The Halloween I Became Radioactive

I still remember the year when Halloween loomed like a ticking clock. The heads of nuclear medicine at two hospitals had tried to convince me swallowing radioactive iodine was my only medical option.

Did I mention I am deathly allergic to iodine?   

                                                      

I purchased bags of candy in advance of becoming radioactive. We assured our neighbors I would be quarantined in the back bedroom and bathroom, far from the Kit Kats and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

On Halloween morning, I trailed a grim-faced head of nuclear medicine down a nearly empty hospital corridor, shuffling as though bound for the gallows. We entered a small restricted chamber. After consulting my file, which I noticed had ATTORNEY stamped in red block letters across every page, the doctor used three-foot tongs to extract a radioactive vial from a lead-lined canister.

"Swallow this."

"You first."

He was not amused.

That night, my husband (the aforementioned attorney) placed a heaping candy bowl on the front porch, then took our daughter trick-or-treating. I had a vision of a giant nuclear symbol on our front door. Others must have sensed the invisible symbol, too, because even the after-hours marauding teenagers bypassed our house.

Years later, Halloween became the ticking clock in SPELL CHECK, Book 1, The Teen Wytche Saga.

The Kindle Edition of SPELL CHECK is free October 1- 5, 2024. All four TWS novels are available in Kindle Unlimited and in paperback.

Happy reading, and happy Halloween!

~Ariella Moon

AMAZON