One Halloween Night

One Halloween Night

 
One Halloween night I made the mistake
Of staying out late
Oh what a mistake I made

The wind
How it howled
My stomach, how it growled

My candy I had dropped
Running for my life
From the inevitable bumps in the night

The windows
They were black
Blacker than the moonless sky

The naked trees
How they shook in the breeze
And made an eerie sound

The streets were bare
Not a soul was in sight
At least, none living

The graveyard I passed invited me in
But I knew better and went around
Holding my breath all the way

I was all alone
What a foolish mistake
I still had a long way to go

I whistled a cheery tune
But when It echoed, I stopped
How eerie an echo sounds when you're alone

Tap, tap
What was that?
There was nothing there

It came from behind
I could swear
Somebody was there

The hairs on the back of my neck stood alert
Warning me before I could even avert
Then something jumped!

I swear to God,
Something moved in that
Pile of leaves

But it was just a black cat with eerie green eyes
It popped straight up
And to my surprise

The were bright
The eyes nearly glowing
And instead of scampering away

It stared at me
With fascinated eyes
Then cocked his head

So innocent-like
And then he meowed
A very eerie, echoing meow

And bade me to follow him
By pointing his paw
I stood still, terrified

But excited and compelled
All at the same time
So I followed

He took me to a house
Not just any house---
The Haunted House

He jumped through the open door
The door that hung on a single hinge
Rotting

When I didn't follow he came back out
And pleaded a meow
And came to my legs and rubbed on them

All the time cowering
And meowing
And purring

Coaxing me to come into the dark
Where no human had been for decades
I was NOT going in there

Not if my life depended on it
So I picked up the cat
And held him eye level

And I scolded
"What's in there?
What makes you think I'm going in there?  You're just a cat!"

And then something really scary happened
The cat grinned at me
He grinned real wide to show his perfectly pointed fangs

And then he shook his head
As if he were disappointed
And then his eyes changed

They changed from spooky and cat-like
To cute and kitten-like
And he started to cry

Just like a person would
His body went limp
And his nose as a-run

"Alright, alright!" I said
"I'll go in, but only if I hold onto you."
His bawling then was done

And he looked at me and grinned again
And nodded
Like that was exactly what he wanted

I was expecting goblins and goulies behind every door
Creaky old floorboards
And banging galore

But it was silent and lonely
And dark, of course
And the hairs on the back of my neck laid down for a rest

Somehow I knew where to go
Like I had been there before
Like this had been all planned

Over a year before
I was lead to the only shut door
At the end of the main hall

And under it was aglow
Like a candle was flickering
But a most peculiar colour

I stopped dead in my tracks
Astounded by the sight
And I clutched that cat

Tight in my arms
But then he began to squirm and struggle
And claw at me

I let my tired arms fall
And he jumped to the floor
Gracefully

And went to the door
Meowing and pawing it
With great anticipation

To get inside
So I opened the door
Slowly

And it creaked
And it swung
Wide open

The cat darted inside
And I was not soon to follow
For I felt a strange tinge of fright

In the room I could hear a fire burning
And something sweet cooking
Like candy

So I entered
I entered slowly and carefully
Counting my every step

Then I saw a man with an old tired face
Sitting by the fire
In a grand chair

Of crimson colour
The cat curling up on his lap
There was no saddness on his face

Not a trace
He looked at me
He seemed familar

Oh so familar
To that of myself
With his crooked little smile

And a tendency of staring a while
He beckoned me closer
To his fire of fine colours

And I felt the heat of it on my cheeks
As I came close to him
And the cat

He seemed like a nice man
So I stayed a while
Just to keep him company

That night we had a jolly time
Playing checkers and chess and cards
But it all ended quite abruptly

With him saying with a first-seen frown
"It is time to wake up now Darrek"
And then I did, alone

But I was not at home
Not in any place I knew
But I did recognise

The fire in front of me
The old walls around me
And the black cat

Sleeping soundly
On my old tired lap
One Halloween night