Happy Halloween, Nny

The pale light of the moon covered the ground, illuminating everything with a soft silver glow. A lone dark, skinny figure stalked across the park, moving silently, despite the layer of dead leaves and grass underneath his feet. Every once in a while a cold breeze would play around him, fluttering through his jacket and blowing back his strange hairdo. The top of his head was completely bare save for two thick sections of hair that hung down in his face over each eye. Tomorrow would be Halloween night, and this year conditions were perfect.

The only place safe from the madness of the holiday was the local park; it was public property shared by the citizens, so as a general rule it was left alone to avoid disagreement issues concerning decorating. The young man was enjoying the peace and silence the lonely park offered tonight. It was rare that he could feel any kind of joy in something outside his home. As he continued on a straight path from one end of the park to the other he came across the pathetic excuse of a playground. There was a miniature sandbox in the center, but it was often filled with animal shit. Surrounding it were three slides, all of which were covered with bird shit and feathers; one of them in particular was even dented in the center so much that you'd come to a complete halt before getting to the bottom.

A single swing set was on the fourth side of the sandbox, though the chains were rusted and the seats worn thin. The man glanced around the playground, not actually searching for anything; simply doing so by instinct, having been used to children on it staring and pointing at him. He returned his gaze to the ground once more and continued walking until his brain registered something. Looking back at the swing set, paying closer attention, he saw a person seated with their back to him. They rocked back and forth slowly while staring off into the distance. It was strange seeing someone else out this night.

This peeked the man's curiosity just enough so that he was compelled to get closer. Though he moved as silently as ever, the other seemed to sense his presence and turned to face him. It was a young woman, probably about his age. She wore long pants along with a grey sweatshirt that was zippered and had a hood pulled up against the cool wind, from which strands of dark hair danced about. Black rectangular-framed glasses sat on her nose. She looked highly unamused as the strange skinny man stood there simply staring. "Can I help you," she asked in a tone to match her dark glare.

The young man blinked once, remaining silent.  She repeated herself, louder, and this time received a response.  "What are you doing here," the man asked, as though this park was his alone and she had some sort of nerve being here.  She responded immediately.  "What does it look like I'm doing?  And why does it matter?  Is it bothering you, Nny?"  A smirk played on her lips as the other tried to hide a look of surprise, irritating him.  "Maybe it does," he responded evenly, "So, you apparently know who I am.  But I don't know you.  How is that so?"  

The young woman stood up and turned to face him, stuffing her hands into the sweatshirt pockets. "Of course I know you, Johnny. I've ... seen you around. As for me ... you can just call me 'Rainer'. Now why would it bother you that I'm sitting alone on this old swing set in an otherwise empty park?" She leaned against one of the supporting metal poles. Johnny scowled. A burst of wind blew both tufts of hair backwards over his head, giving the appearance of black horns sprouting from his skull. Completely ignoring everything the girl had just said, he immediately began accusing her in a heated rant. "I had to deal with your friend, you know. He followed me too. Said that he 'admired' my work. Even copied it."

Nny took a few steps forward, getting as close to Rainer as possible without actually touching her. "Do you take a sick joy in my occupation as well? Did you learn nothing when Jimmy didn't return from his visit to my house?!" The young woman looked utterly confused as she straightened up. "Who's Jimmy? He copied your comics? That's horrible! Of course I love Happy Noodle Boy; being an artist myself I've also had to deal with art thieves. The rotten bunch! I'd like to push them all off a cliff," she began muttering, going on about all the horrible things she would do if she were to ever get her hands on an art thief.

Nny stood straight up, realizing he could have just made a horrible mistake. She didn't look homeless or insane, but if she was a fan of his comics, then it wasn't illogical that she would recognize him. Opening his mouth to begin correcting his mistake, he instead let out a surprised screech as he was pulled into the girl's arms. She squeezed him tightly, cooing and patting his head as she expressed how sorry she was for the poor man, thinking that his comics were indeed being copied by a stranger. Pushing against her face with both hands, Johnny freed himself and jumped backwards, away from the tight grip, brushing himself off as though the touch had burned him.

Rainer only beamed up at him, mistaking his twitching movements for shivers from the cold.  "You must be freezing.  I love your jacket, but it doesn't look like it holds in heat all that well," she said sympathetically.  "I'm perfectly fine!  Just don't touch me," the man shrieked at her, angered that she would dare do such a thing.  "Okay," she replied happily.  For at least five minutes the two of them stood unmoving.  Rainer was standing straight and simply smiling.  Johnny was hunched over, knees bent and fists held out at his sides, his face contorted into a mask of rage.  Another gust of wind blew at Nny's back, strong enough to flip the bottom of his coat over his head, covering his face.  

The woman giggled at this, which only frustrated Nny further. He flailed his arms and yelled unintelligible words, tearing at his jacket until he finally fixed it. By then his new 'friend' was leaning against the pole again for support, doubled over in a fit of laughter. Her bubbly demonstration was the final straw for the skinny man. He charged at her recklessly. Rainer immediately bolted up and around the pole just as he ran straight into it. The metal rang out with a loud clang on impact, and squeaked as he slid to the ground. "Nny? Nny ... are you okay?" Johnny slid onto his back, unconscious. "Oh ... poor guy." She bent over and kissed his forehead, picking him up carefully in her arms. He was a bit taller than her, but light enough to carry. She hauled him out of the park as delicately as she could, smiling up at the moon which was now in its midnight position.


"I love Halloween...."