Inhabitants of a small tranquil town in Alabama -
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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.
