The Real Magic

It was a dark, windy, rainy night in October – one of those night when you’re glad to be indoors looking out of the window to watch leaves fly by and see nearly naked tree limbs bending in wind. Joey and his father stood by the door in his aunt Alice’s house zipping up their coats and bracing for the walk home, several blocks away.

“Careful on the walk home. It’s a frightful night out there,” Aunt Alice said as they walked out the door into the wind and pouring rain. “Keep your eyes opened especially wide when you pass old man Walter’s place.”

Joey cringed. Old Man Walter’s house was rumored to be haunted, though none of the neighborhood kids had ever been in the old Victorian mansion. Old man Walter kept the house, lawn and garden impeccably clean and trimmed. The long lawn in front of the house had signs warning people to keep off the grass, not pick the flowers and warning anyone passing by to “Beware of the Dog”, whose deep barks could be heard emanating from the house. Then there was Mr. Walter’s appearance – a bent old man with a raspy voice which could be heard yelling at kids who dared to run across his property.

Joey heard the door to his aunts’ house close as he and his fathered ventured out into the cold, wet, windy night. They walked with their heads down to shield their faces from rain and had walked for about five minutes when Joey looked up and a chill ran down his spine. The old Victorian house stood dark against the moonless night, a scary sight with only a dim light in the large front window. But the sight that held Joey and his father paralyzed with fear were the dead bodies crawling out from beneath the earth; moaning disfigured corpses with worms coming out of their empty eye sockets. The zombies emerging from their graves were watching Joey and his father waiting to pounce and devour their brains.

Suddenly, Joey was startled by the creaky sound of a door opening and he saw Mr. Walter emerge from the house. On his face the old man had a bone chilling, self -satisfied grin. He lifted his arm and pointed his boney finger at Joey and his father.

“Do you like my Halloween Decorations?” he asked in a cheerful friendly voice. “I worked all day to set this up.” He walked toward Joey and his father. “Come take a look – These Zombies are just made of plastic and their tombstones are made of Styrofoam - Painted them myself. I shine a black light on them for effect and play this scary CD on a boom box to set a creepy mood.”

Mr. Walters gave Joey and his father a tour of the graveyard, pointing out the large plastic spiders he had place up in the trees. “There’s no need to be afraid of this stuff it’s all fake. This is just my way of making the neighborhood more interesting - giving it a little Halloween spirit.”

Joey and his father thanked Mr. Walter and continued their walk home. After Joey was safely tucked into bed, he thought how nice it was that Mr. Walter decorated for the neighborhood and he remembered Mr. Walter’s final words. “The decorations are made of plastic, Styrofoam and cotton. But the real magic, Joey - the very real magic - is the way they make you feel.”