Ice Cream Coma

  Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Rachel Jean Perry, who loved ice cream.

  She loved it so much that it made her sad that she didn't get to eat ice cream all the time.

  However, on one special day, every year, she was able to eat as much delicious ice cream as she wanted, and that special day was her birthday.

  In anticipation of this most glorious day, she always playfully joked that she was going to eat so much ice cream, that she would go into an ice cream coma, and all of her friends and family smiled at her joy.

  Every year, when her birthday finally arrived, she would go about the town, eating ice cream from every shop and parlor, and not even the sun setting could stop her.

  Well, into the night, when she was finally satisfied, she would go home and lay down to a blissful sleep with an extra wide smile on her face.

  She always woke up the next day, still happy with the memory of the day before.

  But one year, the little girl did not wake up the next day.

  Worried, they all took turns trying to wake her, but none succeeded. Here friends and family were perplexed.

  "Why won't she wake up," they asked.

  They brought her to the hospital and begged the doctor to help her, but it was no use.

  "I'm sorry," the doctor said, "but it seems your little girl has gone into an ice cream coma."

  Everyone gasped in shock.

  "An ice cream coma?!" they all said in amazement.  "How could this be?"

  The little girl had always said that it was going to happen, but neither she, nor her friends and family ever believed it was actually possible.

  There was nothing to be done at the hospital, so the little girl was brought back home to be in her own bed, among familiar surroundings, especially her beloved little stuffed poodle.

  Sadness had replaced joy, as her loved ones took turns sitting with her, day and night, hoping that she would soon awaken.

  Someone was always there to watch over her... for a while, at least, but as days turned into weeks, the little girl's loved ones had to return to their own lives.

  She still had visitors, from time to time, but most of her time was spent alone.

  As the months passed, the little girl's skin grew very pale, she grew dark around the eyes, and she was so cold to the touch that, if someone did not know any better, they might think that she was already dead.

  Outside of her house, the air turned chill, the leaves turned brown, and while the silent little girl lay in bed, the children outside played and laughed in anticipation of another very special day: Halloween.

  The little girl had loved Halloween, but it was beginning to look as if she was going to miss it this year, and this made some of her friends especially sad.

  On the day before Halloween, those friends gathered around her and said, unsure if she could even hear them, "We're all coming back tomorrow night to spend Halloween with you."

  With tears in their eyes, they looked upon their little friend a moment longer before leaving her to her rest.

  Late that night, when the clock struck three, something strange happened.

  The window in her room slowly began to lift, as if on its own, and in gently blew an especially cold breeze.

  Suddenly, a man with a Jack o' Lantern head appeared beside her.

  It was the Spirit of Halloween. The King of all the little ghosts and goblins. The Master of tricks and treats.

  He leaned over the little girl and gently stroked her hair as he softly whispered, "It's time, my child. It's time to wake up."

  "You've finally eaten enough ice cream to sustain your metamorphosis, and now you must awaken to fulfill your destiny, sweet daughter.  Wake up, my Princess."

  The man held out his hands, and a sledgehammer materialized before him.

  He smiled and placed the object, on the bed, beside the little girl.

  "You must go to The Land of Red Eyes. There, you will find three creatures: A ghoul named Leaves, an imp named Shoes, and a little goblin named Gut. They need your help, my dear."

  "But before you go, there is something that you must do. If you simply leave, then your parents will be so very sad."

  He took the little girl's hand in his and placed it gently on the handle of the sledgehammer.

  "Take this, and tell your parents goodbye..., so they won't be sad."

  He leaned down and placed a loving kiss on the forehead of the little girl, and then faded away, as spirits do.

  Then the house was especially quiet.

  The only sound to be heard, if you listened very carefully, was a breeze through the open window.

  And then the poor little girl in the ice cream coma opened her eyes.