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Halloween was always fun for my brother and I. I had more fun decorating
the outside of the house for the Trick or Treaters. My brother liked eating the bags candy we collected running around the
neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods. This year, things changed, my mother got distance to us and we had to do things
on our own. Sure, she was working, but her whole attitude had changed. Everything got her mad. She would fly off the handle
at the drop of a hat. We were all under stress.
This year I decided to decorate the big Bay Window
on the front of the house. I made a hooded Ghoul with no face with glowing red eyes. In his hands I put a skull (ceramic)
which had a hole for a candle. I knew I couldn't use a real candle so I took a Christmas candle and put a flame electric bulb
at the end. The other hand pointed to our front door. My mother put up a paper Witch on the door, which was her idea of decorating
for Halloween. I made it a bit spookier by placing an orange light bulb in the front door light. Which was a Colonial brass
type. It did look spooky.
My brother decided to be a Ho-bo (bum) for Halloween. I purchased a rubber
mask of the Hunched Back of Notre Dame. I had a big red sweater, that I filled the back with cotton packing you use for pillows
and put on ripped black pants. I had ghoulish gloves to go with it, to cover my young hands to complete the look. My brother
and I used our old pillow cases for bags to bring home the loot. Last year we had paper bags which got a hole in it, we nearly
lost all of our candy, luckily we was close by. Live and learn.
After
school, Frankie (my brother) decided that he didn't want to go Trick or Treating with me. He had his new friends from school
and they were too cool for me to go with them. I asked my friend Lauri from up the block and she said she would, but she had
to be back by dark. Her mother was afraid of her being out late, even though her younger brother, Alfred, was going with my
brother and would be out till late. Double standards was her middle name. Lauri always had it tough.
So... Lauri, as a Scare-Crow and me as the Hunched Back, went from door to door. We got most of the neighborhood done and
has only a couple of houses left. There was a creepy house made of brick that we all thought was haunted as well. They say
that the son had killed himself and tried to make it to the door, where they found him at the entrance, all bloody and hyped
up on drugs. He died of an overdose. Some say it was acid, some say it was speed, all we knew was that he was never the same
when he got back from Vietnam. His mother was all alone, her husband died a couple of year before of a heart attack. We used
to see her pull up to the house, her face was expressionless, like she felt nothing anymore.
The house was dark, except for a dim light in the window and a small light on the patio. We went up to knock on the door.
Lauri and I remembered that she like to give money, small change, instead of candy. It was getting cold, Lauri got a shiver,
my hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. As we knocked, the door seemed unlocked, because it moved as we knocked. The
door fully open, we saw no-one. We chimed out, "Trick or Treat", and got no reply, we turned around to leave the doorway and
a gust of wind hit our face. We heard.... "YYYYOOOOOUUUUUU" in a moaning voice that carried in the wind. My mask slipped,
so I couldn't see. Lauri ran, I, fixing my mask, noticed I was alone, I turned around at the door and saw a figure of a soldier
(Army) dressed for combat. I screamed, and the door slammed shut. I caught up to Lauri, who said she heard the voice, but
did stay long enough to see the Army man. She decided that she had enough candy and so did I. We went home.
I got to the front of my house and noticed the Ghoul that I place in the window moving back and fourth. I thought the
cat or dog must be playing with it. I went inside and the dog and the cat was with my father downstairs. I had enough for
one night and decided to go to the kitchen and dump my candy in the bowl that my mother left out for us to put our candy in.
I heard, kaaching like coins hitting the glass. Funny, I don't remember anyone giving us change. Maybe the Army man was helping
his mom after-all. I got spook-ed again.
My father came up from the basement. He said he got home
and downstairs put extra food in the downstairs refrigerator. He told me to sit down, and said that a dear friend of the family,
Jack Ryan had died tonight. He said that he and I will have to go to the wake in two days. I started to cry, I loved Jack,
he was a special man. He would read to me, when I was young, he read nearly all of Charles Dickens books to me. I was going
to miss him.
I went up to my room, close the door and buried my head into my pillow. The wind blew
hard, it was a full moon and it filled my room with moonlight. It was hard to sleep that night.
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