A PERSONAL STORY

Monday, 31 October 2011 17:08

A PERSONAL STORY OF HALLOWEEN. Some years back, I loaded all the grandchildren (ages 4-10) and their mothers in to our trusty Caravan and headed out into the safe and sane local suburbs to do the traditional “trick or treat”. The four grandchildren were in the usual holiday high spirits and getting enough candy to have a sugar-high for about five weeks or more. All costumes were still mostly in tact as we approached the last house on our route. Located in what was becoming more rural, this house with its well lit porch nicely decorated with traditional Halloween items was going to be the perfect end to a perfect evening.

As the last child followed by two tired mothers cleared the walkway through the rather high hedge and approached the house, I see a large man in a dark costume appear behind them at the same time as he started up a large chain saw.

Now, I’m here to tell you, between the roar of the chain saw, the shrieks of the children and their mothers, and the ‘murder’ of crows roosting in the hedge taking sudden noisy flight, puts anything you would see in a horror movie to shame. It was a good thing the van doors had been left open because, I believe to this day, there would have been some serious injuries had the doors been closed. Children, who usually take, what seems like hours to get situated, vying for either the “shotgun” position or the last back seat, were onboard in the blink of an eye, leaving parts of their costumes strewn along the walkway. I will not even tell you how the mothers fared, except that the idea, that the “strong and swift will almost always survive,” should come to mind.

The ride home was extremely quiet, not a word, not a whisper, not even the crackle of a candy being unwrapped. As a post-script, although there were lines at both bathroom doors, no one admitted needing clean underwear. HAPPY HALLOWEEN, BE SAFE!!!