It has been a while since posting, so this prompt is my icebreaker to get me started again. It brought back some fond, and not so fond memories thinking and writing about it too.
When I was a very young lad, probably 6-8 years old, we used to spend a lot of time at an Aunt and Uncles house on the occasional weekend. My Uncle was an older patriarch of the family. An old WWII veteran that all admired.
Adults in the family would gather there with their children. The men would circle around the kitchen table with their adult beverages and start telling stories of ole'. The woman would gather in the living room to do each others hair. And us children would play together outside...until dark.
Because dark is when the boogeyman came. At least that is what the adult men, who had been drinking too many adult beverages would tell us. Now I am not sure what the hell this boogeyman was supposed to look like or even do to us, but I know he did not like kids being out after dark.
As a young boy my imagination would run wild. I would often imagine a dark, almost furry like figure, with glowing eyes and horns, long claws for nails and sharp teeth. Scary for a 6-8 year old young fella for sure.
Now I just laugh about it and wonder what the hell the boogeyman was supposed to do. The old men just said if we didn't get inside when it got dark the boogeyman would get us. BUt when it "got us" what would it do? Eat us? Rip us to shreds for the fun of it? Make us pay a fine?
Sometimes the story of the boogeyman would make its way into the home when we did not want to stay in bed. If we got out of bed, the boogeyman would "get us". Now I wonder what the heck was going on that would make the boogey man want to "get us".
I can vaguely recall some inappropriate adult songs being sung by my inebriated adult male family members, while the women laughed and told them to keep their voices down while the children where in the bedroom.
As I got a little older and was able to stay up with the odler kids, I found this to be true. I also found that as an older kid, we could become the boogeyman if need be. Scarying the smaller children to go into the house, while we styed outside and continued playing and getting into mischief.
Of course us boys as we got older always enjoyed the part of the night when it was time to go in and enjoy the inappropriate songs and maybe sneak a sip of a beer or a stiffer drink.
That is pretty much the memory of the boogeyman, thanks for suffering through it. However, it is one of my more fond memories, especially remembering my family gathering at my Aunt and Uncles, the drunken songs, the women gathered and doing eah others hair and gossip. The children, most of us cousins, playing and fighting. Even the boogeyman can't take that away.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Notes:
-All content is mine unless otherwise annotated.
-Images are my own unless otherwise noted.
-Photos edited using MS Paint and/or iPhone SE.
-Page Dividers from The Terminal Discord.
What a lovely story of connection. Precious memories, even if the Boogeyman loomed.
Yes it is a good memory. I look upon those days with great fondness for the most part. Hope you been doing alright my friend.
Funny how times change, scaring kids now is very much discouraged! As a kid you worry about the monsters, but I remember realizing fairly early on that the biggest monsters in the world were people. The boogeyman never was something I remember fearing.
It's awesome to see you back Joe, it's been a long time. How's the weather treating you out your way?
Yeah, people suck. That's why I stay home with my dogs most of the time.
Don't get used to seeing me, I won't be around too much as I have a lot going on. I will try and hop in occasionally and say hi though. Weather is cold now, but not too bad.
My parents house has a single hallway with dark wood paneling, so it gets pretty dark at the end of the hall. It always scared me even though I knew better. I would often run down the hall to turn the light off. Even though the hall was only ten to fifteen feet long.
It’s funny the stuff that would scare us when we were kids.