Knocking Around On Halloween Night

Knocking Around On Halloween Night

By Paul McCann

 

It was Halloween night and a few of the local children put on false faces and went around the houses in Ardoyne knocking on doors in the hope of getting a few coins for their trouble.

Dennis and Oliver also carried a turnip which was hollowed out inside and a scary face was carved on the front and a candle was burning inside that made the pumpkin’s face glow in the dark of night .

They were wearing dark cloaks with red collars white shirts and black trousers that blended in well to the darkness of the night . They had liberally applied hair gel and spiked up their hair in strands that stood up in spikes .

Two wee girls , Mara and Rosie wore pointed witches hats on their heads and false faces with long pointed crooked noses and on their feet they wore boots with long pointed toes . On their bodies black shrouded dresses .

So the two boys and two girls went out knocking doors around Ardoyne for Halloween .

On the front of the Crumlin road they rapped on the brass door knocker of a large old Georgian style house . The place looked deserted . There were no lights on and no sounds coming from inside . They kept on knocking until they eventually gave up . Then all of them walked further up the road to another house where they crept quietly up to the front door and banged loudly on the door . Dennis peeped in through the curtains and said ,

"Don't bother , there's no one home here either . "

Suddenly the front door swung open which frightened the life out of the four kids

"What do you want ?"

Said this wild looking old man with a white stick in his hand and a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes .

"It’s Halloween ." Said Mara .

"So what do you want me to do about that ?"

The old man replied .

"Well have you a spare penny maybe ?

Said Rosie .

"You want a coin then . Well , hold on , let me have a look , see ."

He took off his sun glasses and the children screamed when underneath them these two white bloodshot eyes glared out from the sockets .

The old man plucked out the false eyeballs and threw them one by one on the ground .

At the same time the old man was laughing loudly and said .

"I've been waiting all night for somebody like you to come around knocking my door Ah but sure it’s great to scare the daylights out of you at this time of year kids .

Now hang on there a minute and I'll get you a coin" .

When he returned he reached out his hand with a big silver half a crown in his hand .

When Mara reached to take the coin she got a little electric shock for her trouble . The old man was laughing even louder than ever now and he said ,

"I bought that trick coin yesterday at Joe Kavanagh’s in Smithfield . I thought it might be a surprise for someone on Halloween .. "

All the other kids apart from Mara were laughing .

When the laughing died down the old man gave them a real coin and wished them all a happy Halloween then he said good night and closed over the door .

The next door the four kids knocked on was well lit up with a light outside the door which was handy as the path had lots of broken pavers . There were weeds all growing up through the cracks in the path .

A sign on the front door had a message that read

Shift worker asleep .- Please do not knock the door - if urgent come around the back of the house and knock softly on the window . The children made their way around to the back of the house and tapped on the window pane but no one came , so they knocked again and again .

Once again Dennis tried to peep in through the curtains and as he did , this old woman's face appeared . She quickly pulled back the curtain and made this funny face . She had no teeth and smiled , then stuck out her tongue .

After a moment or two she opened up the back door and said

“Did I scare ye “

to the kids who nodded their heads

"Aye missus you scared us all right “

“ Sure it’s Halloween , isn’t it ?”

She said and the kids said ,

Have you a spare coin for us ?"

There was a long silence .

Then the old woman pointed to her ears indicating she couldn’t hear them ,

so they spoke up a little.

She still motioned couldn’t hear them

so all they all started shouting at the top of their voices .

"It’s Halloween , have you got a spare coin ."

The old woman screamed in return .

"Hey there’s no need to scream , I can hear just as good as anyone , so stop that screaming !"

Then she laughed and said .

"I always pretend to be deaf . It’s my favourite wee trick . What do you think eh . It’s not bad , is it eh ?"

They all just nodded their heads .

After a few moments she gave them all a coin and wished them good luck .

It was getting late now and they knew it was about time to go back home .

As they made their way home they all sang that song about the goose getting fat .

They passed by other kids who were dressed up like Zombies .

They all said hello and happy Halloween .

Dennis spotted this old house with all the lights off and the front door open . There was a window open as well .

It looked spooky and he dared everyone to go and check it out . So they all walked up

the path and when they got to the door they saw the house had been abandoned.

No one lived there so they went inside and in the dark the street light outside filtered through on an old rocking chair in the corner of the room .

Suddenly it started rocking back and forward all by itself and then the front window slammed shut .

Dennis dropped the turnip head and they all screamed in fright all ran like scalded cats out of the house and down the path .

Inside the house there was loud laughing of two cheeky wee skitters were had been hiding in the dark . They had waited there to play a joke on someone who would walk past or come inside the old house on Halloween night . Both of the wee terrors held two nylon rolls of fishing line in their hands that they had attached to the window latch and the rocking chair and when they pulled on that the chair would rock to and do and the window would shut . The innocent four had just had the fright of their lives in an abandoned house on Halloween night .

 

 

The End