Pay the Ghost

1

Mother!

Mom.

Hey.

There's something

outside my window.

Oh, baby,

you're having a nightmare, huh?

Okay.

Let me put you back to bed.

I want Daddy to do it.

How 'bout we wait

for him together, huh?

Come on in. Bring Bear.

I gotcha.

We'll keep each other safe.

Sh*t.

Hi.

Did you figure it out?

What?

What you're gonna

be for Halloween.

Maybe.

But you're gonna have to

wait until tomorrow to find out.

I'll be a pirate.

Ah, good choice.

Mom helped me pick it out

after we got the pumpkin.

Mom said she'd carve it with me,

but I wanted to wait for you.

Oh,

Well...

We'll do it tomorrow,

just before we go trick

or treating, okay?

Promise?

I promise.

Now, go back to sleep.

Oh, and Dad...

Yes?

Can you check

outside my window?

I saw something.

Sure.

Nope, all clear.

I love you, Dad.

I love you too, son.

I'm sorry.

I'm getting tired of

going to bed without you.

If they're on the fence,

I'm going to have to

publish another article

as soon as I can.

- Are they on the fence?

- I don't know.

Just seems like I would've

received a letter by now.

Charlie wanted to wait

up for you tonight.

I think,

if you don't carve that

pumpkin with him tomorrow,

he's going to disown you.

Can he do that?

I think he'd

have a case, yeah.

And what about you?

Are you ready to disown me, too?

Huh?

Can I take that as a no?

I don't want you to think

I'm not mad at you, okay?

"My darling,

my darling, I see it aright.

Tis the aged gray willows

deceiving thy sight."

"I love thee!

I'm charmed by thy

beauty, dear boy!

And if thou'rt unwilling,

then force I'll employ."

"My father, my father,

he seizes me fast,

For sorely the Erl-King

has hurt me at last."

The father now gallops,

with terror half wild,

He grasps in his arms

the poor shuddering child,

He reaches his courtyard

with toil and with dread,

The child in his arms

finds he motionless, dead.

Pretty good, huh?

Kyle.

Who is this, uh, Earl Linking?

And his creepy daughters.

We don't know for sure.

They might be creatures

out of northern mythology.

Or some Celtic lore.

Or they simply stepped out

of Johann Wolfgang von

Goethe's nightmares.

But when you go out tonight,

spare a thought for Lovecraft.

For Stoker, for Poe...

And for Goethe's Erl-King.

'Cause they were

all bound by one

great, and noble objective.

To scare the living

sh*t out of you.

Happy Halloween.

Hello, hello, hello!

Hey, Mom.

Where's my little pirate?

Mom, check it out.

Wow, that's a great

indoor activity.

- Yeah.

- You...

You look amazing.

He's on fire, huh?

He's so excited.

The pirate looks perfect,

thank you very much.

And we'll see you

tomorrow, yeah?

Oh, yes.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween

to you, too, Rosa.

When's Dad coming home?

He should

be on his way right now.

- Rosa take you to art class?

- Yeah.

I wanna see.

Charlie, that's really scary.

You wanna tell me about that?

That's the thing

I saw outside my window.

I thought you told

me you couldn't see it?

I kinda saw it.

It just kinda looked like that.

Can we go, already?

Where's Dad?

- Yeah?

- Hannah...

Oh, Michael,

come here, come here.

Come, look at this.

It washed ashore last

week on Jones Beach.

What are those, Latin numerals?

Exactly.

It's an M and a D,

and possibly a C.

Sixteen hundred.

They used to engrave ships

with the year they were built,

which means this piece

of driftwood was once

part of the body of

a ship that helped

settle this city 400 years ago.

That's quite

something, isn't it?

And so's this.

"Dear Professor Lawford."

Congratulations, Mike!

You've come a long way from that

arrogant Yank who drank

himself out of Heidelberg.

Thanks for

recommending me, Hannah.

You deserve it,

more than anybody.

I've gotta go,

I have a very important

appointment with a pirate.

Hey.

God, it was the most incredible

exhibit I've ever seen.

And they, whoa,

whoa, whoa, whoa!

Easy on the candy,

all of you, please.

Maybe Dad

called and you missed it.

I will try him again.

Hi, it's Mike,

leave a message,

I'll get back to you

as soon as I can.

Hey.

You okay?

- Did you see it, Mom?

- Did I see what?

The bird.

The bird?

No.

No, I don't.

I think I'll

be Robin Hood next year.

He steals from the rich

and gives to the poor.

Well, that is

very noble, my little man.

And I bet he keeps

a little extra on the side

just to himself.

I see.

Mom, can we go to

the carnival, please?

No, not this year, my man.

I'm sorry, it is late, and

you have school tomorrow.

Come with me.

Come on, come on my prince.

I said, Draw, partner!

Dad!

You're a cowboy!

I couldn't find

my cowboy hat,

but boy, you guys look great.

You make a great pirate,

Charlie.

Where were you?

Mom said you were

gonna meet up with us.

I apologize,

my phone died.

Come on,

let's go to bed.

Mom,

can we go to the carnival,

just for a bit, please?

Oh, let me take him.

Just give us a half an hour.

- Come on, Kristen.

- Okay, okay.

Okay, but

would you do me a favor

and put him to bed, tonight?

He is hopped up on enough sugar

to last him until Christmas

and I have to finish some

client designs tonight.

- Of course.

- All right.

I got it.

You got what?

Drum roll, please.

I got tenure.

Oh, my God!

Oh, my God,

I'm so proud of you!

Does this mean that we can go?

Yes, it means you can go.

It means that we will

celebrate tonight.

Everything's going

to be better now.

You boys have fun tonight.

Come here.

Candy please, young man.

- Come on, already.

- Hey, let's do it.

- Hey, Professor?

- Uh huh?

Keep your chaps on, yeah?

Yeah!

Let's go, Dad.

Smile, Dad.

You having fun?

This is awesome.

You see those skeletons?

Pretty scary, huh?

Charlie?

Okay.

All right?

I'm sorry we didn't

carve pumpkins together.

It's okay.

I know you got a

lot of work to do.

No, it's not okay.

I promised I'd be there,

and promises dads make to

their sons are special things.

You know you're

the most important

person in the

world to me, right?

Yeah.

Let's get some ice cream!

Hey.

Charlie.

Charlie.

I really need you

to stay close to me,

and I need you to look

where you're going, okay?

Let me, let me take that.

Come on.

What kind of ice

cream do you want?

Swirled cone with

rainbow sprinkles.

Sounds good.

Dad,

can we pay the ghost?

Pay the what?

Next.

Right, uh, yeah,

a swirled cone

with rainbow sprinkles, please.

Okay. Six bucks.

Yeah.

Keep the change.

Charlie?

Charlie!

- Next!

- Did you see where my son went?

Uh-uh.

- Charlie.

- Who's next?

Charlie!

Where are you?

Charlie!

Charlie!

Charlie.

Hey!

Let him go!

What are you doing?

Charlie!

Charlie, where are you?

Charlie!

This is my son's hat!

The boy that was

wearing this hat,

- did you see him?

- Sir, are you okay?

My son was wearing this hat!

- Sir... Hey, Buddy!

- Charlie!

Officer, Officer,

this is my son's hat.

He's missing!

When did you see him last?

He was right here by

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