, scribbling words and ideas like he was possessed or it was his only purpose left in the world. Maybe he could dress up? Or ohhhh- how about getting some help from others and they could all dress up! Maybe having some of the others in the background and making the appropriate noises while he was telling the first story of the day? That would certainly give everyone a fright they would not forget! And food! Can’t forget about the food right? He would have to ask if anyone was allergic to anything before he started buying the necessities? He could also probably bribe Lucius into making some of his hot chocolate to warm everyone up and make sure they were not as scared by having something warm to hold? Oh this would be so much fun!

As Pearl was daydreaming about all he would do during this opportunity, Lucius took a look at his best friend and sighed while shaking his head, not daring to imagine what was going through his head at a time like this. Lucius knew that choosing Pearl was not a conventional option, his appearance alone would probably make others doubt him but Pearl was a performer, he knew how to act and set the mood, how to keep everyone in suspense and when would be the best time break it, ensuring this would be a memorable experience for all those joining them whether it was their first or seventh time. He would just have to make sure that the soft colored symp did not go overboard with the scary factor and kept more in line with a spooky theme, knowing that the other males preferences leaned more towards really scary even for the most stoic symp, not counting the fact that those kinds of things would probably end up giving any of the others a heart attack. 

Back to the issue of the campfire though, Lucius hadn’t been completely sure at first about letting Pearl take care of this, carefully considering pros and cons about going down this road but ended up having to concede, knowing that while he was probably the craziest option to begin with, he would still make it a memorable occasion for everyone involved, both those participating in organizing and setting everything up as well as those brave few symps and aras naive enough to believe that going into something created by the pastel colored symp would be a walk in the park. Grabbing his coffee and taking a sip of it, Lucius managed to snap Pearl out of his daze long enough to let him know he had to get going but they could catch up later to discuss his plans more in depth.

Time passed by in a flash and, as the time crept closer and closer, Lucius and Pearl had to keep meeting more and more often to make sure everything would be ready for the campfire. The imp had to ban a few of Pearl's ideas, mainly the ones dealing with long planned out jumpscares and the creepier costumes but thankfully there wasn’t anything too bad and Pearl could keep most of his ideas intact. He went to check up on Pearl once more to see if he had a list of an approximate number of those attending so far and, upon receiving the open notebook Pearl carried around everywhere, he noticed a couple of names written among many others in the soft colored symprites curly handwriting that he would be hard pressed not to recognize. 

Aspen, Samhain, Minty. 

Aspen was an interesting guy, he lived far but they had met on a couple of occasions. Aspen was one of those symps that liked having fun and scaring others was basically his day job, seeing as he worked making sure those symps and aras inexperienced kept away from the most dangerous parts of the swamps and also made sure they avoided the flora and fauna in their surroundings. Knowing him though, he would probably be making a spectacle of himself just because he wanted to and he could. 

Samhain was normally a quiet guy, keeping more to his texts and studies and constantly traveling to see what he managed to discover for his collection but he seemed to enjoy the season, becoming lively whenever others mentioned something he seemed to know about deeply. The previous times he had seen him around the campfire, the warm colored symprite had been excitedly telling his enraptured audience a new story he had unearthed.

And finally Araminta, commonly known as Minty. The young symprite may be a bit shy but she definitely came out of her shell during story night, having fun whether it be listening intently to others telling their stories as she shivered in fright or making her own up as she went, adding twists and turns so silly and out of the blue that they had the rest of the symps around charmed completely.

After taking a look at some of the other names on the list, Lucius handed off the notebook back to its owner and set off to let those interested know that the campfire would be happening the next week along with giving them directions for the place they had settled on, a little clearing surrounded by a forest with a little crystal clear lake nearby his property that he discovered thanks to Nisa, his houndle, who liked to sneak off for naps all the time. He cleaned up the place a bit, making sure there were no dangerous plants around or trash in the forest floor, and he would slowly bring all the stuff needed throughout the week, mainly gathering the tree bark and kindling needed to keep the fire going along with any seats others might want to use. The food he would bring the very day of the event to make sure none of it went bad before they could eat it. Satisfied with his progress, Lucius went back home once again, planning to spend some time with his flock of sheeple after having neglected them due to all the work he had to do.

And so another week passed in between work and errands, making sure everything was prepared. Pearl woke up early and did his morning routine before he started getting ready. He had spent a long time trying to think about what he wanted to wear and which monster he wanted to use as inspiration. The symp had thought about all of the monsters he could to begin with, from the classic vampires and werewolves, zombies and ghosts and mummies too, but none of them really caught his fancy and what he wanted to go for with this Lunisolar Festival. He then thought, Hey, why not try and go as a book character?, which he also tried to search around to see if any of them would fit the theme, but he had no luck finding one once again.

After days of searching and thinking, he was resigning himself to just dressing up as a pirate when, while discussing something with one of his friends, the topic of sirens and mermaids came up. He didn’t know much about them if he was being honest, them being mainly human creations from what he had gathered? But he got the gist of it, mainly that mermaids were, often in stories, beautiful half fish creatures that enchanted sailors with their song and led them to dangerous situations while sirens, on the other hand, were half bird creatures that similar to mermaids, were known for their beautiful and deadly singing which led others towards their doom. Pearl liked the idea of something so beautiful being so deadly, wanting to base his story for the evening on such amazingly unknown creatures and so, he finally settled on his costume. 

Once he finished dressing up, Pearl left his house and headed towards Lucius’, wanting to help his friend with carrying the stuff towards the clearing so he didn’t have to get everything there by himself. 

Placing the crate he had been carrying for the last 20 minutes down into the ground beside the rest of the supplies, Pearl let out a relieved sigh to be rid of the heavy cargo and felt his gaze wander involuntarily, looking at everything finally ready and letting out a smile. He busied himself by preparing some of the food and helping Lucius with drinks as all the symps started arriving, first some of the other story tellers for the night to get ready and shake their nerves off, the first one being Samhain, followed soon enough by Minty, Aspen getting caught up with something else and being unable to join last minute. Some time later, parents could be seen smiling around the clearing with their bappies, happy to see the young curious members of the community exploring and interacting. 

As the sky turned dark with the passing of time, Pearl started beckoning for everyone to get closer, the large fire nearby keeping everyone warm enough to where they sat down. Pearl waited for the chatter to hush down into a lull before he started weaving his tale, bringing it to life as he spoke in a soothing tone. He told the tale of a young sailor, whose only wish in life was to see the world and explore every corner of it that he could. 

The young sailor had been on the sea for near two years by the time he encountered a weird phenomenon. The sea, previously clear and sparkling, was now full of choppy waves and there was a strange fog that arrived from nowhere, too quickly to be normal. The ship kept sailing for hours until suddenly, cutting through the noise of the sea, a beautiful voice could be heard singing from afar. All members of the crew turned as one towards the left side of the ship and gathered near the railing, where slowly a beautiful creature was revealed to be. This creature looked normal enough, if extremely beautiful, until they passed their eyes through them and noticed something out of the ordinary, seeing as they had the lower body of a fish. The mermaid, as they were known, raised their hand in a welcoming gesture and bravely, the young sailor walked towards the edge, taking a step and then another, wanting to take her hand. He was just about to walk further, close enough to fall into the sea when he felt himself being pulled back by a strong arm around his chest. The captain of the ship, rarely seen out of his cabin, had just saved him from the edge. The mermaid, on seeing who the captain was, let out a hiss with her sharpened fangs and splashed back into the sea, the sea calming down and the fog clearing out almost immediately after she left. The captain then gathered everyone up and told them what mermaids really were as well as warning them about the dangers of letting themselves be fooled by beauty without reason.

After finishing his tale, Pearl stepped aside to help Lucius finish making hot chocolate for the bappies to calm their nerves from where they were nervously glancing at the lake within the clearing, thinking that a mermaid would appear. After they were feeling a bit more settled, Samhain took his place, his warm colored body gesturing lively and his normally deep voice changing his tone to match the siblings as he told the tale of a couple of bappies who, in their curious exploration, got separated from their group and found themselves lost in the woods with the hours passing by.

Mina, the youngest cream colored sibling, feels a chill running down her spine as she turns around to look behind her, wondering when it had turned dark and what it was that had Will so spooked that he stopped moving in such an abrupt manner. At first she squints, trying to make sense of something within the darkness of the forest while her eyes adjust to the low lighting. Soon enough though, she is able to see a shadow just lingering in the edge of the forest, close enough to the path that they could step out into the dirt road without much trouble. Mina tries to grab Will and drag him back the way they came with her, sensing there’s something fundamentally wrong with the lingering shade, but finds her sibling nowhere close enough to touch. She nervously glances behind her, trying to pinpoint the location of the normally mischievous bappy and finds him near the tree closest to them, almost getting out of the path. The cream colored bappy didn’t know at which moment Will had sneaked off, but she’s glad he’s out of the way in case something goes wrong with what she was planning. Mina grabs a wooden stick from the ground and quickly throws it at the shadowy shape in an attempt to scare it away. When the shadow finally seems to flicker out of sight, Mina draws a nervous glance while frantically looking around her and calling out to Will, telling him to come back so they could try to find their way out. While running away with Will's sweaty hand clasped in hers, Mina thinks to herself that as soon as they get out of this forest, she swears she’ll never step away from her group again.

Samhain lets his story end with a long silence, glancing at the forest around as though looking for the shadow from the story before the bappies catch on to what he was doing, the group immediately huddling up next to their parents and begging them to keep an eye out as they grabbed sticks to throw at any strange shadows, just like Mina had in the story. To end the night on a lighter note, Minty went last, well known for her silly and lighthearted stories while keeping to the spooky note of the Lunisolar Festival. Minty started her story with a hushed voice, gradually gaining volume and becoming full of life as she spoke. 

In a little tight knit community, a mischievous little fhionn named Sir. Chirpy was known for his playful antics. Every full moon, he transformed into a ghost! The fhionn spent his time floating through the village and creating chaos everywhere he went. On one autumn evening, as the villagers prepared for the yearly Pumpkin Parade, Sir. Chirpy was up to his usual tricks and so, with a shine in his eye, he flew above the pumpkin patch, rearranging all of the jack-o-lanterns as he wanted. One pumpkin suddenly grew googly eyes, which moved around as someone grabbed it and making it look ridiculous, while another turned into a cheerful jack-o’-lantern with a crooked grin! The villagers, oblivious to his ghostly mischief, went about their festivities, laughter filling the airat the incredible feats they were witnessing. Suddenly, dark clouds rolled over the community, casting a shadow on the parade and taking a way all the light and laughter with it. The villagers looked up in confusion as they recognized the grumpy spirit of Grumblegloom! Grumblegloom was a very old spirit known for his constant complaints about loud noises and mischief. He floated around with a disapproving look on his face, clearly annoyed by the ruckus. Sensing an the chance to have some fun, Sir. Chirpy immediately came up with a plan. With a flick of his paw, he created a magical parade made of dancing broomsticks and singing jack-o-lantern pumpkins! Music and singing filled the air, and even Grumblegloom couldn’t resist peeking down from his cloud far above in the skies. As the parade passed beneath him, he found himself tapping his foot and wiggling his body, caught up in the joy glowing from the symprites and aramelles found below. And suddenly! With a mighty sneeze, Grumblegloom flew from his cloud and transformed into a ghost who joined the festivities! From that night on, Sir. Chirpy and Grumblegloom became the very heart of the Pumpkin Parade, reminding everyone that even the spookiest of spirits can find joy in laughter.

Amidst the laughter and cheering of the bappies, Minty let out a relieved smile at being able to do her part for this year. Getting together with all of the others, they gathered near the firepit once again and found themselves swarmed by all of the bappies and their endless amount of questions and curiosities. The trio patiently spent their time with the youngest members of the comminuty, answering anything and everything before the first among bappies many started yawning, quickly getting snatched up by their parents so they could head home for some well deserved rest. When almost everyone was gone, the group cleaned up a bit and made sure to thoroughly put out the fire, leaving the full clean up for the next day, and went their own ways to also get some rest after a succesful campfire