FRIGHT NIGHT
Have you ever had a scary memory of something? Of course something now that as you look back at it makes you burst into laughter until your ribs ache, but then if you didn't know any better you would have thought you just dug your own grave? I have and I remember that slightly chilly afternoon like no other. It was mid October and I was at my best friend Hannah Rogers house for the weekend. The leaves were just now turning a bright blazing orange and Halloween was approaching quickly. Sick of wasting another perfectly good chance to get scared out of our wits Hannah and I decided it was time to grow up. No more watching cheesy scary movies and eating popcorn, no more dressing up as cute cuddling things! We were big ten years olds and we craved adventure. What we wanted more than anything this October was to get scared past the point of screaming! There was one huge problem with that...how exactly were we going to get scared when there was nothing, I mean nothing, scary going on? It literally drove me for sure crazy! I didn't want to disappoint Hannah and have to tell her we'd just have to settle for yet another horror movie night.... however I knew how big the chance of my mom taking us to a haunted house was, and I knew we would have a better chance of building a snowman in July then asking her to take us to the Corn Filed. Once I made it to Hannah's house later that evening I was caught majorly off guard. Hannah didn't seem to look the least bit disgruntled but in fact eager about our fright night plan and determinded. She was above and beyond prepared to make this Halloween one to haunt us forever. What I didn't know though was if that sudden surge of fear didn't come to us soon we were going to find it. Apparently Hannah had gave more thought to this whole fright night plan more than I had ever dreamed she would. So once the sun started to lower slowly into the sky Hannah lead me into her older brother's room and we started to search for this as Hannah put it "really freaky book". By this point I will admit I was turning into a major skeptic. The only scary books I knew that would make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up was Stephen King books and they were as thick as a phone book. We had no time to read something that thick in one night. I was actually really afraid we weren't going to be able to find this book because this was one of her brother's favorite books. Meaning he kept it stashed away somewhere special with all his other favorite books. And Justin's room was like a jungle to anyone but Justin...you couldn't find anything even when it's right in front of you. Not that his room was junky but it was in his way of order. If we moved one thing out of place he'd be able to tell and Hannah for some reason didn't want him to find out she had snuck into his room. Hannah was just about to tell us to call it a day and put in the new Saw movie when I picked up a old book with a creased gothic clown cover. I knew just by the way this book looked Hannah was right....this book was that sudden surge of fear we had been waiting for! Hannah and I were of course excited beyond life! We ran giggling out the door and across the barbwire fence to her grandma Judy's house. We sat down on the old wooden swing by the old pecan tree and smiled to ourselves, hesitating to open the book really quick. Eventually though our curiosity got the better of both of us and Hannah opened it up and flipped through the old yellow pages reading in a slow suspenseful voice. The first story we read was about a little girl that stood on a very old hidden grave and she fell through and died. The next was a little song about a Herse and below it in small print it stated do not sing out loud. I still to this day remember the way we tossed each other those devilish looks and threw our heads back and laughed wickedly. Without even questioning our actions with better judgement we both began to sing whole heartdly the song on her Grandma's swing. We sat there and read the entire book until the sun completely submerged behind the towering pines and you could hear the crickets chirping in hight pitched choruses. I'm still not certain what we had waited for but I do recall all the bug bites I had gotten and how desperate we both were to get back inside her house and away from the wrath of the mosqitous surrounding us. We had just walked a few feet away from the still rocking swing when Hannah's fingers curled tightly around my arm and she yanked me back and pointed out at the highway in front of us. I squinted through the darkness, fanning away all the bugs, and then gasped. There blending in perfectly with the night was a midnight black Herse, riding at the same easy pace we were walking. Instantly my heart jumped into my throat and my knees went wobbly.Was this some kind of prank? What was this Herse doing here randomly after we had read some Halloween Hymn? I've always had quite the imagination and it of course got the better of me. I was starting to wonder if perhaps we had just broke the ultimate rule that strictly orders you not to do this or some fudo curse would be released upon you. Hannah's grip tightened around me and she looked up at me with a look of amazement and terror splashed across her features. We didn't slow our pace any back towards her house and the black Herse began to slowly follow us on the highway...I could tell Hannah was just as scared as I was and I noticed her gaze kept shifting towards the highway and the barbwired fence that was just a few inches away. If we could get past that we'd be blind for a couple of seconds due to all the pines and oaks blocking our view but only for a couple of seconds then if the Herse was still there we could maybe have a chance if we ran for it.
"Should we run back to your Grandmas?" I questioned, suddenly wondering if even moving as far as we had was the smartest idea.
"We can't just stand out here in the open. Were gonna have to run. Don't worry though I'll be right behind you!" Hannah said supportivly.
I bobbed my head up and down in agreement however I just couldn't will myself to cross the barbwired fence. I didn't want to be surronded by tall dark trees in the pitch black. I've always sworn Hannah could read my mind because right at moment she suddenly squeezed my hand tightly and edged us on into the woods.
"Together?" She whispered.
I nodded, "Together...on three?" I whispered back.
Hannah nodded and we looked up at each other with worried glances and counted slowly and softly.
"ONE.......TWO......THREE" We both shouted.
Hand in hand the two of us jumped over the barbwired fence and plunged through the sticker patches. I could feel the thorns clawing my bare ankles and I could hear my heart pounding like a warm drum in my ears, however that wasn't my concern. I could hear the Herse slam on the gas and I could see their head lights beaming on the road in front of them. We've got to get back inside! I thought nearly to the point of tears. Finally we rushed up Hannah's porch but my heart didn't slow any until we had locked the door behind us and crashed on her black love seat. Hannah's english bulldog greeted us with curious dark eyes and Hannah and I looked each other over in confusion, our chest heaving. We both decided to pull back the shades and look to see if the Herse was still there however when we peeked through the glass all we could see was the tail lights of a vehicle fading off as it sped past Hannah's house. We both let out a exasporated sigh and giggled faintly at our sheepishness and of course being the age we were didn't want to admit we had just got the ever loving day lights scared out of us. I looked my best friend over and then looked down at her older brother's clown cover book and laughed faintly and shook my head disprovingly at my own behavior.
"That was...." I mummbled, trying to find the right word to describe our little sprint through the yard.
"The best Fright Night ever!" Hannah answered for me.
We both laughed at each other and then left the living room to go clean our cuts the sticker patches had made. Whether the Herse story and actual Herse had actually had something to do with each other neither Hannah or I know to this day. We both do know however that our goal of scaring the crap out of each other had been succesful.
