Saturday, October 26, 2013

True fiction...


Inhabitants of a small tranquil town in Alabama - 
-
What terrors, specters in shadows await them on Halloween?
Haunted houses, goblins and ghastly ghouls, 
fearless shapeless witches on brooms, 
cobwebs hung from tree limbs
What actually brews in the kettle in the crackling fire seen 
through the window of the old woman's house?  Apples roasting?
What antics would they encounter as they walked the path, 
twigs breaking, through the woods to the pageant at the 
schoolhouse that autumn night ?

What stories wove around the sounds that prevailed in the air?
Murmurs, tapping, tales of casting spells, and apparitions of
a trooper hurrying in the gloom of night...the galloping 
headless horseman;  leaving the graveyard on the back roads 
near the church, looking for his missing head, lost in 
a battle in the Revolutionary War...returning before dawn.  
These legends fueled the minds of Scout and Jem as 
they stayed within the boundaries of the usual safe route
from home to school.  Birds perched in rows watching
them go by; owls buried their heads.

Scout, dressed as a ham with only a peephole to see through,
was escorted by her brother, Jem, too old to wear one.
On their walk homeward, near the big old elm tree, Scout is captured.  
She struggles to get away and ends up turned upside down in her 
costume.  She sees the real hero who saved her and Jem from 
evil doing that night.  Boo Radley, a recluse, came from nowhere
it seemed and carried injured Jem back to their house.  
Of course Atticus, their lawyer father, was grateful and everyone
learned lessons that night.  As they sat on the porch swing later,  
Atticus lit his pipe and told this children why it is wrong "To
 Kill a Mockingbird", teaching them tolerance and respect.

11 comments:

  1. Very cool! Thanks for sharing this tonight.

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  2. ha. nice...i like the blend of stories in this....from sleepy hollow to To kill a mockingbird...i really like the subtle tension in this...and who doesnt like boo radley...smiles...the unlikely hero...

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  3. I like how you wove that To Kill A Mockingbird scene in your piece.

    ~Imelda

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  4. It's most assuring at the end. To instill tolerance and respect is basic but often not given proper attention. Nicely Kathy!

    Hank

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  5. nice on the sensitive teaching there in the close...and cool weave in of the mockingbird as well... very nice..

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  6. Now I want to revisit To Kill A Mockingbird - yet again! Great weaving of stories there - thank you.

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  7. I loved reading to Kill a Mockingbird, and I knew where you were heading already from the fist line I thought of that book... I also loved the film that I saw recently.

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  8. I like the blend of stories. I loved to Kill a Mockingbird and now want to revisit it because I forgot much of the beginning. You wove this nicely. I was afraid for the kids.

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  9. Good lessons - tolerance & respect ~ Enjoyed the story Katy ~

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  10. 'Course you had to take liberties with place and plot line, but it is good to see this novel's dreadful night revisited in this lovely poem. I like the question "What did they really see?"

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