Boo! Happy Halloween!

Yesterday I wrote about scary things that  happened in my childhood--didn't write them all--didn't touch on the time I thought the Black Dahlia's severed leg was on my bed, but I think I wrote enough.

Today, I'll tell about some scary times that happened after I was grown and a mom. One New Year's Eve, Seabee husband was in Vietnam so I offered to babysit all the neighblorhood kids so the parents could have a great celebration. It was like a giant slumber party. After a treat of root beer floats and playing games, the kids settled down somewhat to wait for the New Year to arrive. Most, including my own children, were in sleeping bags on the living room floor--except for my youngest who was in my bed. That room had a sliding glass door to the outside.

Finally, things had quieted when my ltttle boy came into the room and announced, "Mommy, there's a big man in the bedroom."

Here I was, the one who had to protect all these children. I grabbed a baseball bat (my favorite defense) and ran to the bedroom, yelling, "Here I come!"

I go there just in time to see a leg disappearing through the open glass door. "I shut and locked it."

I don't remember what happened next. I may have called the police, I'm not sure.

Another time, one of my daughters came into our bedroom to inform us someone was on the roof. My husband (for once he was home), jumped out of bed in the all together (that's how he slept) and dashed out the back, picking up an axe on his way. He used a ladder propped against the house and climbed on the roof. We could hear both my husband and the intruder galloping over the roof. Daughter and I got to laughing over what a sight it must've been.

Husband returned soon--fortunately no one had seen him or he might've been arrested for indecent exposure. The intruder had jumped from our roof to the neighbors' and then dropped to the ground  and dashed down the street. No doubt traumatized by the naked man chasing him with an axe.

At that time we lived in a neighborhood in Oxnard, California. Now, we're in the foothills where the neighors are all farther away. We've had some exciting things happen, but probably the most exciting is that our house is haunted. More tomorrow.

Marilyn