Hollows Eve

One night in October…  I don’t remember it being too cold… I don’t remember it being scary… I don’t remember any danger. But, I do remember the excitement, the energy and the anticipation. Finally, it was here! I remember laying out the master plan with my friends to make sure we had the most efficient route for maximum results.

 “I think I’m going to be a pirate … I can use some charcoal to paint my face to look like a beard. I have some old jeans that I can shred at the bottom and I think I’m going to wear my mom’s white fluffy shirt and a bandanna from my camping stuff. I’ll get one of my Grandmother’s hoop earrings. “

It was that easy. Or maybe it was hard to decide what you wanted to be. But, it was exciting and the prospect of hauling in all of that candy was intoxicating. I remember giggles and a slight bit of nervousness. There were safety pins... there were always safety pins. Mom would fuss over us and tuck and fold… more tucking and fixing.

I would stand in front of the mirror like a king while I was fussed over. And… the photographs… lots of pictures. I remember being fascinated by the flashbulbs. We had a camera with a new flashbulb attachment. It had four bulbs on one cube. When you took one picture, it would spin around and ready the next. I remember wanting to touch it to see if it was still hot. It felt strange under my fingers, like the skin of an egg roll.

I remember meeting up with my neighborhood friends and yes… more pictures. Then we were off with warnings and directions from on-looking mothers. We ran from house to house. We scanned the streets that were full of ghouls and ghosts. The sun was going down and we didn’t want to miss a house. I remember running with my bag of candy… running with purpose and excitement. I was worried about my safety pins and my mask. The slits in my mask were flopping over my eyes... I could hear my hot breath echoing in my mask.

We would check to compare how much candy we were hauling in. Everyone wanted to have more than the next. Someone would tell us of a house that was giving out whole candy apples or popcorn balls and we would scatter in that direction. The streets were always full of children and adults walking their children. It felt like a carnival. We were old enough to go on our own and we loved it. It was after dark and we were like young scavengers. I remember the freedom… I remember the rewards… I remember the happiness and the joy of it all. I remember the love and the thrill… all on one cool night in October.

Shannon R Killman