HALLOWEEN FUN
This is my first attempt writing a Halloween themed story.
We all know anything is possible on the 'Day of the Dead'......
Enjoy!
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My family never had any interest in Halloween. My father and his family were of the belief that when you died, that was it. The end, so to speak. No afterlife. No heaven or hell. They had no interest in religion either. My Dad always said that preachers were like politicians. You could always tell when they were lying, because their lips were moving. Smart man, my Dad.
I had heard about how people celebrated Halloween of course. My disinterest was noted when our school decided to hold a Halloween Dance to help raise money for a new hall. I was in my first year at high school, and everyone was buzzing with excitement. Don't get me wrong. I was excited for the dance, but I hadn't planned to dress-up in a costume to attend.
It was my Dad of all people who convinced me otherwise. He explained to me how I would be the only one there not in a costume, and would really be out of place. So, it was with lots of help from Mum and Aunt Mary, that come Halloween night, I stood in line outside the school gym with 200 other students waiting to begin the festivities.
I was a little surprised that none of my friends recognized me. However when I thought about it, I realized that I looked nothing like I usually did. Instead of a scrawny 5ft 4in teenager with acne, I was now a 6ft 7in broad shouldered Frankenstein's monster, complete with green skin and numerous scars. A special thanks goes to my Uncle Mick who taught me to walk in plasterers stilts. I enjoyed the anonymity for almost two hours before someone finally figured out who I was. I even won the best costume prize. From then on, I looked forward to Halloween every year.
I don't want anyone to misunderstand about my family. Just because we didn't support any religion, that didn't mean we shunned others who did. We celebrated Easter and Christmas, but not in a religious way. To us, it was a time for family to reconnect in a busy world. The children received presents and the like, but the adults just enjoyed catching up.
Anyway, for the next three years at every Halloween dance, I failed to win best costume. Apparently I had set the bar extremely high that first year. About the only way you could win now, was if no-one recognized you for the whole night. My 'Beetlejuice' and 'Grim Reaper' costumes were good, but didn't hide my identity for more than 30 minutes.
In my senior year, I went as 'The Wicked Witch', complete with the hooked nose and warts. I basically cackled my way through most conversations. I was feeling confident about winning with only 15 minutes until midnight when the winner would be announced. But then I outed myself to the woman who I knew would become Mrs David Parks.
I wasn't looking where I was going and bumped into her, spilling her drink down the front of her Princess costume. From the moment I first looked into her eyes, nothing else mattered, or existed. Using my normal voice, I stammered out some kind of apology and introduced myself. Her name was Stacy Davies and she had transferred to our school five months ago.
When the school principle stood on stage to announce the best costume winner, I still had high hopes. He this year had been the hardest year to judge best costume, but as there could only be one winner, he called for the Abominable Snowman to come up and collect the prize. After the Snowman left the stage, Principle Jackson got everyones attention and made the comment that if it hadn't been for an accident with a Princess, The Wicked Witch would have won.
Stacy looked at me with a sadness that hurt my heart. I quickly tried to reassure her that winning or losing best costume meant very little to me. I think I convinced her, because over the next hour, until her Mother came to pick her up, I was able to talk her into a date for the following weekend.
From that time on, we were inseparable. Although it took Stacy a month to catch up to me, we both knew 'We' were meant to be. We had our differences of course, but they just made us better together. I loved to cook, she loved to eat. I was the logical person, she was the spiritual one. We both had a deep sense of family values and respected the differences between each of our familys beliefs.
We dated for the rest of our school year and the day after graduation, I asked her to marry me. I explained I wanted us to be established in our careers before we wed, so a long engagement was on the cards. She agreed with me and said yes anyway.
Over the next two years I settled into working in the family business as an accountant, and Stacy pushed her way through a nursing degree. After our wedding and two week honeymoon, Stacy started work at the local hospital where she seemed to fit in well. We had decided to wait until we were around 28 before having children.
One of the things I found out about her family was that they took Halloween celebrations to the next level. Everyone got involved with setting up decorations. I have seen videos on the internet and Stacy's family could teach all of them a thing or two about setting up a Halloween house.
From the lighting to the cobwebs, and the music to the flying ghosts and goblins, every year was a truly magical performance. Her extended family came from far and wide to participate. It was a multi-generational event and everyone did their bit.
Over the years some of my family were so impressed, they even joined in, setting up their own festivities. Although they tried hard, they could never match the standard set by the Davies' family. I had to tell my family that the Davies' had been celebrating Halloween for at least the last 15 generations. There was no competing with that amount of experience.
Over the ensuing years, the Davies' displays had become somewhat legendary. People would drive for hours to stare in awe at what had been set up. As Stacy's parents aged, the torch was passed to us. Stacy was an only child and took the responsibility of the family legacy very seriously. It took us a few years to find our feet with the new location, but we seemed to pick things up rather quickly.
