Tales from
the Backyard…For some reason our home had always been the focal point for
neighbors and family. Once a month or so friends would come with their kids, to play cards and all the kids
would go into the living room to watch a new invention, Television. We were one of the first families to get
one. Saturday was also the night we all
took our baths too. Out would come the
washtub, filled with hot water from the stove and each of us in turn would take
a bath, me, the smallest, always last, the water always cold by then. On would go the clean pajamas for the
visitors to see. It was also the night
that the show called “Lights Out” came on.
This show was the precursor of all following creepy shows, somewhat like 'The Inner Sanctum' and 'The Twilight Zone'.
The show always started with a very deep voiced narrator, foretelling of
the nights events. This was done with a
flickering candle on the screen and then the narrator would say, “Let the show
begin, Lights Out”, and at that exact moment, the candle would be extinguished,
leaving the screen dark for a few seconds. You always watched in the dark. I remember one particular fall Saturday; about
ten of us little and not so little kids were glued to the front of the TV, the
only light visible was under the kitchen door and from the TV. The night was stormy and rainy making things
very eerie and us very jumpy. When the
announcer said the words “Lights Out”, there was a flash of lightning and a
bang of thunder, not only did the TV candle go out, but all the lights in the
house went out. Talk about screaming
kids. We ran to the kitchen seeking the
safety of our parents but that room was dark too. To this day I still don’t know if it was a
coincidence or my dad pulling a prank.
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