A Halloween Story

Happy Halloween. Here's a special Halloween story for you...

About a month ago, I was on a crowded subway train traveling from the upper east side to grand central station. It was one of those rides where there wasn't an inch of space to spare. I was holding onto the rail and fighting to keep my personal space. Once the doors were closed and the train starting moving, I entertained myself like I usually do on the subway - people watching. This time there wasn't anyone particularly exciting, but there was a hipster, an old lady, and right in front of me, sitting on the seat, was a little boy of about 8 or 9 years of age. Bored with the people watching, I started reading the subway advertisements. Then I heard a noise. Rattle Rattle. pause. Rattle Rattle. pause. I looked around, but I couldn't see the source of the noise. Rattle Rattle. pause. I looked around again. Rattle Rattle. pause. Then I noticed that with each pause, the people on the other end of the train parted. Rattle Rattle. part. Rattle Rattle. part. The noise and the parting got a little closer each time until I heard Rattle Rattle. pause. The people parted and I saw the source. There was a torso holding a cup of change. Seriously. There was a guy who was just a torso, two arms, and a head, and he was shaking a cup of change and then dragging himself forward with his hands. He'd shake the cup twice and then pause to drag himself forward. And with each forward movement, people had to figure out a way to get out of his path. So closer and closer he came. Rattle Rattle. pause. Until he was right in front of me - and more importantly - the little boy. I watched the boy as his gaze fell upon the torso. He went from happy-go-lucky to terrified and scarred-for-life in a matter of seconds. When the little boy laid his eyes on the torso, he began to scream. No, he began to shriek - at the top of his lungs. He wasn't screaming anything in particular, but seemed rather to be trying to drown out the outside world with the sounds of his screams. The torso kept on shaking and scooting his way down the train, but the little boy refused to stop screaming even after he had passed. It was like the switch that turned the screams on and off inside of him had been broken and this little boy was physically unable to stop. The train continued for what was probably only 15 seconds before reaching the next stop, but it felt like this kid was screaming bloody murder for an eternity. When the train finally pulled into the station, his grandmother took him by the arm and led him off the train - with the boy screaming the entire time. I was half tempted to get off as well, just to see how long he was going to keep it up. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he were still screaming to this day.