Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Original Fiction FDK: The Miser (1/1)

My apologies for the grossness, but it seemed fitting for Halloween.

All comments welcomed.

I liked this. I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, myself. But that's because in my youth we never celebrated it. It's not part of our tradition and while kids over here have adopted the tradition by now, it still feels kind of odd. When I was a kid, we used to walk through the streets with laterns we had made ourselves. We sang songs and there was a small parade just after dawn with a fire at the end. After the parade we went through the streets, much like the kids do on Halloween. But when we rang the bells, we didn't say "Trick or Treat" but sang a song and got the sweets for the singing. I like that tradition better because it feels blackmailing, and because it feels less artificial since it's the way we've done it for generations. But it's around the same time as Halloween. A week later

It looks like that Martinszug

Hi Bakasi,

I like your tradition better than the one we have here. I'll admit that I enjoyed trick-or-treating as a child, but for me it was innocent. I've seen enough "tricks" (toilet papered trees, smashed pumpkins, soaped windows) since then that I've come to somewhat dread Halloween myself, and I agree that it seems rather blackmail-y. (I've been fortunate in that the tricks rarely happened to me or my property.)

I'll also admit that in one way it is by far the hardest holiday for me. My son has some pretty major special needs: He is severely affected by autism and has such a major cognitive disability that at twenty years old, he has minimal communication skills and still needs constant supervision. I never took him trick-or-treating because of his special needs: He is an all-or-nothing person, and he wouldn't understand that on only one night of the year is it acceptable to go onto other people's properties and ring their doorbells. Even assuming he wasn't upset by the change of routine that trick-or-treating would necessitate, the one night of fun would likely undo the entire previous year's worth of trying to teach him appropriate behaviour regarding other people's property.

Whenever kids rang my doorbell while he was growing up, I did my best acting: I smiled and cooed over their costumes while I gave them each a piece of candy. But meanwhile, I couldn't help thinking of all the things that they could do that my son never could, and feeling a bit bitter that they weren't content with being able to talk, make friends, and know that someday they would be able to gain jobs and independence, and maybe even fall in love. No, they also wanted me to give them candy.

Yeah, when it comes to this particular holiday, I am rather bitter. I guess in that regard, I am a little like the titular character of my story, although I don't really consider the kids to be brats.

But at least I won't reuse any "decorative" toilet paper.

Thanks for sharing that picture. I love the beautiful lights; it seems like a sea of stained glass. Your tradition reminds me a lot of Christmas caroling or wassailing. Are there specific songs that are sung?

Joy,
Lynn

There are specific songs. One is telling part of the story of St. Martin. He was a Roman soldier, before he became a Christian. One winter night he gave a beggar half of his coat.

My favorite song

That translates to

Through the streets up and down
The lanterns are shining again
Red, yellow, blue, green
Dear Martin come and have a look

Like the flowers in the garden
Lanterns of all kinds are blooming
Red, yellow....

And we walk a long way
With lanterns on our sticks
Red, yellow,....

Now that I think about it, there is something similar to the tricks, if the kids don't get candy for their songs. At least in my part of the country they used to yell: "Dat Hus dat steiht uf Stippe, de Düwel soll et wippe. "

That means the house is standing on stilts, the devil shall rock it.

I don't think I ever did that.

Thank you, Bakasi. I love learning about traditions from different lands.

St. Martin's sharing his coat reminds me a bit of the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas. In it, the titular character assists both a peasant and a page one bitter winter night.


Joy,
Lynn