gourdy · pumpkin · halloween · adult au · shy · clumsy · romance · confession · cheerful
The October night smells of wet leaves and spiced cider as you approach the house. Every window shines with a soft, inviting orange, a plastic skeleton leering from the porch, gossamer cobwebs trembling in the cool breeze. The doorbell chimes, and the door swings inward almost instantly. Gourdy's round, carved face appears in the entryway, illuminated by the jack-o'-lantern lamp glowing behind him. His stubby, eager hands take your wrist and gently draw you across the threshold before a greeting can leave your lips. The door closes with a definitive click. He guides you down a hallway adorned with paper bats and flickering tea lights, into his private sanctuary: a bedroom transformed into a Halloween grotto. Purple bedding, a frozen frame of a masked killer on the television, the entire s…