It's that time again.  October means Halloween and tonight all the little ghosts and goblins in our neighborhood will be out in all their 'finery', tricking and treating and having fun.  That's the way it's supposed to be - kids being kids and having a good time.   Wishing you and your little (and not so little) ones a safe and Happy Halloween!

Here's some light reading to keep you company while you wait for the next bump on the door or ring of the doorbell.

The Hook
 

A young couple out on a date parked along an old country road to be alone. They were listening to the car radio and kissing and hugging. Suddenly the music was interrupted by a news bulletin.

"A convicted murderer has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane. The man was mutilated in a car wreck following a high-speed chase and is missing his right hand. A temporary hook has been attached to his right arm, which will make him easier to identify. The criminal's name is... "

The boy turned the radio off. He leaned over to his girlfriend, expecting that the frightening news flash would make her snuggle even closer. Instead, she was so scared that she didn't want to make out anymore.

"I'm afraid," she said. "Let's get out of here."

The boy tried and tried to convince her that they were in no danger, but she refused to listen. He decided that maybe she didn't like him as much as he had thought, and was just using this as an excuse. The girl reached over and locked her door as the boy angrily started the car.

Just at that moment, they heard a thud on the passenger side of the car.

The boy slammed the car into drive and spun out onto the road. The girl screamed and held onto the boy as they fish-tailed around the road. On the way back to town they both calmed down, but the girl still held on so tightly that the boy decided he had been wrong about her after all. As they came closer and closer to her house, he tried to think of a way to impress her.

They pulled up in front of the house and the boy said, "I'll make sure it's safe first." He left the keys in the ignition but locked the door as he got out. He came around to her side to politely open the door, like a hero.

For a long time he just stood there, looking down at the door. At first the girl couldn't figure out what was wrong; then she realized that her door was still locked. She smiled and unlocked it.

The boy still just stood there.

The girl looked puzzled and rolled down her window. Then she saw that the boy was looking down at the door handle. She slowly looked down herself.

A long splatter of blood ran across the door all the way to the back bumper. Hanging from the door handle was a stainless steel hook.
 

(doo, doo, doo, do - doo, doo, doo, do ala Twilight Zone - heh, heh, heh)
 

Halloween

Green cat eyes
in midnight gloom
fly with the witch
on her ragged broom
over dark hills
where bonfires loom.
There, where haunted
spirits groan,
crouched in the rubble
of rag and bone,
Old Halloween
unearths gray stone
Counting the souls
of the restless dead,
nodding her wizened,
shrouded head.
Then, with her bony
fingers spread
She bids them dance
to a frenzied tune.
Thin bodies floating
circle the moon,
and Old Halloween
falls in a swoon...
Red embers die
as the hillside shakes.
A rooster crows.
The morning breaks.
The witch lies dead.
The cat awakes.
~ Myra Cohn Livingston ~

Tonight is the night
When dead leaves fly
Like witches on switches
Across the sky,
When elf and sprite
Flit through the night
On a moony sheen.
Tonight is the night
When leaves make a sound
Like a gnome in his home
Under the ground,
When spooks and trolls
Creep out of holes
Mossy and green.
Tonight is the night
When pumpkins stare
Through sheaves and leaves
Everywhere,
When ghoul and ghost
And goblin host
Dance round their queen
It's Hallowe'en!
~ Harry Behn ~