My son Alex and I were driving home from the park when I noticed a house decorated for Halloween. I pointed to the two giant 8 foot skeletons on their front lawn, each holding the leash of a skeleton dog.
“You know I normally don’t like the creepy Halloween decorations but for some reason these skeletons don’t bother me.” I admitted.
“Maybe because they really don’t look scary. They look more like a cartoon.” He then pointed to several smaller skeletons sitting around a campfire, each one holding a stick with a marshmallow attached to the end. “It looks like that group is getting ready to make s’mores.” He said with a laugh.
“Oh, my gosh! I love it!” I said as I took a quick look as we drove past. “Wait until I show you the house a few blocks from ours. They have dozens of skeletons stories in their front yard!”
We were pulling into our neighborhood and the house I wanted to show him was on a cul-de-sac a few streets down.
As we turned on the street I realized they’d added even more decorations. “They didn’t have that one the last time I drove by!” I cried. There was a giant skeleton, only shown from the waist up, sitting on the roof of their two car garage. The skeleton looked as if it had broken through the roof and was trying to climb out.
“Wow! That one is huge!” Alex said.
“It covers the entire roof!” I have to say I was impressed.
We drove by slowly looking at all the other skeletons stories.
“I’m liking the skeletons on the surf boards.” Alex pointed out.
“What do you think about the skeleton in the hot tub?” I asked.
Alex nodded. “Him holding onto a pool noodle gives it a nice touch.”
“Hey, what about the ones having a picnic?” I pointed to the two sitting on a blanket with a picnic basket between them.
“Nice.” Alex was still nodding his head.
I began to slowly pull away, doing a quick turnaround in the cul-de-sac. As we were passing the house once again, I couldn’t help but stop. “Okay, I’ve been thinking about this since we got here.”
Alex looked over at me. “What?”
I pointed back to the skeleton on the roof. “Exactly where are they storing that when it’s not Halloween?” I began shaking my head. “There isn’t a closet big enough to store that in!” I pointed to all the other skeletons. “Let alone all the rest of them!”
Alex started to laugh. “That’s what you’re thinking about?”
I looked over at him. “Aren’t you?”
“Nope. It really never crossed my mind.”
“Well, I’m serious!” I looked at the skeleton on the roof. “The head alone isn’t going to fit in any closet we have.”
Alex shook his head. “Maybe they have a big attic. Maybe they use the garage for storage. Who knows what they do.”
“Exactly!” I looked over at him. “Aren’t you curious where they’re going to store them?”
“Not really. I’m just enjoying their display.” Alex patted me on the shoulder. “Maybe you should try that, too? Instead of always worrying about something.”
“Oh, if only I could.” I sighed as we drove away.
Slice of Life 