Tales From A Walk: October 19th

 I went for a walk tonight.

I don't often take walks in the dark, as the streets in my neighborhood are not really built for pedestrians casually strolling after the sun goes down. Sidewalks are minimal, brush is overgrown, there are bumps in the road...

But, the October air was simply too delicious this evening to not take advantage of it.

And so I set off, on a very small, deliberate journey.

I find that Halloween-time hasn't changed a bit since my childhood. There are always the houses that are dark and seem almost sealed shut. My street is a strange array of the bright and the dark. A few houses from home, my path is lit nicely. Then I descend into darkness. 

But then, as I pass the little bridge, actually part of a driveway, that reminds me so very much of the bridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, I am suddenly greeted by a burst of light.

A voice, a memory, in the back of my head, says, triumphantly:

Once you cross that bridge, my friend, the ghost is through; his power ends.

And suddenly, I am entering another world.

I can almost hear a pair of alien jack o'lanterns repeating, a better place!

I am greeted by many sights. Welcomed by a group of ghosts waving at me from next to a large, color-changing spiderweb.

There's a house with a reptilian creature emerging from a window, and a huge set of eyeballs staring at me from a bush. 

And then, there it is, one small piece of property turned into the most beautiful, spectacular wonderland of purple and orange.

It is here that I remember how the feeling of being in another world, an alternate reality, is one of the biggest things that ever drew me to Halloween in the first place. This feels so ethereal, so dreamlike.

As I turn to head back home, I am reminded of the childhood thrill of being out after dark. The feeling of confronting all of the things we are taught to be afraid of. Of merging with them, for one magical time of year. 

I have always been braver at Halloween.

As I pass a group of ghosts before heading back into that band of darkness that begin my transport back to reality, I thank them for welcoming me, both the person I am now, and the curious child that I used to be, the one who figured out that Halloween was my home.

Trick or treat, forever!