“Something from Nothing”– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Back to Special Days Menu page.
Last week I wished I had written our assignment which was about my favorite monster. This week I got to thinking about how I could cover last weeks topic with “Something from Nothing” – which is this weeks topic, so, here goes.
One Halloween when my older sister was probably in eighth grade, my younger sister in first grade and I was in third grade, we went Halloweening with all the kids in the neighborhood. We lived on a gravel road that went for about three blocks and was the county line for a the small town of Danville, Illinois. We really lived in the country and there were about twelve of us who went trick or treating this Halloween. We visited neighbors and teachers that lived on our way to the elementary school we attended. Those were the days when our biggest trick was a notched wooden spool which would make a scary noise when string unwound would make it spin against a window pane. And these were the days when the kids would go inside and visit and have hot chocolate, taffy apples or popcorn (with our friends parents) on a usually frosty evening.
This night we were returning home, laughing about who we had scared and the tricks we had played. We turned onto our road which went gently uphill, appearing that it ended in the moonlit sky. Someone mentioned it looked like something was up at the top of the hill – but, my older sister, Carolyn and Johnny Green – our older guardians- laughed at the thought. We continued on. But, soon someone said: “There is a weird shape up on the top of the hill!” We stopped and it did appear something from afar off was headed our way – outlined in the moonlight! Undaunted, we continued on until it was about a block away and we stopped in our tracks. It appeared about six feet tall and was headless with two arms sticking straight out!
Sure enough, first tilting one way, then the other. TROMP, TROMP, TROMP, TROMP. Coming slowly towards us! By now our chatter and laughter had stopped and we stood in silence trying to figure out what this creature was! TROMP, TROMP, TROMP, TROMP.
Finally, the two older kids yelled – “RUN!” Immediately, there was the familiar laugh of our dad that my sisters and I were relieved to hear! And, the neighborhood kids, too, were well acquainted with the infectious laughter coming from this headless monster. Probably the two older kids pretended they knew who it was all the time, but we all had the best trick played on us trick or treaters that night!
NOW, for the Something for Nothing. Our dad created this fun with a huge overcoat, a broom stick and the idea of putting the broomstick through the sleeves, putting the broomstick on top of his head and buttoning the coat so he could still see through a peek hole. Who knows how long he had to wait at the top of the hill – in the moonlight – to create the perfect time and rhythm – TROMP, TROMP, TROMP, TROMP – to meet us on the hill? I’m sure he was chuckling to himself in anticipation.
My dad was a master at creating Something from Nothing – LOTS OF FUN! I will save for another time some of the other jokes and laughs and fun we had with him.
10-18-10– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Back to Special Days Menu page.
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