Fall is a'comin, and the devil might be after me

Today, as the wind shifted, it carried with it the promise of the arrival of Autumn. As I stood there and allowed the wind to caress me with its invisible fingers, my mind drifted to a Fall long ago.

When I was in kindergarten, I went to the Fall festival with my parents and two grandmothers. The entire school was ablaze with decorations crafted by the chubby hands of my schoolmates, and contributions from Mother Nature--in the form of autumn leaves--hung from the ceiling; even my family was swept away by the party-like atmosphere. Hot mulled cidar simmered in giant caldron-like pots, dealt out in paper cups by teachers dressed as witches, and candy apples were passed around like currancy; some costumed patrons sported bits of the candied treat in their hair and on their clothes, but for that one night, no one cared.

Each classroom held a different activity, and I eagerly ran from one room to another, clutching the few precious quarters Daddy gave me in my grimy little hands. My own classroom had a rummage sale, and rows of donated goods-ranging from slightly used clothes to fishing poles--lined the tiny desks and tables.

I fell in love with an Indian maiden, who was clad in leather as soft as chicken down, and beads more colorful than the rainbow. "Can I have this?" I asked Mama, holding the precious doll to my cheek.

"No," she sighed, "you don't play with dolls very often, and after you're bored with it, you'll just pull the head off like you do all the others."

I mustered a single tear, and willed it to stay poised in the corner of my eye, sparkling like a diamond. My granny--my father's mother--gently took the doll from me and turned it over in her work-hardened hands. "Do you really want this?"

I swallowed the marble-sized lump in my throat and nodded, wiping my eyes with my hand. A warm smile lighted her tanned, full moon-shaped face. "Then my love, you shall have it."

"Oh thank you Granny!" I flashed Mama a victorious smile, while she, in return, gave me one of her patented wait-till-I-get-you-home looks. I ignored her, and with the spirit of a wild foal, raced off to the next room with the doll, my new best friend; I didn't know how quickly the friendship would end. Even back then I had the attention span of a gnat, and I laid my precious doll down, not remembering it again until it till it was too late.

Daddy and I went from room-to-room, looking, but it was all in vain; someone else had walked off with my dolly. Heart broken, I wept real tears. "I knew this would happen," Mama hissed. "She's too irresponsible."

I know now why Mama was so upset; the doll cost two dollars, a lot back then to some. My grandfather supplimented his ranch with a crop of farm-raised tomatoes. Each bushel of tomatoes took almost an hour to pick, and sold for around $2. I had thrown both my granny's time and money away when I lost the doll.

Back to the story. . .

Granny knealt down and embraced me in a bear hug. "She couldn't help it, she's still a baby ," Granny told her. She took a white hankie, embroidered with roses, out of her pocket , and with a touch as light as an angel's kiss, wiped away my tears. "Now, what can we do to make you feel better?"

All night, I heard kids talking about the spook house. "I wanna go to the spoof house," I lisped excitedly.

Daddy shook his head vigorously "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?" Granny demanded.

"Debbie has never been, and you know she's a little high-strung--"

"Pish posh," Granny interrupted. "I'll take her." She grabbed me by the hand, and we headed outdoors in fog as thick as pea soup to the rambling Colonial style house, doubling as the spook house. The evening air chilled our bones and painted our noses a bright red as we stood in the back of the line, awaiting entrance into the house.

Finally, as timidly as mice, we all crept across the red brick porch, and went inside, the heavy wooden door creaking in protest as we entered. We jumped as the door slammed shut. A chap dressed all in red, with eyebrows as fuzzy as caterpillers, grinned at us; a pair of goat-like horns adorned his head, and he held tightly to a pitchfork. I remember feeling extremely uneasy as he tried to shake my hand.

'Who's that?" I asked Granny.

"It's the devil," she said, laying a protective hand on my shoulder.

"THE DEVIL? LIKE IN THE BIBLE?" I screeched.

"Yes baby. He'll leave you alone. Let's go on."

In the next room was a man, dressed in a tux, his face as white as plaster, laying in what I thought was a black funny shaped bed with a lid. Standing on my tip-toes, I leaned over into the "bed" and screeched, "Hey mister, better wake up! The devil is gonna get you!"

Never losing character, the man sat up, and smiled, displaying a mouthful of sharp teeth. "Vank you," he hissed.

"My name is Debbie and I think you need to see the dentist."

"Vank you again," he chuckled, shaking my hand. "I am Count Dracula."

"Nice to meet ya," I called as Granny dragged me away. Near the end of the spook house was a long tunnel, contructed of industrial strength, extra large, packing boxes taped together. Dropping to our hands and knees, Granny and I began crawling through; we were halfway done when a male voice called, "Run, the devil is after you!" Everything from that point on is a blur, but I remember my tiny heart racing like a jet plane as I scrambled like a crab over the backs of everyone in front of us. I emerged as the leader at the end of the box, and my feet had wings as a I raced back to the school, leaving my granny behind. I didn't stop running until I found my parents and my other grandmother.

'The devil has Granny!" I said, sobbing hysterically as I threw myself into Daddy's arms. A few minutes later, Granny walked in laughing, and wiping tears from her eyes. "She heard the devil was after us and off she went," Granny gasped. "The guy playing the devil had to help me to my feet."

That occurred more years ago than I care to remember, and haunted houses still give me the shakes; I rarely go in, you see, the devil might be there again, waiting for me.