Last night was Trick or Treat night in our neighborhood. It was filled with shrieks and screams as children ran, frenzied, through the streets in their annual quest to collect as much candy as possible in the two hours allotted them.
Dressing up to scare the children has been practiced by the oldest Atkins Boy for a long time but he hasn't been as inspired since moving South. The time he dressed up as a dragon and rose up from behind the breezeway while children ran screaming down the driveway is just a memory. So is the time one little girl burst into tears and fell off the same breezeway when confronted with a red devil with blue horns and a skull belt buckle. Her mother was not amused. Those were the days!
Inspiration struck again last night. As the magic hour arrived, Mr. Atkins unexpectedly decided to dredge up an old wig he had saved. Who would have known he still had that? Without the weeks of planning that used to go into his costumes, he was forced to make do with the wig and a black tablecloth held together with a cat pin belonging to his wife.
Crouching down to waist level, he opened the door slowly and growled out in a very low voice, "Helloooo," giving a wide smile displaying the gap where the crown he had lost earlier in the day used to be. A trip to the dentist is first on the agenda tomorrow but why waste a good opportunity?
His effort did add to the excitement on our street. No one screamed or fell off our porch but one little girl finally squeaked out, "You SCARED me!" The funniest comment of all was from another little girl who said, "You're wearing a mask…….aren't you?" She was really scared when she found out he wasn't.
Carl has always enjoyed being part of the excitement Halloween brings to small children. It's fun to see their costumes – especially those made by Mom. The one we'll remember from this year was a boy wearing the top half of a banana costume who felt moved to announce, "I'm a banana," while his little sister stood there, smirking, and remarked, "A very sick banana!" We suspect he had to ditch the bottom half in order to keep up with her.
There was no such thing as Trick or Treat night when we were growing up. Favorite activities of teenage boys in West Virginia included soaping windows, egging the homes of people like their least favorite teacher or the mayor, and turning over outhouses. The best part was bragging about it the next day. Our youth group once had a Halloween party that included a scavenger hunt. Visiting the cemetery, looking for a child's gravestone that had a lamb on it, and having to copy the inscription in the dark brought suitable chills.
We've come a long way from the time when most people believed this was the night when the veil between the spirit world and our world was lifted, allowing unhappy spirits to come through and take revenge.
Trick? Or Treat?
Dressing up to scare the children has been practiced by the oldest Atkins Boy for a long time but he hasn't been as inspired since moving South. The time he dressed up as a dragon and rose up from behind the breezeway while children ran screaming down the driveway is just a memory. So is the time one little girl burst into tears and fell off the same breezeway when confronted with a red devil with blue horns and a skull belt buckle. Her mother was not amused. Those were the days!
Inspiration struck again last night. As the magic hour arrived, Mr. Atkins unexpectedly decided to dredge up an old wig he had saved. Who would have known he still had that? Without the weeks of planning that used to go into his costumes, he was forced to make do with the wig and a black tablecloth held together with a cat pin belonging to his wife.
Crouching down to waist level, he opened the door slowly and growled out in a very low voice, "Helloooo," giving a wide smile displaying the gap where the crown he had lost earlier in the day used to be. A trip to the dentist is first on the agenda tomorrow but why waste a good opportunity?
His effort did add to the excitement on our street. No one screamed or fell off our porch but one little girl finally squeaked out, "You SCARED me!" The funniest comment of all was from another little girl who said, "You're wearing a mask…….aren't you?" She was really scared when she found out he wasn't.
Carl has always enjoyed being part of the excitement Halloween brings to small children. It's fun to see their costumes – especially those made by Mom. The one we'll remember from this year was a boy wearing the top half of a banana costume who felt moved to announce, "I'm a banana," while his little sister stood there, smirking, and remarked, "A very sick banana!" We suspect he had to ditch the bottom half in order to keep up with her.
There was no such thing as Trick or Treat night when we were growing up. Favorite activities of teenage boys in West Virginia included soaping windows, egging the homes of people like their least favorite teacher or the mayor, and turning over outhouses. The best part was bragging about it the next day. Our youth group once had a Halloween party that included a scavenger hunt. Visiting the cemetery, looking for a child's gravestone that had a lamb on it, and having to copy the inscription in the dark brought suitable chills.
We've come a long way from the time when most people believed this was the night when the veil between the spirit world and our world was lifted, allowing unhappy spirits to come through and take revenge.
Trick? Or Treat?
