A Scary Story
“Another way to see past the back fence? You’re crazy. I don’t even want to get near Old Man Connery’s back fence. That back yard is just plain scary. He’s got that old shed with the door he keeps locked up all the time. Have you ever watched him go into the shed? And that big old pear tree that spreads all over the yard and hangs down in front of the shed. I snuck in there one time and stole a pear that had fallen on the ground but tore out of there when I heard him coming.”
“Sure I have. I’ve even waved at him….well kind of….he does look kind of spooky when he’s going into the shed. He goes in there and is in there for a while. Then the door opens and he checks to see if anybody’s watching and then he sneaks out and looks around again and then he locks that big padlock and before he goes back to the house he looks all around the shed to see if anybody’s there. I bet he’s got treasure and stuff in there.”
“Or maybe he’s got some kind of voodoo stuff in there and he’s making magic. He’s got voodoo dolls in there. One for everyone on the block and he’s sticking pins in the ones he doesn’t like. Haven’t you ever felt like you’ve been stuck just all of a sudden when you’re walking past his house?”
“Once maybe but I was in the front of the house. When I’m in the back by the little place I found to see, I don’t feel anything like that. I’m not even as much scared when I’m hiding like that. Here he comes! Get down!”
“Be quiet! He might hear us and get his voodoo dolls out.”
“That’s weird. He’s leaving the door open. Wide open. He never does that. I bet he’s letting all the magic out. Do you think we’ll get hit by it ‘cause we’re so close? Watch out. There’s something coming out the door. And there’s another one! They’re flying out of there. And that noise. It’s awful.”
“OMG! He’s carrying one. And smiling!”
“We’d better get out of here before he does something really awful.”
Old Man Connery chuckled. “What do you girls think of those two boys hiding behind the camellia bush in the back alley? Do you think we have them scared enough? Come on out boys. I’ve got some lemonade in the kitchen and Mrs. Connery just made a batch of her oatmeal cookies. This old shed is just a chicken coop and if you came around more often you’d see my chickens. You’ll just have to accept that there are no scary monsters in my old shed. Only chickens, chicken feathers and straw. I just come out every day to collect my girl’s eggs. Have to lock up the door to keep any neighbourhood marauders out, whether it’s boys or raccoons.”
Danny and Peter only heard the words oatmeal cookies. The big, ginormus, scary story they had created vanished. They climbed through the hole in the fence - still a little bit wary of the ‘monsters’ - but brave enough to challenge them if only to get to the cookies.
“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”
~ Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
