All Hallow's Eve!

As we enter the "darker" half of the year, it seems only appropriate to tell a scary story! 

#1 A Tale of Two Babysitters

With the kids in bed upstairs and midnight fast approaching, Cristine and Tara tiptoed down the creaking wooden staircase. The McKeon house groaned and moaned like an old witch but the two girls felt braver in each other's company. The couch felt cozy and safe and the TV's soft noises helped to mask the creaks of the floorboards and the whistle of the wind on the paned windows. Each pang, groan, and rustle in the dark house sent their hearts pattering and their eyes wandering around the room, but they didn't admit it to the other. But soon the noises became bearable and common and their heads began to nod and droop.

Then, suddenly, scratch, scratch scratch! Their eyes expanded like growing balloons and the air whished out of their chests. Clasping hands and holding their breath they sat still as gargoyles, then shuddered at the thought of one. Silence. The girls listened hard, straining to find a direction to the noise in the thick black of the room. Scratch, scratch, scratch! Behind them! Shadows danced across the walls, the TV's glow making their outlines look menacing and large.

"I think it's coming from in there," Cristine whispered, pointing towards the french doors. The girls' peaked their eyes over the back of the couch hesitantly. Scratch, scratch, scratch! They ducked back down and both looked to the clock on the wall. The McKeons wouldn't be home for another hour at least.

"Maybe we should just go see," Tara timidly suggested. Cristine shook her head back and forth slowly. Entering that dark room was the last thing she wanted to do. She would happily wait it out until Brother McKeon could go in there with a bat. "Come on," Tara prodded trying to sound brave. "We'll do it together."

Clasping hands again, they crawled awkwardly in front of the couch and then to the wall, and then to the french doors. Tara slowly straightened up and even more slowly turned the handle. With the door opened, they peered inside with their hearts thumping like jump rope on pavement. SCRATCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCH! Cristine yelped and ran to the couch. When she got there, she was alone.

"Tara!" she whispered as loud as she dared. "Tara!"

"Cristine, we're such idiots," Tara's voice came from the dark room.

"What? Why?" she asked still peering over the back of the couch.

"Just come in here," said Tara.

Cristine left her safe spot warily and approached the room riddled with fear and curiosity. Tara flipped on a small lamp. SCRATCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCH! There on a little side table, inside a plastic cage, two hamsters scratched away at their wheel and pencil shaving carpet. Cristine almost cried with relief.

From that day on, Tara and Cristine made sure the McKeon's hamsters were left upstairs and out of earshot while they babysat in that old, creaking house.

***

Happy Halloween!