Iain Kelly

Steve hated Halloween. He hated dressing up. He hated Big Al’s Pizza Emporium. All three had conspired to have him standing in the street dressed as a furry Frankenstein’s Monster holding a placard that read: ‘Big Al’s Pizza Emporium: Halloween Special – All You Can Eat For £5’

He couldn’t get to the irritating itch on his nose. Another trickle of sweat ran down his back. The saving grace was the anonymity that the large, green uncomfortable head gave him.

A mother pushed a small girl towards him.

‘Get your photo next to the monster,’ she said, the smartphone ready to take the photo.

The child resisted.

‘Come on. Don’t let the big scary monster frighten you!’

The girl looked up at Steve. ‘He doesn’t frighten me,’ she said, and punched Steve in the solar plexus.

Steve crumpled to the ground, curled up in agony. The large, green head rolled off, revealing him to the crowd of onlookers.

The next day the local paper ran with the headline: ‘Halloween Special: Local School Girl Takes Down Frankenstein’s Monster’. There was a picture on the front page of the moment Steve had been struck, another of him hobbling away. There was a link on their website to video footage.

Big Al’s Pizza Emporium had its best Halloween trading ever.

Written as part of Sunday Photo Fiction. Write a story of around 200 words based on the photo prompt given (above). For more details visit HERE.

To read more stories based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.