OCTOBER 18, 2024 HALLOWEEN Truth or Lies: The Golden Halloween It was October 30,1998; Martus was sitting around the bonfire. It was his first bonfire party at his grandparents’ estate; he had just inherited the estate earlier that year. He was sitting by the fire drinking wine with his neighbors and friends, reminiscing on all the stories his grandpa used to tell him. The main story on his mind was how they would light the lanterns the night before Halloween. It was to honor the men who worked in the mountains during the gold mine era. A crew of over 50 men were trapped during a sudden earthquake. Martus was proud that he had kept his grandfather’s tradition. After the party settled down, several people were asleep around the fire. When he woke up, the fire was still blazing, but the lanterns were out. He could not understand how they were not lit. He didn’t hesitate relighting them. However, the first one blew out as he lit the second one. He looked down the path at each lantern; they started flickering on and off. Martus thought someone had walked past him, feeling a warm breeze. He decided not to light the lanterns again. Walking away, Martus turned back and all the lanterns were lit. While entering the house, he noticed a pattern of lights without lanterns. He walked into the path of lights, looking around to see where the pattern of lights would lead him. FELICIA WILBERT Groundcover vendor No. 234 He stood in the hallway. The bathroom door opened up suddenly — he jumped nervously! It was his friend Fernando stumbling out of the bathroom. He was so relieved to see Fernando. Martus decided to return to the bonfire with his friends. Several people had awakened and they were again telling spooky stories of Halloween. After his guests had left, Martus cleaned up in the kitchen. Sweeping the floor he noticed a pattern of lights once again. This time the lights were moving back and forth. They were quarter size blinking lights. He stopped then walked over to them. The lights moved, he moved forward, they moved again, he moved again, then he stopped! The lights stopped blinking. Suddenly his grandpa’s picture fell off the wall in the living room. He went to see what it was. He picked up the picture and noticed lights all over it. He dropped the picture and the lights disappeared. Martus picked it up and hung it quickly. He sat down on the sofa, spooked. Did he really see the lights on his grandpa‘s picture? Martus’ throat got dry and his body started shaking. He felt someone tapping him on the back of his right shoulder. Martus turned around to see who had touched him. He only saw blinking lights on the floor, and heard footsteps! The lights moved. He jumped up and decided he was going to follow them again. This time he wouldn't give up. The thought of his friends laughing eased the tension in his neck. The footsteps started again; frightened, he continued to follow the lights. The light shone on the wall outside of his grandfather's bedroom. He heard a tapping sound on the wall down to the floor. He shouted, “You can come out now! The prank is over. The joke is on you!” A few minutes passed, no one came out. The sound got louder. His heart started beating faster. He walked over to the wall to see what the lights were shining on. Glancing up and down the wall, looking towards the floor. He noticed a sparkle and glimmer; peeking between the floor and the wall. It was a small hole that wasn’t noticeable the day before. The tapping got louder, the hole got bigger, the glare became brighter! He wanted to run but could not move. He was so afraid he passed out. Hours later, when he awakened, it was nighttime. He jumped up, thinking about how he was supposed to attend a Halloween party with his friends. Reaching to turn the lights on he dropped a gold coin from his hand. He looked down to see where he had dropped it. The coin rolled over into the hole on the floor. As Martus reached to retrieve it, the hole got even bigger. The glare was so bright he decided to get a hammer and chisel. Finally, he took the hammer to pound a bigger hole in the floor. The glare was so bright he forgot to cut the lights on. Skeptical, he put his hand in the hole grabbing at whatever he touched. He pulled his hand out of the hole. Looking into his hand, he saw small gold nuggets. He jumped up and cut the light on. There was gold everywhere in the hole. When he excavated the hole, he found a note from his grandpa that said, “My only grandchild, take this wealth and build houses. The gold is from 1829. My great grandpa left it for me — now it’s yours. Love you, Grandpa.” Author's note: Please forgive me for not showing up. I encountered family difficulties that couldn’t be avoided. Truth or Lies Mystery Lane: "Winter" published June 14, 2024 was true. GROUNDCOVER NEWS 11 BENEFITS from page 4 eases the pull on your almost non-existent budget (earned incomes/ unearned/both). Then as you mature in your earned wages/income, the food stamp program snatches the rug right back from under you — then you are back at square one again or worse off than when you began. So this benefit is needed and necessary. Its weaning function is ultimately counterproductive. Person B said that what good is a higher minimum wage when as soon as wages increase, the prices of everything else does, too. It is like a hamster running fast in that big circle wheel. Moving quickly, constantly getting nowhere. It only then serves as an illusion of what progress should look like. Person B is self-employed and doesn’t tell anyone what they do. Person C’s observations on healthcare are this: There are major areas of healthcare that would lose considerable profits if the government were to focus on providing oral health care that’s affordable or free, or mandated dental practice coverage in health insurance policies. Chewing your food right is important to overall health. And a dentist can tell a lot about a person’s health by their oral examination. Great research on aging and disease has been done and proven. Prevention is the best and most effective medicine. The patient must be able to trust the provider. For instance, this person may be a smoker or not be a smoker. (If I can’t trust you then I won’t be honest with you.) If you prevent the ill, you don't or won't need the pill. This in itself would incept the beginning of eliminating expensive and unaffordable prescription costs for seniors, our children in the future, and for those who may now require it here and around the world. Person D says that everyone alive deserves to have a variety of nutritional dietary options. Why eat healthy when one small apple or orange is $1 apiece? That's about 200 pieces of fruit for 30 days utilizing food stamps for a family. Some people get less than that. Nutrition and rest are essential to overall function. Especially during the primary years of a child's life. It is right to help other children who are hungry to have food, but what about when your neighbor's child or your own child right here in the United States is starving? Where are the billions for them, for us? So I guess crime and hunger go hand in hand, Mr. Trump. No one in their right mind can believe that causing poverty won’t challenge basic survival. No one has your number and is awaiting your call or action. Person E: The child tax credit is a good thing if they can model and re-implement that program. You can barely earn enough while working long hard hours away from your child to simply provide nutritional meals. That doesn’t even begin to address who will offer safe, effective and essential components of child care that is also affordable. The consensus when it came to the tax and budget part of the issues: there were chuckles, giddy grins and smiles on the faces of the interviewees. This is their persnickety response — we don't have any income to report and we already know our budget — scrape by on what's left, barely nothing! exp. 01/31/2025
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