Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2012 01:43:28 -0500 (EST)
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: Castaway Hotel: Next Generation, chapter 56

The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation - by BW
Copyright 2011 by billwstories

Chapter 56 -- Things That Go Bump in the Night.

Now that we're into October, Jesse and Elliot have become totally immersed in
preparing for this year's haunted house.  Jesse's friends also offered to help
again and Elliot asked Hayden to give them a hand too.  A short time later, we
discovered that Elliot had asked someone else if he wanted to help as well.

Following one of his meets, Elliot had just finished taking his shower and was
getting dressed when Ian came over to speak with him.

"You're looking better on that handstand dive every day," Ian began.  "That's got
to be really hard to do and it looks as if it must be a little scary to pull off as well."

"Yeah, I don't get to do too many handstands, except at practice and meets and
I'm always a little concerned about losing my balance before I'm ready," Elliot
answered, "but you've just given me an idea.  Maybe I can find a way to work it
into something scary for the haunted house this year."

"Haunted house?" Ian asked.

"Yeah, my family has one nearly every year," Elliot explained.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Ian responded.  "I went to it a few times when I
was younger."

"Did you like it?" Elliot wondered.

"Yeah, it was cool," Ian agreed.  "It didn't scare me, but it scared the crap out of a
few of my friends."

"Neat," Elliot told him.  "I didn't get to do much last year, because my uncle
wanted me to go through it first, when they did their practice run.  Then he let me
help out on Halloween night and it was pretty cool."

"I'll bet it was," Ian replied.  "It sounds like it would be a blast to be able to scare
the other kids."

"Hey, would you like to help us then?" Elliot offered.  "We always need extra
people to pull it off."

"Sure," Ian agreed.  "I think it would be fun."

Elliot's wish was finally coming true, when Ian began showing up at the house to
help them out with this year's haunted house.  Now, Elliot had a better
opportunity to find out if Ian was only being friendly or if he might have an actual
interest in him.  Elliot figured Ian might be more willing to open up here, rather
than at school where there are so many others around.

When he showed up the first time, Ian was glad to see Hayden at the house as
well, since he already knew him.  He'd felt a little weird about being here at first,
since he didn't know Jesse or his friends, but having both Elliot and Hayden there
made him feel less out of place.  Gradually, he began to relax and permitted
himself to focus on what they were trying to do.

Once everyone who was going to take part in the planning had arrived, the group
started to narrow down who was going to do what this year.  Not only were they
trying to determine who was going to work at each specific station, but they were
also taking time to discuss each idea that had been used in the past, so they
could see if they needed to modify or even eliminate any of those activities this
time around.

In addition to the various things they were working on, the boys asked me to
hook up the suspension walkway again, since they felt it had worked so well last
year.  They also came up with something new they wanted to add to the outside
experience and asked if I'd help them set that up as well.  I won't tell you what we
are planning just yet, but the idea for it originated from something the boys saw
during our visit to Ghostly Mansion.  We only have to modify the idea slightly, in
order to make it work to our advantage.

The boys are also trying to make sure Noah doesn't get involved in or see what
is going on with the haunted house, because they want him to be surprised when
they take him through it.  Since he doesn't have anyone else to do things with,
he's started spending a great deal of his free time with Joshie instead.
Whenever Noah isn't involved with his soccer team, Joshie and he play together
outdoors while it is still light out.  They also compete against each other on the
Wii in the family room, watch cartoons and other shows on the television or do a
variety of other things, once it starts to get dark.  This is actually working out
quite well and it is allowing those two boys a chance to grow even closer to each
other during this time.

I think all of us are enjoying the time we get to spend with Wyatt too.  I take care
of him during the day, while his fathers are at work, and then they take over the
responsibility once they arrive home.  The boys are also spending time with
Wyatt and will either take time to play or talk to him when they're home.
Whenever Noah isn't around, Joshie will play peek-a-boo with Wyatt or tell him
about his day.  It is really cute to watch him when he does this and Joshie is
continually proving that he is a really good big brother.

Whenever Wyatt and I are alone, I spend a lot of time sitting in the rocking chair
holding him.  I do this whenever I am giving him a bottle, reading him a story or
merely telling him about our family.  Sure, I'm aware of the fact that he probably
doesn't understand what I'm saying, but I believe it is helping to develop his
language skills.  Besides, I love watching him as he stares up at me or even
occasionally flashes me one of his sweet smiles, but I also hope that by doing
this it is helping him to bond with me.  In fact, I hope he is bonding with the others
and developing his social skills as they interact with him.

Even though we haven't heard from Penny since we brought Wyatt home, she
did tell us that she might wait until he was older before she contacted us.  She'd
stated that she wanted him to be able to understand what she had to tell him first,
before she would get in touch with us again.  I hope she comes to see him before
then though, because I think Wyatt needs to bond with her, as well as with his
daddies and the rest of the family.

In the interim, we also have to be concerned about how the other boys are doing
too, since they all came to us with their own set of problems.  Fortunately, they've
all been handling their various situations quite well, so we are able to spend more
time focusing on the positives, rather than dealing with other issues.

Noah and Elliot are both doing quite well on their sports teams, even if their
squads aren't winning every contest.  Even though they are both participating in
a team sport, Elliot's competition is more individually oriented.  He has been
gaining confidence in the dives he's doing and his scores have been showing
improvement, even if they aren't falling in what might be considered the
outstanding range right now.  Seeing he is only a sophomore this year and has
two more years to compete, his coach feels he is showing significant progress
and this will pay dividends during his final two years on the squad.

Noah is also doing very well, and even though soccer is most definitely team
oriented, his individual performance and growth has been remarkable.  We've
only recently discovered that he is the youngest member on his seventh-eighth
grade team, but that hasn't stopped him from earning a starting spot.  So far, he
has scored three goals, made several assists and has also pulled off some very
impressive defensive stops.  His coach seems very pleased that he'll still be
eligible to play on the team again next year and I think we all consider his
accomplishments as being outstanding.  I only hope that both boys stay active in
these sports throughout their school careers.

During the weeks leading up to Halloween, the various fathers and I tried to
discover how the boys wanted to dress up for the holiday this year.  We felt we
needed to take care of this early and not leave it until the last minute, so we
could ensure they would have the costumes they desired.

Since Joshie loves to watch football games with me, he's decided he wants to go
out as a football player.   This created a minor problem for his fathers, because
they've never been involved in sports themselves, so neither of them is quite
sure what he would need to do this.  When they asked me if I'd be willing to do
the shopping for a uniform that would fit Joshie, I quickly agreed.  I then
contacted a friend of mine who coaches a youth football team.  After telling him
what I needed, he immediately offered to let me borrow a helmet, shoulder pads
and football pants for Joshie to wear.  Then, I went out and bought Joshie a
jersey to go with it and a pair of athletic shoes that looked like football spikes to
complete his outfit.

While I was taking care of this, Dion and Trey used their free time to go shopping
for something for Wyatt to wear.  They ended up buying him an infant Teddy
Bear costume, so they could bring him along while they were taking Joshie door-
to-door to the houses of our extended family and some of their friends.  They
wanted Wyatt to go with them, even though he won't be getting any candy, so
their friends and our extended family could see him too.  His costume, however,
is merely meant to help keep him warm while they are outdoors and to make him
blend in with the holiday theme.

Danny and Brandon also questioned Noah about whether he was planning to go
out trick or treating this year.  When he stated he'd like to, they told him they'd
take him along with Dion and Trey, while that pair is taking Joshie and Wyatt out.
At this point, Noah decided to ask Elliot if he is going to go with them, but Elliot
explained he'd be busy with the haunted house.  Elliot stated it this way, because
he didn't want to tell Noah he was too old to go begging for candy.  He was afraid
that if he said it like that, then Noah wouldn't want to go either and Elliot didn't
want his brother to stay behind just because he wasn't going trick or treating.

After taking Noah to several stores and looking at a multitude of costume
choices, Noah still hadn't decided on what he wanted to be.  This inability to
select a costume for Halloween continued for another week, so we were
becoming concerned that he wasn't going to settle on something in time.  We
were almost ready to confront him about this, when he suddenly informed us of
his decision.

"I've decided that I want to go as Uncle Frankie this year," he announced, one
evening at dinner.  "He's better than Batman, Superman or Harry Potter, so I
want to dress up like him."

To say the least, this surprised all of us, but we were very supportive of his
decision.  I know my first reaction was a desire to call Frankie and inform him
about what Noah wanted to do, but first I had to help Danny and Brandon work
out some other issues.  Since they had never done anything like this before,
meaning a homemade costume, they weren't sure how to proceed.

When I saw their confusion over this detail, I quickly suggested they should just
leave the matter to me and I'd work something out for Noah.  I explained that I
know a seamstress who will probably be able to help us with this problem, if she
isn't too busy.  Once I spoke with her on the phone, she agreed she'd be happy
to assist us and then explained what she would need.   The following day, I went
out and bought the material she'd indicated and took Noah over to her place after
his practice, so she could measure him.  She needed to do that first, so she
could transform the cloth into an authentic looking uniform.

Once this had been taken care of, I called to tell Frankie about what Noah was
planning to do.  As soon as he heard this, Frankie immediately stated that he
wanted to send a few items for Noah to use with his outfit.  He told me he was
going to buy some things that Noah could use on or with his uniform, because he
was totally thrilled that Noah had chosen to do this.  Frankie also planned to
include a card in the package, so he could add a special handwritten note that
Noah could open and read when these items were delivered.

The package arrived a few days later, but I held onto it until after I'd picked up
Noah's uniform from the seamstress.  When I got home, I presented Noah with
the uniform, which he immediately went to try on.  When he came back to show
us how it fit, I was impressed with how good he looked in it.  The uniform
consisted of a light-gray, long-sleeved shirt, with dark epaulets on each shoulder,
and a darker colored pair of pants, complete with piping.  It was perfect and Noah
looked just like a real little trooper.

As I stood admiring how great he appeared, I suddenly thought about the
package from Frankie and went to get it.  When I came back, I handed it to Noah.

"What's this?" he asked, while looking at me quizzically.

"Well, I called your Uncle Frankie and told him that you wanted to go trick or
treating dressed like him," I began.  "As soon as he heard about it, he told me
that he wanted to send you a few accessories to help make your uniform appear
real.  Those items are in the box, so open it up and see what he sent you."

Noah hurriedly tore the box open and looked inside.  When he saw what was
contained within, his mouth dropped open and his eyes bulged out from their
sockets.

"It's a real trooper hat!" he exclaimed, as he pulled it out of the package.  "And
there's other stuff in here with it.  There's two trooper patches, a badge, a pair of
handcuffs, a holster and gun, a tie and a pin with the name 'Currie' printed on it."

"I know," I confirmed.  "The trooper hat is the smallest one Frankie could buy and
the patches are the same ones he wears on his shoulders.  I'll have my friend
sew one on each arm for you, like the troopers wear them.  I'm afraid the badge,
handcuffs, holster and pistol aren't real, but they'll serve the purpose you need
them for.  The nametag is real though.  Frankie sent you one of his and said he'd
just order a couple of new ones.  The tie is one of his too."

"Wow, that's so neat!" Noah agreed, "and there's a card in here with everything
else."

"Yes, Frankie sent that to you as well," I confessed.

Noah had heard what I'd said, but he didn't immediately react.  Instead, he
merely stood there looking at the envelope, so I thought I'd better prod him.

"I think he expects you to open it," I teased.

Noah suddenly snapped out of his trance and turned toward where his fathers
and I were standing.  He glanced up at us briefly, grinned and then began to rip
open the envelope.  He didn't say a word for a few seconds and merely stood
gawking at the card.

"Well, what does it say?" Brandon wanted to know.

After another moment or two, Noah found his voice and responded.

"It's a Halloween card, but Uncle Frankie wrote something inside," he informed
us.

"What did he write?" Danny asked.

"Uh, Uncle Frankie wrote, 'I'm very proud to have a nephew like you and I'm
honored that you want to dress up as a Pennsylvania State Trooper.  Although
you told everyone you were doing this because you wanted to be me, I think
every member of the State Police department will be honored to see you dressed
up as one of us.  I'm sending you these things to make you look official and I
hope you have a great time trick or treating.  Please make sure to have your
fathers or Papa take some pictures of you when you're in your uniform, so you
can send me copies.  I want to keep some for myself, but I want to hang one or
more up on the bulletin board at the barracks, so everyone else can see you too.
Love, Uncle Frankie.'" Noah read.

When he looked up at us again, his eyes appeared to be quite moist this time.

"Wow, that was really nice of your Uncle Frankie," Brandon acknowledged.

"Yeah, it was," Noah agreed.  "I'm glad I decided to dress up as him."

We still had a few days to go, but I'm sure Noah will not only look impressive, but
he will possibly also become the unofficial Troop M mascot.  I have a feeling that
once Frankie's co-workers see the pictures of him dressed up in his uniform, they
will be as impressed as the rest of us are with his choice of costume.

As we reached the final days of the month, the boys were hurriedly putting the
final touches on the haunted house.  I had to help them with a couple of the
things they were still trying to accomplish, but for the most part this had been
entirely their project.  They finished getting the last of these items in place two
nights before Halloween, because they are planning to do a practice run the
following night.

Joshie and Noah will be going through it then, so they'll be able to go out trick-or-
treating with their fathers on Halloween.  The brothers and sisters of those
working on the haunted house will also be going through it with them during the
practice run, so the boys can see how they react to the various things they've
prepared.  This way, they'll be able to iron out any glitches they discover and
correct them before the big night.

On Sunday, the 30th, our place was transformed into a 'spooktacular' haunted
house.  Once I was given the signal, I brought out the group that was going on
the practice run and we moved from the front of the house to the backyard.
Once we were in position, we passed by our impromptu graveyard next, which
contained tombstones with the names of some of the worst murders in history.
There was a headstone for Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne
Gacey, Son of Sam, Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson, Joseph Stalin, Vlad the
Impaler, Mao Zedong and Saddam Hussein, but this year the tombstone for
Osama Bin Laden was appropriately placed here and not just wishful thinking.

Some of the children were prepared for our first little surprise, because we've
done the same thing in the past.  It's where one of Jesse's friends emerges from
under an artificial grass rug in front of one of the tombstones, but while they were
focused on him, some of the other boys were geared up to surprise them with a
little misdirection.  Three others, dressed completely in black so they'd blend in
with the night, then slipped up on our 'visitors' from behind and grabbed some of
the unsuspecting children.  This unexpected scare caused those individuals to
emit terrified screams, as our three culprits, Ian, Hayden and Elliot, released
maniacal laughs.

After that little surprise, the children had to make their way across the small,
suspension walkway, which I had hooked up again this year.  As they were
watching their step, so they wouldn't fall as they crossed it to get to our backdoor,
the next surprise was unleashed upon them.  Three ghosts -- white, billowy and
flowing, suddenly came rushing toward them from the side.

This new wrinkle had been added as a result of something the boys had seen
during our trip to the Ghostly Mansion.  Once they figured out what they wanted
to do, they had me hook up a device near the chimney to initiate this new wrinkle.
After this was in place, I connected three ropes to it and then fastened the other
ends to various spots on the old apple tree, which is located on the other side of
the walkway.  In order to set this surprise in motion, I allowed Jesse to go up on
the family room roof, where he released the trio of apparitions.

These ghostly forms were made from white bed sheets, but their heads were
weighted and attached to rollers, so they would glide down the ropes, toward our
unsuspecting guests.  The weights, rollers, angle of the ropes and gravity took
care of the rest, once Jesse let them go.  At the same time, he also let out with
his best imitation of ghostly sounds.

Hearing this new disturbance caused the children to look in that direction and
they suddenly became aware of the three ghostly figures floating toward them.
This unexpected sight elicited a new round of screams and even made a few of
them jump backward in fright.  This, in turn, caused a couple of them to lose their
balance and fall over the side of the walkway.  Since it is only a few inches above
the ground, they didn't get hurt, but seeing them go down also helped to frighten
the others even more, since they didn't fully understand why their companions
had fallen.

After the children had recovered from this scare, we had them finish crossing the
walkway, before they proceeded to the rear entrance of the house.  As they were
going inside, Jesse was busy repositioning the ghosts for the next group to show
up.  What he did was to utilize the strings I'd attached to each of the ghosts, so
he could pull them back to the starting point again.  Tonight, he would do this
only once, but tomorrow night he would have to do this after each group entered
the house and began their tour.

Once our visitors were in the rec room, they encountered the next series of
ghoulish surprises that lurked within.  As soon as the door opened, the sounds of
maniacal laughter and screams filled the air, along with the sounds of thunder,
which were accompanied by flashes of lightning that we created by using strobe
lights.  This gave the room the feel of walking through a thunderstorm, since the
strobe lights were flashing on and off at various intervals to coincide with the
sounds of thunder.  This was another idea the boys had picked up at the Ghostly
Mansion.

As the children entered this room, most of them immediately looked toward the
coffin on their right, because they expected Dracula to open it and sit up, as he
had in the past.  However, the boys once again relied on misdirection and
Dracula approached the children from behind instead.  When he made his
presence known, Dracula ended up surprising them yet again and this led to
another round of screams.  While the visitors were still focused on him, some
other ghoulish forms rushed up and grabbed the visitors from the other side and
this elicited another round of wails, which now echoed through the house.

These 'ghoulish forms' were Elliot, Ian and Hayden again.  After frightening the
children outside, they had snuck into the house while the 'floating ghosts' were
distracting and scaring the children next.  Once inside, this trio slipped on the
rubber masks and fake hands we had waiting for them there, so they could scare
this group once again.  The three boys will still have time to take the masks off
and go back outside, after the children continue on, but by utilizing this trio again
it limited the number of 'helpers' we needed to pull this off.  They'll still be ready
to scare the next group outside and will be in place long before those children
make their way around the house to begin the experience.

Once the children had gotten over their most recent shock, they found they now
had to walk, single file, between two skeletons made of solid plastic bones, but
which appeared to be very real.  It was impossible to get past these skeletons
any other way or else they'd be forced to step on the headless corpses, rubber
snakes and other artificial creepy crawlers that were strewn over nearly every
inch of open space on either side of the slender walkway.  This year we'd also
added a robotic spider, which one of the boys controlled and could make move
toward anyone at any moment.  The skeletons were also arranged so our visitors
would find it difficult not to bump into one or both of them as they passed by.

When the children got by this obstacle and reached the hallway beyond, they
were then confronted by one of the big hits from the previous year.  Once again,
we had the large plastic replica of the front-end of a snub-nose cab of an 18-
wheeler, complete with battery-generated headlights.  As the children started
down the corridor, one of the boys sounded an air-horn and the headlights were
suddenly turned on.  Then the cab was very rapidly moved a short distance
toward our guests, to make it appear as if it was driving at them.  The same way
as had happened the previous year, the combination of the noise, lights and
movement caused those in the front of the line to either stop dead in their tracks
or attempt to jump backwards, in order to get out of the way.

Once the children managed to get over that fright, they were then led to the door
leading into the basement.  Before they were able to start down the stairs though,
one of Jesse's friends reached around the corner and squirted them with a fine
spray of water, which was meant to feel like the gentle mist blowing in from a
nearby waterfall.  The perpetrator was dressed entirely in black and had been
hiding out of sight, around the corner in the foyer, armed with a mist spray bottle
for this purpose.  After he sprayed them, he ducked back out of sight, so no one
knew where the water had come from as they were being led down the steps to
the cellar.  As they proceeded down the stairway, they were forced to walk
through an array of fake spider webs, rubber spiders and plastic cockroaches,
which were either dangling or attached to the walls along the way.

When the group reached the bottom, they had to walk very close to four large
aquariums, which the boys had filled with various creepy delights.  One of the
tanks held spiders, the next a variety of bugs, another was filled with worms,
snails and slugs, and the final tank held a collection of snakes in it.  Even though
we had done this in previous years, this time the tanks had been placed in a
different order, so those who had been through this before wouldn't know which
of these creepy delights they were going to encounter next.

As in the past, the boys had covered the tanks with clear, plastic lids, so our
'props' wouldn't escape, but we had also hooked up spotlights above and slightly
behind each tank.  As the children moved near each one, the light that shone on
it would be turned on, to highlight what was contained within.  When the children
suddenly became aware that they were standing so close to this series of
revolting creatures, we heard a few gasps and more screams, as their bodies
shuddered uneasily, as if they'd just felt a sudden chill.  Their reactions were then
quickly greeted by the sounds of some gleeful cackling from more of Jesse's
friends.

After hurriedly moving away from this area, the children were led past a table
containing an array of body parts, most of which seemed to be able to move on
their own.  First there was a bloody arm, which would occasionally reach out and
attempt to grab a passerby.  There was also a severed head, which appeared to
be setting on a platter, and the head would open its eyes and speak as the
children walked by.  In reality, the head belonged to Vinnie, who had once again
volunteered to help and was made up to look like a very haggard Osama Bin
Laden, complete with his infamous turban.  We weren't planning to use Osama
again this year, but after he was killed during the raid in Pakistan, we felt we
couldn't pass up the opportunity to feature him one more time.

Above this table, and throughout the basement, we had hung pairs of glow in the
dark eyeballs, which made it appear as if the eyes were floating without a body.
We'd even hung them over the table where the children would collect their treats,
but those items lost their impact when the entire area was lit up, so the children
could see what treats we were offering.

As we had in previous years, our visitors were allowed to choose from an
assortment of seasonally appropriate treats the boys had either made
themselves or purchased specifically for this occasion.  The children were now
permitted to select any five items from what we were offering.  All they had to do
was indicate what they wanted and someone would place those things in their
bag.  The selection included some new treats this year, such as Marzipan
Fingers, licorice bats and cat poop cookies (although the ingredients didn't call
for actual cat poop), along with our standard white chocolate eyeballs, gummy
worms, thumb lollipops, bones made from pretzels and covered in white
chocolate, and chewy candy tongues.

"That was great and really fun!" Noah exclaimed, once we got back upstairs.
"I've never done anything like that before and it was super neat.  Thank you for
letting me go through it tonight."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," his brother told him.

I think Elliot was even more thrilled than Noah, and he was ecstatic that Noah
was so pleased and excited about having had this experience.

"Yeah, I didn't think I would be frightened this year," one of Jesse's friend's sister
told us, "but you changed a bunch of stuff around, so I still got scared."

"That was fun," Joshie added.  "It was better than last time."

We understood Joshie meant he enjoyed it more than when he'd gone through it
last year, and seeing the kids' enthusiastic reactions made all the hard work we
had done worthwhile.  I think we were now invigorated for tomorrow night and
pray it will go just as well.

Once everyone else went home, Noah and Joshie told Jesse and Elliot the things
they liked the most about the haunted house and where they experienced their
biggest scares.  I think this was good feedback for the boys, along with what they
heard from the others who had gone through it this evening.  After they add these
comments to the ones they'll hear tomorrow night, I'm sure they'll find a way to
use this information to make this experience even better next year.

The boys all went to bed on a high, which was possibly made more intense by a
sugar rush, since they indulged in a few treats afterward.  Noah was thrilled that
he got to go through the haunted house, which meant even more to us once we
learned he'd never been to one before.  Elliot, on the other hand, was still
walking on cloud nine because Ian had participated and they've been growing
closer.  During the past couple of weeks, they've been able to hang around each
other -- more than just being on the swim team together, and they've even found
a few opportunities to be alone.  I'm not sure if anything happened during those
times, but Elliot did seem to enjoy each occasion.  Now, I wonder which one,
Noah, Elliot or both, might experience sweet dreams tonight or will they possibly
have to deal with nightmares.

On Monday, which is Halloween, Dion and Trey started getting their sons'
costumes ready when they arrived home from work, so they'll be able to take
them out trick or treating as soon as it gets dark.  Danny and Brandon also urged
Noah to make sure he had all of his things ready too, so he wouldn't have to run
around searching for something at the last minute.

That evening, we had an early dinner and then the fathers started to help the
boys get ready to go out.  Actually, Dion and Trey asked me to help Joshie, since
they had no idea how to help him put on the shoulder pads or which was the front
and back of the jersey.  While I was doing this, they started getting Wyatt ready.

Noah was taking care of dressing himself, although Danny had to help him with
his tie.   Once that had been taken care off, Noah placed the handcuffs in his
back pocket, so a part of it hung out for people to see, and then he strapped on
his holster and gun, before he put on his hat.  It was a little large for his head, but
Brandon had stuffed it with tissue paper so it wouldn't drop down over his eyes.

Once he was completely dressed, Noah looked almost as handsome as Frankie
had, when we went to see him receive his awards.  We immediately snapped a
bunch a pictures of him, along with some of Joshie and Wyatt, so we would have
lasting memories of this night.  We were also sending a duplicate copy of Noah's
photos to Frankie, so he could use them however he wished.

Once the trick or treaters drove off with their dads, Jake and I turned our
attention to the haunted house.  We had to organize each group of Halloweeners
as they arrived and then wait with them until the previous group came out the
front door.  That would be our signal to take the next group around to the back to
begin their turn.  In the end, it turned out to be a great night for all of us, each in
our own way.