Live well, work hard, play play? 
.
Dance with us.
That’s what the witches say, that’s how they sing and reel their boys and their princes in. They like them young, juicy bones and a decent chew of rump, as sure as brooms are made for flying. This all sounds a little ridiculous, no? — but it’s All Hallow’s Eve, and one may tolerate much on this night of all nights. The ladies cackle and creak, as menacingly as they can manage. Whoever did their make-up is an artist. Gorgeous detail.
You bow slightly to the weird sisters and walk on.
The streets are littered with plastic pumpkins and ghoulish neon lights. Bright orange, bright green, alternating. Fear can be appropriated, replicated and mass-transmitted. A good scare is worth celebrating. You see red devils with pointy tails and perky horns prancing with ghastly white bedsheet-poltergeists. Superheros and supervillains fight over cold candy in home-made costumes. Phantoms made real, courtesy of your neighbourhood Toys ‘R’ Us.
Everything you can imagine, except a scarecrow.
You keep looking.
A somewhat inebriated couple — Count Dracula and the Wolf Girl (woof!) — ask you for a light. You help them with the Zippo you always carry though you don’t smoke, it’s good to be prepared, the Boy Scout in you say, for what though, eh? They thank you and you ask them if they have seen a scarecrow. They look surprised, as though that was the oddest question in the world but politely nod in a direction. You follow their gaze.
The Fields. Of course.
Whereas would one find a scarecrow? We miss the most obvious answers sometimes, what’s right in front of us. The skies are lightening, dawn is close. The night will draw to a close soon enough, this night of nights, and you haven’t found what you are looking for yet. The scarecrow you stumble upon, soon enough, at least. He stands high on his perch, guarding the crops with a friendly smile. This one wouldn’t scare a sparrow away, much less a crow. Still, he would know.
You whisper into the ear of corn, and for a while there isn’t even a rustle of wind. And then you see it. Next to the scarecrow’s stump. A mirror. A puddle of rainwater from the storm before. An oracle. An answer to your question. The Question, always that question.
You take a deep breathe and turn to the looking glass…
.
.
~ * ~
.
Postscript. I came across these wonderful ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’-ish dolls at an exhibition at Pavilion a month back. Not sure who the artist is but would appreciate any help in identification for credit purposes.
Shall we dance?
» Jemima
Gosh, that was FAST! I just posted the entry a moment ago!
And we most certainly shall dance, m’lady…
least Halloween’s still being celebrated on a milder note in KL, with decors in complexes. it’s a no-celebration in Ipoh.
I kinda forget until we had the potluck yday night. But without the ghoulish elements.
» J2Kfm
Potluck at night would prolly taste better without the ghoulish elements, no?
Speaking of Ipoh, I am so heading there for a long-awaited, much-postponed food trek once my Other Half gets better. Sorta like a You-Got-Well-So-Now-EAT!! treat.
Am sure you and your sweetie have decent ‘chews of rump’, as you so nicely put it. As for me, my joints creak and my throat does a decent cackle.
» argus as magus
JINX! I just posted a comment at your blog, almost simultaneously! And we both sorta blogged about Halloween’s too! Eerie…
As for my supposed ‘chew of rump’, decent or otherwise, no one’s chomping on it but my baby…
ooo yea.. the groove of halloween.. nicely written … excellent mood setter for the night the goblins, ghosts and ghouls, witches, warlocks and vampires come out to play! I VANT TO SUCK YOUR BLUUUD… !
haha..i didnt see any scarecrows..but saw a cross dressed tennis “girl”, mickey mouse, a couple of shreks and some girls with devil horns..somehow this year, halloween has really “expanded” or is it all just a reason to booze..
wait a minute, do we even need a reason to booze?
On that eerie night I accidently switched to RTM1. A studio concert was on. Thot nothing can possibly be scarier than the background dancers’ costume .. until they started to do the tango or something similar to it. Lucky the remote was within reach. *wipe cold sweat*
just curious….is “The Fields” in anyway related to cyberspace? hmmm…
woah, so the metaphoric one, this. the rainwater part soooo da lomantic. reminded me of tim burton’s movies.
hope your other half gets well soon!
» Everybody…
Hey guys, I’ll be away at the hospital the next couple of days to be with my Other Half who is admitted for high fever. No worries, it’s all under control. Catcha guys later (and yes, I will still answer these comments when I find the time).
Cheers and keep well always…
gosh i hope ur baby’s ok. hope it’s not dengue, cos i jt got news tht my cousin is down with dengue at the mo’.
Kenny’s other half, get well soon!
Oh dear, sorry to hear that but glad to read that it’s under control.
Hope the fever abates and that she gets well soon.
Take care.
Hope other half’s well.
» Everybody, again
Fever’s down, much better. Thanks for the well wishes… more later, promise!
*HUGS EVERYBODY*
Glad to hear your baby’s outta hospital and into your tlc! Big hugs to get better! xox
» msiagirl
Aww, my baby was in my TLC-ing arms all the time, dear. I spent all the nights at the hospital. Thank goodness the company’s medical insurance covered all the damages, so we got a very decent, hotel-like executive suite all to ourselves.
This meant a long sofa for me to rest on at nite, so it wasn’t too bad. But nothing beats coming home!
» Lyrical Lemongrass
Much better now, though some residual nausea remains. Medical leave till Monday and loads of antibiotics.
» Kaya MeeKoo
The fever was the worst of it, really. Late night shivering, cold inside but high temperatures on the outside. The scariest moments of my life. So I’m very grateful it’s over now.
» keropokman
Kenny’s Other Half is trying very hard to comply.
» Jun
No, not dengue, though that was what we suspected at first. It was tonsillitis, really bad patch of it cos it had lasted well over a week despite seeing multiple doctors and being given multiple lashings of antibiotics. In the end, hospitalisation was what was needed. That did the trick.
Wish we had Dr. Jun around though. I bet you would have worked a miracle!
» Nic (KHKL)
This is irrefutable proof I do not read my own writing. When you meantioned the romantic rainwater, I had to scroll back up and figure out what the hey I had written.
And no, “The Fields” has nothing to do with cyberspace. I just figured ’scarecrow’ –> ‘fields’ and it does have the bonus of sounding like a dance club. No?
» Tummythoz
Whoa. I think the eeriest bit was you tuning to RTM1. Now, that’s scary. LOL
» lotsofcravings
I think I saw that cross-dressing tennis girl too. He/She had some amazing legs, no? Went on forever. Of course, best not ask where those legs lead to… Ahem.
Well, if you think Halloween is a reason to booze, where were you during Oktoberfest???
» cumi&ciki
Now, on your “I VANT TO SUCK YOUR BLUUUD… !” rant earlier… there’s this small purplish smudge on my forepalm when I woke up this morning. You wouldn’t happen to be a one-fanged vampire with a taste for purple prose perpetrators, would you? Hmm?
Good to know that your other half has been discharged from the hospital.
Here’s wishing the Devil Wears Prada a speedy recovery and more good food soon!
» Nic (KHKL)
Thanks, bro! The Devil Wears Prada is heading towards a most speedy recovery, if I have anything to say about it. As for the good food (i.e. the oily, deep-fried stuff), that can wait till full recovery. I’m a most hard-hearted caregiver, I yam, I yam.
such cool works of art!!! reminds me of the hantu exhibition i attended at central market (the one they wanted to proclaim a fatwa against)…
very nice pic of CK!
» fatboybakes
Eh, how come I miss all these hantu exhibitions one leh… Next time do invite me along with all the ghouls and ghastlies…
first time to your blog
Interesting and deep…..cool
» Pebbles
Hey there, thanks for dropping by. I love first-time visitors — hope you’ll keep on reading. Cheers!
Very “Nightmare Before Christmas” indeed! First sight of the photo of the weird witches called to mind that very phrase. Very pretty, quirky, spooky art.
He of the lost gaze is matchless no doubt to the corpy charms of the Corpse Bride,
one of our ultimate movies starring the sounds of J Depp.
where treachery knows no human bounds
hahahah I like both the pictures! take care of your baby! lol! I am sure you do!
» Camemberu
Yes, I thought so too… the artist who made the dolls is fantastic. I’m glad I caught them at the exhibition. All I did was collage them in a way that was more, uh, atmospheric, one hopes. To give an idea of how much they inspired me.
» backStreetGluttons
No Mr. Depp or Ms. Bonham Carter in sight, my friend… though goodness knows I wouldn’t mind their esteemed company…
» big boys oven
Glad you like them, and yes, I most certainly do! Though that I’m down with some sniffles, some TLC in reverse may be in order, haha.
it was the HANTU & JINN exhibition somemore. got little toyols, a mermaid, (very ugly one), and a variety of other local ghost, all supposedly REAL, and the organisers even challenged the state garmen to do DNA testing if they didnt believe. GUFFAW..
Happy Belated Halloween!! Hope the bed bugs didn’t bite … ouch!
» fatboybakes
DNA testing on ghosts and ghouls? What an incredible and most ingenious idea. Another feather in their cap, most assuredly.
*dripping wet with sarcasm*
» Tunku Halim
Bed bugs, no. Something else, yes…
Ah, good old Tim Burton. Supposedly making a new version of Alice in Wonderland!
» Paul
Man, Tim Burton doing Alice in Wonderland would be something to wait for! But his former collaborator Henry Selick is completing work on a movie version of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline — now, that would be something I can’t wait for!
Glad to know everything is on recovery
Not a time for spooky art…hee heee…it dampens the spirit. Maybe you can put up something on smiling Santa. Well, I know it is early…;p
» tigerfish
Smiling Santa? Well, Halloween is a thing of the past now… I guess X’mas is the next big thing… But maybe not too early… Especially when there’s no sign of snow yet.
Haven’t been reading blogs for awhile. Trust that your babe is well with all that TLC of yours. I love Halloween….
)
» wmw
I love Halloween too… What’s more, I’m already hearing X’mas tunes a-blastin’ all over the place now… I’m horribly behind in blogging of late due to illness (not mine, and mine too) and travel (mine, mostly), but there will be a new blog post this week! Maybe even today!
*fingers crossed*
How are ya getting on bro? Haven’t been dropping by lately (busy, busy, busy)…
Halloween’s nice especially seeing those people dressed up….. and yeah, Christmas coming soon
» jason
I’ve been good (life-wise) though busy with work and been a tad under the weather (but I guess so is everyone else, what with the crazy weather we’ve been having). Hope you’re doing well too.
As for folks dressing up, well, we don’t always have to wait for Halloween, if you know what I mean, eh?
nice story, i like how the ending is left open. i’m guessing the mirror is a self-reflection? or does one see his true love’s face?
just guesssing…
» Neil Lim
There can be as many interpretations of the ending as one is only limited by one’s imagination. But yours are a couple of the closest to what I’d venture the mirror to be… Very close.