Stories Of Halloween 2017

I Never Told Anyone About My Friend's Dad [10-26]

This is only brief, but scared me for a long long time. I used to live in a very isolated rural town with a population of approx 120 people, and as expected I knew everyone there. My best friend and I were your typical benign teenage delinquents, and our favourite game at the time was an activity we referred to as "Dead Fred". We would stuff a full length wetsuit with newspaper, dress it in long sleeves and jeans and leave it lying in the middle of our street at night-time. Meanwhile, we'd be hiding in the bushes laughing and musing on the varied reactions of those who came across the scene.

One night, a car seemingly didn't even notice Dead Fred and drove right over the top of him at speed. The driver screeched to a stop about 50 meters away and got out of the car. I recognised him, it was a close friend's dad, a recently retired accountant who I knew well and had been my rugby coach for the last few seasons. He looked unstable, possibly shaken but likely drunk (drink driving was quite common in such a small country town). Without much hesitation, he pulled a rifle from the boot of his car (once again, quite a common thing to have in a small country town), fired several shots at the "corpse" from afar and drove away.

My friend and I kept this to ourselves, and as far as I know we are the only two who know. The driver remained a close family friend, continued to coach me in rugby and has since had grandchildren. I still see him when I go home for holidays. As far as I know, he never fessed up to the incident, and carried on his life for the next 23 years, and in to the present day, as if nothing ever happened.