Ahoooo! Ahoooo! clackity, bang,
As I look up with a start,
my fork falls with a clang,
the misty vapor makes my eyes smart,
Who's there? Who's there? I ask
as I reach deep into my vest,
and pull out my half empty flask,
as he reached out, it put my heart to test,
and grabbed my liquor. "Sketo, Bill"
he shouted, as my whiskey he downed,
while he rested on the window sill,
give that back and leave me, I frowned,
or a rope I will find,
and a tree with a low limb
to hang you from behind,
and rename you Jim.
Take your spirits back from me,
all I wanted was a soul to scare,
and you wanted to find a tree,
just to show that you did not care,
Oh, but I do, I do and that is true,
as the air is clear and the moon is bright,
my liquor is not shared by you,
as you gave me such a fright.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Newton's Hole
Ah, here it is, finally. We have been waiting for this day all month. This has been building up for weeks now. Sheila and I, Charles and Maureen, Donnie and Thelma and Wayne and Paula have been visiting the cemeteries at night looking for ghosts. If there were any around, we probably scared them off. All of us would pile into my two door Chevy, drink beer and hit the back roads to the cemeteries. Oh, the lies we told and laughed at.
This Halloween fell on Saturday, with a full moon shining so bright that you could see forever. As we headed out to Mt. Carmel Methodist cemetery, Sheila was the designated driver, since she did not drink. We were going to check out the haunted grave of Bill Sketo. Charles Cook was telling us of the story of how Bill had been hanged as a deserter of the Confederacy, during the civil war. He was not a deserter, but the home guard was mean as hell and bored. The six members of the home guard were in a hurry to hang him and misjudged the height of the tree limb. Bill was a tall man and able to stand on his tip toes to avoid strangling. One of the lynch mob took a post oak limb and dug a hole under his feet. To this day, more than 130 years later, the hole could not be covered up. Legend has it that Bill Sketo comes by every night and cleans it out. Well, that whipped up our appetite for the adventure.
After we looked around the cemetery for awhile without seeing his ghost, someone suggested that we head off to Newton and find the hole. We all excitedly piled into the car and went to Newton. There next to the Choctawhatchee bridge we found the hole. As we got out of the car, we grabbed rocks, sticks and debris to fill up the hole. As soon as we had it filled, the moon went behind the clouds,and It became pitch black. We were surrounded by thick woods on all sides, and a small footpath was the only way out. The katydids were howling, the owls were hooting. We could see red eyes glaring at us from everywhere, and the air was thick as blood. And then the coyote with a sense of humor screamed at us from just inside the tree line. I had never heard Bill sketoe in my life, but I know that was surely him. Some one screamed and we all hauled butt. In the dark we were all lost and confused, running in all directions. Panic stricken, I ran into a tree, saw a blinding flash of light and fell into the hole.
I could feel the weight of the world pushing me down. The hole opened up and I started falling down the hot, dark hole. I screamed, but no one was there to hear me. I reached out to grab the rocks on the side to slop my fall, but they turned to loose sand. As I fell the darkness gave way to an eerie red glow. The heat was unbearable. After an eternity, I landed in a large pit and the sight was horrific, and the smell of sulfur and fresh blood left me in a dark despair. The sight and sound of demons biting off the head, arms and legs of the lost souls was terrifying. You could hear the bones snap and the muscles and tendons tear apart with screams. As the demon chewed, the parts grew back and the faces of the lost souls relaxed and peace returned for just a moment. Then the scene repeated itself.
If I lie very still, maybe no one will notice that I fell into hell. Oh shit, that large green toad with the red eyes and yellow teeth is glaring at me, with an evil gleam in his eye. With a quick leap of his frog legs, he had my head in his mouth. Before he could bite down, I screamed, "Lord help me!" a that moment, I awoke at the top of the hole.
Sheila was holding my bloody head in her lap. What happened?, I asked. You doofus, you knocked yourself out when you ran into the tree, she replied. Everyone was standing around laughing and talking about the fun we had just had. the sun was coming up in the east and dawn was fast approaching. As the rays of the sun touched the edge of the hole, all the stuff we had piled in began to disappear. It was deathly quiet and we all froze. No one moved and we watched in horror as the hole cleaned itself out. I was glad that Sheila had pulled me out of the hole before daylight, or I might still be in the bottomless pit.
This Halloween fell on Saturday, with a full moon shining so bright that you could see forever. As we headed out to Mt. Carmel Methodist cemetery, Sheila was the designated driver, since she did not drink. We were going to check out the haunted grave of Bill Sketo. Charles Cook was telling us of the story of how Bill had been hanged as a deserter of the Confederacy, during the civil war. He was not a deserter, but the home guard was mean as hell and bored. The six members of the home guard were in a hurry to hang him and misjudged the height of the tree limb. Bill was a tall man and able to stand on his tip toes to avoid strangling. One of the lynch mob took a post oak limb and dug a hole under his feet. To this day, more than 130 years later, the hole could not be covered up. Legend has it that Bill Sketo comes by every night and cleans it out. Well, that whipped up our appetite for the adventure.
After we looked around the cemetery for awhile without seeing his ghost, someone suggested that we head off to Newton and find the hole. We all excitedly piled into the car and went to Newton. There next to the Choctawhatchee bridge we found the hole. As we got out of the car, we grabbed rocks, sticks and debris to fill up the hole. As soon as we had it filled, the moon went behind the clouds,and It became pitch black. We were surrounded by thick woods on all sides, and a small footpath was the only way out. The katydids were howling, the owls were hooting. We could see red eyes glaring at us from everywhere, and the air was thick as blood. And then the coyote with a sense of humor screamed at us from just inside the tree line. I had never heard Bill sketoe in my life, but I know that was surely him. Some one screamed and we all hauled butt. In the dark we were all lost and confused, running in all directions. Panic stricken, I ran into a tree, saw a blinding flash of light and fell into the hole.
I could feel the weight of the world pushing me down. The hole opened up and I started falling down the hot, dark hole. I screamed, but no one was there to hear me. I reached out to grab the rocks on the side to slop my fall, but they turned to loose sand. As I fell the darkness gave way to an eerie red glow. The heat was unbearable. After an eternity, I landed in a large pit and the sight was horrific, and the smell of sulfur and fresh blood left me in a dark despair. The sight and sound of demons biting off the head, arms and legs of the lost souls was terrifying. You could hear the bones snap and the muscles and tendons tear apart with screams. As the demon chewed, the parts grew back and the faces of the lost souls relaxed and peace returned for just a moment. Then the scene repeated itself.
If I lie very still, maybe no one will notice that I fell into hell. Oh shit, that large green toad with the red eyes and yellow teeth is glaring at me, with an evil gleam in his eye. With a quick leap of his frog legs, he had my head in his mouth. Before he could bite down, I screamed, "Lord help me!" a that moment, I awoke at the top of the hole.
Sheila was holding my bloody head in her lap. What happened?, I asked. You doofus, you knocked yourself out when you ran into the tree, she replied. Everyone was standing around laughing and talking about the fun we had just had. the sun was coming up in the east and dawn was fast approaching. As the rays of the sun touched the edge of the hole, all the stuff we had piled in began to disappear. It was deathly quiet and we all froze. No one moved and we watched in horror as the hole cleaned itself out. I was glad that Sheila had pulled me out of the hole before daylight, or I might still be in the bottomless pit.
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