Once Upon A Halloween

"Put me down daddy!" Five year old Nate squealed with laughter as Rollie carried him through the door of the warehouse over his shoulder.

The loft was no longer their home, Rollie and Angie purchased the abandoned building across the alley to accommodate their growing family, leaving the loft to accommodate their large business.

"Looks like you had a good time trick or treating." Angie laughed closing the door.

"We made a haul mom! Dad took us to Uncle Frank and Aunt Sarah's, they gave us half a bag each!" Aidan, now eight, exclaimed as Rollie set Nate on his feet.

"They've spoiled you once again huh?" Angie shook her head looking at Rollie who held up his hands innocently but couldn't quite hide the smile.

"Into the bath you two, dad is going to help you get that make-up off."

"You heard your mum, up the stairs." Rollie nodded and started marching after them then turned and gently laid his hands on Angie's swollen abdomen and kissed her.

"Don't think you're getting out of that bath pal." She murmured as their lips met again.

"Can't trick you can I?" He sighed exaggeratedly and headed up the stairs.

Rollie ran the bath water as his sons undressed.

They laughed together as he scrubbed the ghoul make-up off their faces.

"Will you tell us a Halloween story dad?" Nate asked as Rollie helped him towel off.

"Set in Australia." Aidan added as he dried off and put his pajamas on too.

"A Halloween story set in Australia huh...."

"Please daddy!" Nate begged as Rollie got him dressed for bed.

"You two nippers get into bed while I clean up in here and I'll tell you a tale."

Aidan grabbed Nate's hand and they scurried out of the bathroom making Rollie chuckle as he cleaned the tub then deposited the dirty towel's in the hamper.

He got to his feet and went into their room and tucked them in, thinking how blessed he was with a beautiful wife, two amazing sons and another child on the way.

Life really is good.

"Are you going to tell us that story now dad?" Aidan asked with pleading eyes.

Rollie sat down on the end of Nate's bed and smiled at them.

"When I was a little nipper, not much older than you..." Rollie began, resting a hand on Nate's leg, "Uncle Mangela told me about the Yara-ma-yha-who." Rollie said getting a far-away look in his eyes.

"What's a Yara....a Yara....?"Aidan tried the word.

"Yara-ma-yha-who. A vampire-like creature."

Rollie hid his smile at the size Nate's eyes had become.

"What'd Uncle Mangela tell you about it?" Aidan asked.

"He warned us never to wander from the tribe or be naughty because if we were....the creature might come and snatch us!"

"Did it ever get you?" Aidan asked excitedly.

"Oh, no, I never disobeyed... but another boy did once.... this is his story....

Alegnam was eleven, and of course he didn't believe in the Yara-ma-yha-who, no matter how many times the elders warned him of its existence.

That Halloween he decided to go trick-or-treating all on his own ----

"What'd he wear?"

"Natie, it doesn't matter!"

"Oh, but it does Aidan, you'll see it does, but I'll get to that later."

. . .Now Alegnam was tired from all the walking he had done and it was getting late so he decided to head back to his tribe using a short-cut he knew.

That short-cut would take him under the fig trees.... which is where the Yara-ma-yha-who was said to await its victims.

You see,the creature didn't hunt, it simply sat in the top of the fig tree's to wait for someone to come along,then it would jump on them and swallow them whole!"

The boys gasped in unison.

Rollie had decided not to include the part of the legend that said after the creature jumped on its victims it would drain the blood from them to the point they were left weak and helpless, but rarely, to cause them to die, then it would come back and eat the person.

He didn't want to spend the next week on the couch for giving them nightmares!

"What happened to Alegnam?" Aidan asked.

"Well, since he didn't believe in the Yara-ma-yha-who he started on is way under the fig trees carrying his bag of treats and whistling to himself." Rollie replied and silently sat back.

"DAD! What happened to Alegnam?!? Did the Yara thing get him?!?" Aidan demanded.

"Did he or didn't he see the vampire....?" Rollie smiled mischievously.

"Daddy!" Nate giggled.

"You really want to know?"

"YES!" They shouted at the same time.

"Alegnam walked along...when suddenly he heard a sound in the tree above!" Rollie rushed out.

"Was it the creature?" Nate asked, pulling the covers over his head fearfully.

"Nah. It was a kookaburra." Rollie laughed.

"DAD!" Aidan exclaimed putting his hands on his hips and looking very much like his mother when he pulled jokes on her.

Rollie laughed out loud.

"Did Alegnam get home?" Nate asked climbing out from under the covers.

Alegnam put his hands over his ears because the kookaburras were so noisy....so he didn't hear the sucking sound behind him either....

"It was the creature wasn't it?!?" Aidan asked excitedly.

"Yes, it was." Rollie nodded.

"Did it eat him?" Nate asked, scared.

Well,the kookaburras had grown silent so Alegnam dropped his hands, rather curious actually about the quiet....and he heard the noise.

He turned and saw the creature....less than ten feet from him.

"What'd it look like?" Aidan asked.

"It was this tall," Rollie held his hand four feet from the floor, "it was red and had a very large head and mouth. The tips of its fingers and toes had suckers like an octopus."

"Did he run? I would have run." Nate replied from his burrow under the covers again.

As you can well imagine, Alegnam was scared, too scared to do anything but stare.

He knew the creature was going to eat him and the elders had always told the children to let it eat them because they would survive better if they let the creature swallow them.

As scared as Alegnam was, he really did not want to be eaten!

If he was eaten, the creature would spit him back out after drinking water and napping but Alegnam would be a little shorter and he liked his height, besides, if he was eaten a lot by the creature he would grow shorter until he was the creature's height and on top of that he would grow hair all over his body and change into a mythical little furry creature of the forest!

"He had no intention of becoming one of those!" Rollie said with indignation.

"What'd he do?" Aidan inquired, wondering how the boy would get out of being eaten.

"You asked about his costume before?" Rollie squeezed Nate's leg and the covers moved slightly making Rollie smile. "Well, Alegnam had gone as an aboriginal mystic....he told the creature that if it ate him he would use his magic to grow inside it until he got so big the creature would explode!"

"Did the creature speak English?" Aidan asked frowning.

"Oh, no, Alegnam said those things in aborigine, which all Australian creatures understand."

"Did it let him go?" Nate asked peeking.

That vampire looked at him for a long time and Alegnam knew it was trying to decide whether to believe him or not so he began to chant in the way he'd heard the mystic men do and the creature took a step closer, observing him.

Alegnam made a real production of it, exaggerating every movement ----

"Like when you and mom do the effects?" Nate asked.

"Sort of but he didn't use any electronic equipment." Rollie answered.

Alegnam's last movement was reaching into his pouch of magic and spreading some bronze powder on the ground in front of himself.

He turned to the creature and in aborigine, told him that if he went to the end of the fig tree grove and returned, Alegnam would be taller than he was now and if he was that the creature should let him go.

"Did the creature believe him this time?" Again Aidan questioned.

"That creature had never met an aborigine that could grow at will so he was very curious to see if it was true, so he ----"

"Went to the end of the fig tree grove!" Nate clapped.

"And when it came back, what do you think it found?" Rollie asked.

"Alegnam was gone." Aidan nodded in triumph.

Rollie shook his head and smiled mysteriously.

"He was bigger?" Nate asked, eyes wide.

"YES! Alegnam had indeed grown taller than the creature! Well, that creature was so surprised it climbed right back into that fig tree and let Alegnam leave unharmed."

"How did he grow daddy? Was it the magic?" Nate asked.

"No, there was no magic....Alegnam had pulled a Halloween trick on the creature."

"How?" Aidan frowned.

"When the creature went to the end of the fig tree grove Alegnam swept the dirt from around where he was standing until it was lower than himself -----"

"So when the creature came back he was actually shorter than Alegnam!" Aidan exclaimed with a grin.

"That's right. Well, Alegnam hurried out of the fig tree grove and went straight to the elders and told them his tale. They were impressed with is cunning and lauded him. Alegnam became well-known among the tribes for how he'd tricked the Yara-ma-yha-who. He's still talked about today. Now, its time for you two to go to sleep. We love you." Rollie tucked them in and kissed them good night then headed for the door.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Nate?"

"Where's Alegnam now?"

"Well," Rollie stopped at the door, "as Alegnam grew-up the tale of how he tricked the creature grew too....until it was related that he really had grown.... over fifty feet tall! Alegnam decided to go on a walk-about until the tale calmed down, he returned after two years and the elders granted him a role of a leader for The People. Alegnam was very honored but was afraid the tale would grow again if anyone found out he was there so he changed his name."

"To what?" Aidan inquired.

"He took his name and spelled it backwards...." Rollie replied closing the door softly.

"A..l...e...g....n....a...m.......m....a.....n.....GELA! MANGELA!" Aidan shouted.

"It was Uncle Mangela?" Nate said in awe as he climbed out of bed to pick-up a whining Bluey from the floor.

"Yeah! Uncle Mangela out smarted the Yara creature!" Aidan laughed.

"Yay!" Nate whispered snuggling under the covers.

"Good night Nate." Aidan whispered wearing a grin.

"G'night." Nate replied as his daddy would as he draped an arm over Bluey and closed his eyes.

Rollie unbuttoned his shirt as he entered the master bedroom where he found Angie brushing her hair in front of the dresser mirror.

"Get them off to bed?" She asked looking at his reflection.

"Yep." He nodded dropping his shirt in the hamper and unzipping his jeans.

"They get a story out of you?"

"Sure did." He replied sitting on the bed to get his boots and jeans off.

"It wasn't too scary was it?"

"It had a happy ending."

"Good," She smiled and came over, resting her hands on his bare shoulders, "though I do wonder how Mangela will react when they tell him that story?" She smiled mischievously.

"So...you were listening?" Rollie smirked pulling her onto his lap.

"I like a good bedtime story too."

"I have a special one just for you."

"How does it start?"

"Like this." He replied, kissing her.

"Mmm...a Halloween romance....works for me." She replied kissing him back.

"Happy Halloween indeed. " He murmured, laying her on the bed and shutting the lights off on goblins, ghouls and yes, even Yara-ma-yha-whos!

I read a fic that used Aidan as Rollie and Angie's son's name and I have borrowed it here, so whomever that person may be, this is your credit. (Archivist note: I believe that would be The Martini.)

I also used "Nate", short for Nathaniel, which I know Maureen has given for Rollie's middle name, since I don't know if it was his "real" middle name I'll give her the credit for it. ;-)

"Yara-ma-yha-who" I found in:

Encyclopedia Mythica: Aboriginal Mythology