Bewitching
“Hey, Roy?”
“Yeah, Chet?”
“Who’s Gage talking to?”
“How would I know?”
“You’re his partner.”
“So?”
“So, you should know who he’s talking to.”
“One does not equate the other.”
“Huh?”
“Just because Johnny’s my partner doesn’t mean I know everything he’s doing and with whom. If you want to know, ask him.”
“Yeah, like he’d tell me.”
“He might, Chet. You never know. Look, he’s done.”
“Gage, who was that on the phone?”
“WADL.”
“Waddle?”
“No, W. A. D. L.”
“What’s that?”
“The Witches Anti-Defamation League.”
“I’ve never heard of them.”
“Yeah, well, neither have I, but they’re pretty ticked at us.”
“For what?”
“That display out front.”
“Our Halloween display?”
“Yep. Seems they don’t like witches portrayed as ugly old hags.”
“But…but…that’s what witches look like. Everyone knows that.”
“Not according to Selene.”
“Selene?”
“The witch I was talking to. She’s the secretary of WADL.”
“Huh. I bet she’s some homely old lady.”
“She’s definitely not old, Kelly. And as far as the homely part goes, well, we’ll soon find out.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s coming to the station to help persuade us to change the Halloween display. I told her that the witch stuff was yours.”
“I’m not changing---“
“Mr. Kelly?”
“Y-yes?”
“I’m Selene Golden. I wondered if I could…Mr. Kelly, are you okay?”
“Don’t mind him. Beautiful women get him tongue-tied. I’m Roy DeSoto.”
“A pleasure. And who is this other man?”
“My partner, John Gage. You were just talking to him on the phone.”
“Oh, dear. Do they always do that?”
“Stare and drool?”
“Well, yes, I suppose that’s what I mean.”
“Like I said, only with beautiful women. I don’t think you’ll have any problems. They’ll both be glad to change the display. Won’t you, guys?”
“Uh huh.”
“Y-yeah.”
“Well, thank you. You don’t know what this means to me, to those of us at WADL. And thank you, Mr. DeSoto.”
“No thanks necessary. As soon as you’re out of sight, they should snap back to normal and get right to changing things.”
“Okay, boys. She’s gone.”
“She’s as gorgeous as Samantha.”
“No, Serena. With a wild streak.”
“Whatever. C’mon, we’ve got a witch to remove.”
October 2004
I don’t think there is an organization called Witches Anti-Defamation League, but as someone with friends who are witches, the Wiccan kind, I’ve heard them speak often of their annoyance at the annual display of witches as “ugly old hags”.
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Halloween Stories Stories by Lizabeth
