Biting donuts

Steven had also ended up in a separate room, herded together with all the boys who had played and lost at Musical Statues. From the ceiling hung strings, evenly spaced out, each with a pink-iced ring-shaped doughnut tied to the end. Steven’s upbringing had been worlds apart from Dodo’s twentieth-century childhood and Hallowe’en parties were something he’d never come across before, so he just stared, bewildered, at this display, wondering if it was some eccentric form of interior design. But when a masked cowboy shouted ‘Go!’ and all the boys ran forward, their hands clasped firmly behind their backs, it didn’t take him long to work out that this was a game where they had to try to take bites of the swinging doughnuts using just their mouths. Not caring much for games or for cakes, he stayed where he was.
Some doughnuts had been nibbled, but it was a few moments before the first full bite was managed. ‘I did it!’ cried a small boy dressed as an astronaut. (Steven approved of the costume, even though for him the spacesuit seemed laughably primitive.)
‘I did –’ The next cry of triumph became a shout of disgust. All around the room boys were yelling as their teeth pierced the doughnuts and a red substance ran out.
‘What on earth is that?’ demanded Steven.
‘Jam,’ said the cowboy. ‘Just jam. Doughnuts have jam inside. Didn’t you know?’
‘I’ve never seen a child react like that to jam!’ said Steven. He took a step forward, but the cowboy blocked his way.
‘It’s just jam,’ the cowboy repeated.
‘Jam isn’t that runny,’ said Steven. He made to step round the cowboy, but was blocked again. Behind the cowboy, a man in a vampire mask was removing the remaining doughnuts, while the boys, some still looking upset, sat back down, cross-legged, on the floor.
‘The game is over. It was jam,’ said the cowboy.

***

Murder in the Dark, Tales of Terror