Dracula Night
“Thanks for coming, Sookie,” Pam said. “You may perk him up. He’s been very hard to work for these past few days.”
“Why?” I asked, though I wasn’t real sure I wanted to know.
“Have you ever seen It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?”
I stopped in my tracks. “Sure,” I said. “Have you?”
“Oh, yes,” Pam said calmly. “Many times.” She gave me a minute to absorb that. “Eric is like that on Dracula Night. He thinks, every year, that this time Dracula will pick his party to attend. Eric fusses and plans; he frets and stews. He sent the invitations back to the printer twice so they were late going out. Now that the night is actually here, he’s worked himself into a state.”
“So this is a case of hero worship gone crazy?”
“You have such a way with words,” Pam said admiringly.
We were outside Eric’s office, and we could both hear him bellowing inside.
(from “Dracula Night” a short story by Charlaine Harris; set before the action of “Dead as a Doornail”)
