Creak, Creak, Rattle, Rattle, Howl: A Halloween Tale by, Becky Huffman

Not long ago, in a town just like ours, there was an ordinary block with ordinary houses and trees and cars. Except, that on the end of this ordinary block was a creepy, dusty, creaky, scary old house. It looked like no one had lived there for years. The grass was unmowed, the trees overgrown so tall and wide that the house always seemed dark, even on the brightest days. The windows were dirty, the gutters sagged. It seemed empty… except for the scary noises that the neighbors heard when they passed by: Creak, creak, rattle, rattle, howl…. The neighbor children tried not to pass by, but they had to, every day, on their walk to school. So they rushed past, without looking closely at the house.The neighbor grown ups tried not to pass by the house, but they had to, every day, on their way to and from the subway to work. The grown ups rushed past the old house too.

Creak, creak, rattle, rattle, howl. The neighbors were scared of that old house, and they were especially scared on Halloween, the night when even ordinary things seem spooky.

But last Halloween there was a new kid on the block. And this girl LOVED Halloween. She loved spooky things, she loved dressing up, and she loved candy. She was determined to get the MOST candy every year – so she had the biggest trick or treat bag, of course. So, last Halloween night, dressed up as a ________________, she marched right up the doors of the spooky old house and rang the doorbell. All the neighbor children and neighbor grown ups gathered on the sidewalk, horrified and fascinated at the same time.

At first it seemed that nothing would happen. Then the door opened, just a crack.

A thin, sweet voice called from the crack in the door – “Hello?”

The girl said, hesitantly, “Trick or Treat?”

“OH! oh, my goodness, Trick or Treat!” said the sweet old voice. And an old woman, with a beautiful wrinkled face and curly white hair appeared in the doorway. “Yes, well… oh, dear. I don’t have any candy. It’s been so many years since any children came by. Oh, I did just bake some pumpkin muffins. Would you like one of those?”

The girl was too astonished to say anything but, “Yes.”

 There was a collective gasp from the neighbors who were watching from the sidewalk. (She was going to eat a homemade treat from a Stranger!)

The old woman opened the door wider and disappeared for a moment. When she came back she held out a plate full of fragrant orange muffins. She handed the plate to the girl and sat down in her rocking chair, which was sitting just next to the front window. She started rocking,

Creak, creak, creak went the rocking chair.

The girl took a bite out of a muffin. It was the most delicious, sweet, pumpkiny- pumpkin muffin she’d ever had. She turned around and gave a thumbs up to the crowd now gathered on the sidewalk.

The old woman patted the chair next to her, and the girl sat down and finished her muffin. The old woman poured them both a large glass of iced tea with lots of ice.

They drank their tea, and ice rattled around in the glasses.

Rattle, rattle, rattle.

Then a old gray dog slowly walked over to the woman to be patted. As she pet his scruffy coat, and he raised his head happily.

Howl…

By the next Halloween, the spooky old house didn’t look so spooky anymore. Some of the neighbors had mowed the grass and trimmed the trees back. Some climbed up to clean the gutters and wash the windows. The children took the old gray dog for long slow walks. Others stopped by to have muffins and ice tea and rock. And one day, someone fixed the rocking chair so it didn’t go creak, creak, creak quite so loudly.