Delilah

Delilah’s spending Halloween on her own again, and she couldn’t be happier. She’s made it a tradition over the past few years to enjoy the holiday with some R&R, all by herself. Despite that, she still likes to dress up a bit and get into the whole “Halloween spirit.”

While everyone’s out getting drunk, eating candy, or both, she’s doing what she does every year: making herself a delicious “Halloween pizza” that she plans to eat while watching Michael Myers butcher people indiscriminately in John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ movies. To top it off, she’s even made some brownies this year using her grandmother’s recipe. “Heaven! Or uhm, Hell,” Delilah says to herself cackling like a witch.

She’s turned off her porch light so the neighborhood kids won’t come knocking, the pizza’s done and smells “frighteningly delicious,” the brownies are on the table in front of the couch, and she’s got her “beer mitten,” which is a mitten she uses to hold cold beer bottles from the fridge. With the press of a button on her remote, the piano keys from the ‘Halloween’ theme song send shivers down her spine. Delilah is absolutely thrilled.

Half-way through the first movie, the pizza’s gone and her face is covered in chocolate from all the brownies. She hears a noise on the porch and sees a tall figure move past her window in the shadows.

“Ooh, am I getting murdered tonight,” Delilah asks herself as she sits up on the couch. She is giddy with excitement.

This is one of many short stories I’ve been writing for Teodora’s drawings ever since she said she was bad at writing descriptions for them. I thought I’d enjoy helping her and trying to write something different than I was used to. I’d never collaborated creatively with anyone on anything before Teodora and I love the purpose she’s added to my writing and how she challenges me with each drawing.

We’re a little late to the party with this Halloween entry, but I think four days late still counts as “fashionable.” Delilah uses a “beer mitten” because so does Teodora, and it’s the most hilar cutest thing ever. 🍓

For more wonderful drawings, follow Teodora on Instagram @teoctobart. You can also buy her a coffee on her Ko-fi page.

For more stories, she’s got her own tag here.