Prompt: Write a scary 3 paragraph story about a girl who goes to trick or treat but never comes home
On Halloween night, little Emily dressed as a black cat and set off down the leaf-strewn sidewalk, her candy bucket swinging with each step. Her parents watched from the porch, waving as she joined a group of neighborhood kids. The moon was full, casting long shadows across the quiet town. As the group moved from house to house, Emily lagged behind, drawn to a crooked old home at the end of the street—one that had been abandoned for decades.
The house’s porch light flickered on, though no one had seen it lit in years. Emily, curious and fearless, climbed the creaking steps and knocked. The door opened slowly with a groan, revealing a dim hallway lined with dusty portraits whose eyes seemed to follow her. She stepped inside, calling out a timid “Trick or treat?” The door slammed shut behind her. The porch light blinked out. Her friends, too busy laughing and running ahead, never noticed she was gone.
By morning, the house looked as it always had—dark, silent, and forgotten. Police found no sign of Emily, only her candy bucket on the porch, filled with old, melted sweets wrapped in packaging from the 1950s. Every Halloween since, children whisper about the girl who vanished, and some claim that if you knock on that door at midnight, you’ll hear a faint meow and the sound of tiny footsteps just behind you… but when you turn around, no one’s there.