Night Knocking

It was Halloween night and a few of the local children roamed around the village knocking door to door in the hope of getting a few coins for their pockets .

Dennis and Oliver had put glow green face paint on and wore these plastic fang like teeth in their mouths .

Wearing dark cloaks with red collars white shirts and black trousers they blended in well to the darkness of the night . They had liberally applied hair gel so that strands of it would stand up in spikes .

Mara and Roz wore pointed witch hats on their heads and on their faces placed these long pointed crooked noses that were made from clay and the same glow green face paint was used on their faces .

They had long black dresses and pointed boots .

So Count Dracula and girl friends were out on the prowl . One large old house they came to seemed deserted . There were no lights on and no sounds . They decided to try knocking it anyway . So they all walked slowly up the path .

When they got to the front door Dennis tried to peep in through the curtains . Roz was about to lift the big brass knocker on the dor when Dennis said ,

"Don't bother , there's no ones home Roz . "

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

"What do you want ?"

Said this wild looking old man who held a white stick and wore a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes .

"Its Halloween ."

Said Mara .

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

Came the reply .

Oliver said ,

"Well if you could spare a coin sir it would be appreciated .

"A coin . Let me see ."

He took off his sun glasses and the children screamed when underneath them were these two white eyes glaring out at them .

The old man plucked them out from and dropped one on the ground .

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

"I've been waiting all night for someone to come knocking . Ah but its great to scare the daylights out of you kids . Now hang on and I'll just get you a coin" .

When he returned he reached out his hand .

There was a big silver coin there and as Mara went to take it she got an little electric shock for her trouble .

The old man was laughing louder than ever now and said ,

"Oh that's my favourite trick . The booby trap coin . "

All the other kids apart from Mara were laughing .

After things died down a little the old man gave them coin each and wished them all a good night and then closed the door .

The next house they came to was well lit up with spot lights . The pathway to the front of the house had lots of broken pavers . Some weeds were growing up through the cracks along the path . On the front door was a sign that read

Shift worker .- Please do not knock the door -come around the back of the house and knock the window .

The children all made their way around the back of the house and tapped on the window pane .

There was no one came , so they knocked again .

Once again Dennis tried to peep in through the curtains and as he did , suddenly this old woman's face pulled back the curtain .

She made this funny face and even though she had no teeth she smiled at the kids through the window .

After a moment or two she opened up the back door to the kids .

"Hello its Halloween .Have you a coin for us Missus ?"

Oliver asked

There was a long silence .

Then the old woman pointed to her ears indicating for them to speak up .

Oliver and the others now shouted at the top of their voices .

"Its Halloween ."

The old woman screamed in return .

"Hey no need to scream , stop shouting !"

The kids all jumped with fright and then she laughed and continued .

"The deaf old woman trick gets them every . Its not bad , is it eh ?"

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

The night was getting on and they knew pretty soon they would have to go back home .

They all agreed , just one more knock and then they would call it quits .

As they went in through the front gate , a rat scurried up the path chased by a black cat .

"I'm not going up there."

Mara said .

Roz seconded that .

Oliver and Dennis made fun of them and urged them to be brave .

"Come on you two cowards . This is the last house ok ?"

"Well Ok , I suppose so ."

They said .

At the front door their was an old bell . Oliver pulled the lever and bells started ringing all over the house . The door swung open and two arms reached out and grabbed Mara and pulled her inside .

The other kids screamed .

Suddenly another ghostly shape appeared in front of them on the path . Two more creepy freaks were heading up the path .

The kids realised that they were somewhere they should not have been .

After a little while the three Zombies introduces themselves as trick or treaters and it was all ok again except for Mara who had been pulled inside the old house .

They knocked and knocked but no one answered .

Dennis spotted an open window around the side of the house .

As Oliver was the thinnest there it was decided he would push his way into the house and open the front door for the rest of the group .

Once inside they made their way along the corridor until they saw Mara tied up on a chair and sitting beside her was this drunk with a bottle in his hand .

He was singing some weird song about Halloween .

He looked exhausted and half insane and all the kids knew they had to rescue Mara .

Suddenly all the children were grabbed from behind and a group of men placed their hands over their mouths so they couldn't make a sound .

The men where all police officers .

With a finger over their lips the police were telling them to keep quiet .

The children nodded their heads in agreement .

In a well executed move the police tackled the madman who had machete under his shirt .

He was overpowered and taken away by a number of police .

One of the police explained what had happened . Earlier that evening there had been an escape from the mental institution .

The man who had been recaptured was criminally insane and very dangerous .

Dennis looked sick .

"Are you all right son ?"

One of the policemen asked .

Dennis replied ,

" I've seen too much this Halloween I think ."

The police man nodded his head and said ,

"Maybe you should all get back home and call it a night ."

They all agreed and were given a lift home where the police explained to the parents what had occurred .

The End

By Paul McCann