Free The Halloween Mouse by Richard Laymon Page A

it happens."
    Timothy was having a very fine ride. But all of a sudden the moving stick curled around and Timothy found a snake staring him in the eyes.

    Though he had never read of moving sticks, he had read about snakes. They loved to eat mice!
    This one gazed at Timothy with bright yellow eyes and licked its lips.
    "Not me!" he exclaimed, and jumped off the back of the snake.
    He landed on his feet and ran. He ran and ran and ran as fast as his feet could make him run.
    Then he looked back.
    "Yikes!"
    There it was, close to him and getting closer.
    Timothy tried to run faster.
    "Oh, dear," he thought. "I wanted an adventure, not a disaster!"
    Then he came to a sidewalk. He leaped onto it and made a quick turn to the right. The sidewalk was smooth and flat and he could run very fast on it.
    He looked back.
    Here came the snake!
    "Oh, I never should have left the library! I should have been happy just reading books! Make-believe adventures are dandy, and I don't get eaten!"
    Looking back at the snake, he had not been watching the sidewalk ahead of him. Suddenly, he remembered that smart mice don't run backward for long distances.
    He faced the front, but not fast enough.
    A Tootsie Roll!
    Timothy tripped over it, tumbled and bounced and rolled.
    When he stopped tumbling and bouncing and rolling, he sat up and . . .
    Here came the snake!
    The Tootsie Roll had already rolled out of the snake's way and didn't even slow it down.
    Racing toward Timothy the snake opened its mouth very wide. Its fangs looked as big as elephant tusks.
    Timothy leaped up and whirled around and ran . . .
    . . . smack into the big yellow top of a candy corn.
    "Umf!" he grunted.
    Then he thought, "Ah-ha!"
    Hugging the candy corn like an old friend, he picked it up and swung around. He pitched it at the snake with all his might.
    Timothy, however, had never been terribly good at sports. He was a mouse, after all . . . not a child.
    Though aimed at the snake's head, the candy corn flew high and outside.
    "I'm doomed," thought Timothy.
    The snake suddenly struck!
    But not at Timothy. At the candy corn.
    Leaping high, it snapped the candy corn out of the sky. It made a beautiful landing. Winking at Timothy, it slithered off into the grass with its treat.

    Timothy hurried on his way. After all, one piece of candy corn was hardly a full meal. Just a snack, really. Done gobbling it up, the snake might still be hungry.
    Soon, Timothy came upon a second piece of candy corn.
    "This is my lucky day!" he thought, and picked up the candy with his mouth and took it along with him. "Now I'll be ready in case the snake comes back."
    As he hurried along, however, he began to taste the candy. He had read about candy corn in a book about Halloween, but never before had he tasted any. It was so much better than normal corn!
    Sometimes, a real adventure is better than a book.
    He nibbled it and nibbled it as he walked along.
    "Better save some for the snake!" he thought.
    But he ignored his thought. By the time the sun was very low on the horizon, he ate the last of his candy corn.
    "I sure do hope the snake stays away," he thought, and looked behind him.
    Coming up the sidewalk . . .
    "Oh, dear!"
    Not the snake but . . . ghosts and monsters and witches!
    A mummy! A vampire!
    Heart thudding, Timothy whirled around and ran.
    "Oh why, oh why didn't I stay in the library? This was such a bad idea!"
    No matter how fast Timothy ran, the horrible creatures were catching up to him. Closer and closer, talking and laughing. They all carried bags. Some of them even carried flashlights.
    "If they light me up," thought Timothy, "they'll chase me down! They'll throw me in a bag with all the other mice they've caught tonight and take me home with them. The vampire will drink my blood. The witch will toss me into her brew! Oh, I'll be bashed and smashed and stirred and they'll fight over who gets to gobble me up first!"
    The beam of a flashlight slid toward Timothy, so he leaped off the