Thursday 30 October 2014

Late One Night: A Scrapbook Page For Halloween

It was a dark and stormy night.

What's that? You think I need a more original opening? But it was a dark and stormy night, and it was All Hallows Eve and things were turning a little weird on the Fair family Half Term outing.

Sian Fair late One  Night

It had started out well enough. Those were the days when a trip to Ikea meant two hours on the ferry, three hours in the car, and a borrowed trailer to bring home our treasure. But we liked that. It was an adventure. Story tapes, colouring books, plenty of snacks and we all got there happy. And after our traditional trip to Burger King and a night in the local Travelodge we would get up the next morning full of high anticipation. Flat packs get us that way. What can I say? We took this trip several half terms, bringing back catalogues so friends could place orders for next time round. hey, we had a whole trailer to fill.

And fill it we did. Everyone piled back into the car, furry black bat from Children's Ikea in one hand, sticky spider sweets from the Swedish Shop in the other (it was Halloween, don't forget), and we started the drive back to the boat. We had this thing down to a fine art. We thought. Timed exactly. We knew when to leave Ikea, when to stop for fish and chips on the way, when we would arrive at the ferry terminal to meet the evening sailing. We drove and we drove and we drove on a bit more. And we listened to the story of Meg and Mog's Halloween over and over again. We stopped for tea and we drove and the darkness started to creep in and the suddenly it was black. As we passed through the villages on our route we spotted small Trick Or Treaters slipping in and out of the fog, For there was a swirling mist now, and the rain was coming on. It couldn't have been any darker, out there in the countryside, just us on the road..

Except that, all of a sudden, it was. Much, much darker, inside the car at least. A black blankness ahead of us. The dashboard lights had gone out. We crossed our fingers and waited. I gave the dashboard a little tap. Then I thumped it. We had headlights and wipers, but the dashboard was gone. And that makes quite a difference on a dark night. We could see very little inside the car. But wait - we did have a torch



I turned it on and from the passenger seat I was able to hold it above the steering wheel and once again we could see what speed we were going at. We drove on. And you know, for a little bit it worked. We made progress through that blanket of black. We passed through another little village  "Oh, look, Robbie Burns cottage," I said. "I've never noticed that before". I peered through the fog at the little white house with the thatched roof.

Wait. I really hadn't noticed that before. Never passed it. ever. So now we were on the wrong road, on Halloween night, with no dashboard lights and a torch to show us the way. I'm sure I heard a cackle drifting out from among the trees. An owl hooted.

"Dad, Dad, are we there yet? Are we at the boat?"

Inside the car the torch flickered and the colour drained from Dad's face.

"I don't understand it," he said. "It was six o'clock the last time I checked and it's coming up on seven now. Where's the last hour go? We'll never make the boat in time. We've lost an hour. We're in a twilight zone..."

And then the torch went out.




What else can I tell you? We made it through. We found the right road. Maybe I closed my eyes for a bit. But within minutes, it seemed, the lights of the harbour appeared mirage-like and magical and we drove onto the ferry. By midnight we were carrying two sleeping children up to bed and unloading our trailer. It had been an unusual Halloween Night. But isn't that the way Halloween is supposed to be?

21 comments:

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

Eek! That does sound like a very spooky experience. We may have driven on some of those roads back in the Summer. We were quite near to the ferry that went across to NI and I remember there being a designated "Dark Sky" area we passed through.

Unknown said...

Ooo spooky, great to have your own spooky halloween tale :-)

scrappyjacky said...

A halloween to remember!!

Jo said...

Such a fantastic story but it must have been quite scary for you!

Cheri said...

You have quite the talent for weaving a spooky tale. The only thing missing was the apparitions appearing in the roadway!

debs14 said...

That sounds particularly spooky! Isn't it amazing how dark night time is when there is no light pollution? Pleased to see there was a happy ending in your story.

Jennifer Shaw said...

Loved this spooky Halloween story! Glad you made it home from what would be a happy Ikea trip. Ikea is always a happy time! Love your page. The minimal style with mostly black and white really supports the theme and I love that photo.

Melissa said...

That was certainly an adventure . . . and the beginning the lines are definitely the way it had to start!

Lou said...

Spooky...i'd probably kept my eyes shut the whole time. Quite the adventure and a gorgeous page to tell the story. I do love the clusters of words on the left x

Nathalie said...

A perfect Halloween story! Love how you've used all those rub-ons ;)

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

A great Halloween story to share, Sian. I loved reading it! :o)

KraftyKaren said...

Fab layout and a lovely spooky story - glad you made it to your ferry on time

Becky said...

I love your story telling. Great layout and thanks for sharing the memory :)

Sandie said...

You had me gripped there Sian!! Great tale, great experience and one you will remember I am sure. And those adventures of going to Ikea sound such fun!! I love the clean looking page by the way, as lovely as ever.

Barbara Eads said...

What a perfect Halloween story!! Just the right amount of suspense and darkness! I'm glad it turned out all right in the end!

Sandra said...

You really have an amazing gift. What a great story for this Halloween

Michelle t said...

Boy, you tell one heck of an awesome story! Must have been terrible for you. The layout, too, is awesome. The one photo is perfect. And a great choice for the musical note patterned paper as your base, just peeking out perfectly for the setting. Just love it. You're very talented. Thanks for sharing. Inspiring as well. Michelle t

Anonymous said...

An excellent Halloween story for sure! I enjoyed how you superimposed the extraordinary events of your return trip on what was otherwise a tradition-filled trip. I'm guessing this story is retold around Halloween every year. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Lizzie said...

Oh what a fabulous story! You do know how to tell 'em!
Glad it all came out right in the end. Was it a failed fuse, that broke the dashboard lights?

Lesley G said...

Great story and oh my, that layout - I love it, can't stop looking at it!

Anonymous said...

Ooooh, what a great story - glad I read it in daylight. Love the layout you made for it.

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