Funk-N-Fiction

Today we have the first poem of the 2026 Halloween Flash Fiction event! This “Top Hat Girl” gave Violet Howe so. much. inspiration! I can’t wait to hear what YOU think of her!

Top Hat Girl
Violet Howe

Beware the torch of the Top Hat Girl,

For she is not what she seems.

‘Tis no costume that she wears,

Though she comes on Halloween.


Her flame reveals the truth of life,

What is, has been, or might be.

You can’t escape once she chooses you,

But you can learn from what you see.


For some she’s a harbinger of heartache,

For others, a nudge towards the right path.

But if your heart has evil within,

Then you will meet with her wrath.


This corseted spectre wasn’t always such,

Untethered to the ground.

For she was born of flesh and blood,

And she lived in London town.


The apple of her mother’s eye,

Her father’s pride and joy.

An only child but so well-loved,

They cared not she wasn’t a boy.


A sheltered life they caged her in,

No suitors were allowed.

Yet word of her still traveled far,

Her beauty was renowned.


Many offered healthy sums

For the right to take her hand,

Her father refused them one and all,

Denying she needed a man.


But a wild heart beats a rhythm of its own,

No matter what a parent may say.

And so it was at age eighteen,

That she up and ran away.


Her mother cried and her father swore,

They tried to get her back home.

But she had fallen fast and hard,

So, with this man she roamed.


Alas, he was a scoundrel rotten,

Of the downright dastardly kind.

It didn’t take him long to leave her,

And with him went her mind.


Legend calls her a woman scorned;

Her lover stole her youth.

Broke her heart and bruised her trust,

And turned her world to blue.


She couldn’t see a world past him

And so one fateful night,

She jumped into the River Thames,

And just gave up the fight.


Lost was the chance of future joy,

Gone dark were her eyes of green.

The sun would rise again come day,

But her laughter would nevermore ring.


She’d been so focused on her pain,

She could not look ahead.

Darkness extinguished all her hope,

And each day she did dread.


But what she didn’t realize then,

Is that life has many branches.

We aren’t confined to just one path,

Each day can bring new chances.


So now she wanders over the earth,

In search of souls on the edge.

Her mission is to make them think,

To help them is her pledge.


On Halloween, when the veil is thin,

From the mist she will appear.

She shows them what they need to see,

And says what they need to hear.


And once she has presented her case,

She departs without a goodbye.

She can’t control what they do next,

But at least she knows she tried.


So if you’re wandering the wrong life path,

Deceiving or have been deceived,

Don’t be surprised if she shows up

While you’re out All Hallow’s Eve.


You can’t escape her presence,

So don’t try to run away.

Heed the lesson she teaches,

For she’s showing you the way.


Our lives are made up of choices,

Your past does your future weave,

Each day brings a chance for you to change,

In this you should believe.

******

If you’d like to read a free short story featuring the Top Hat Girl on one of her Halloween missions, please click this link: Off The Grid: A Top Hat Tale

CONTEST: Violet is offering one lucky reader a copy of Vampire Born, Book 1 in her Fallen Bloodlines series. Winner’s choice of ebook or print copy.
To enter: Leave a comment about the poem, and let us know if you’ve ever had a “visitor from across the veil”. Any supernatural encounters you’d like to share this Halloween season?
** Entry for this contest will ALSO count as your entry for the overall HFF event contest. **