A Halloween Tick-Tack

Over the years, Halloween customs have changed a bit. Children still dress up in costumes and go door-to-door in the neighborhood, saying "trick or treat"; however, the only thing that seems to be expected is the "treat". You don't hear much about the "trick" option. It didn't use to be like this. People of all ages used to do all kinds of tricks on one another. Some tricks were more complicated with preparation and extensive planning while others were quite simple to pull off.

One popular trick that took little preparation was called a "tick-tack" that people would "hang" outside the window of someone's house. To make a tick-tack, all that is needed is an empty wooden thread spool, a nail or small rod, and a few feet of string. First, cut several notches around the edges on each end of the spool, and place the nail through the spool's center hole. Then, wrap the string tightly around the cylinder part of the spool. To hang the tick-tack, sneak up after dark to the window of a neighbor, hold the tick-tack by the nail, placing the notched edges of the spool against the glass, and pull the string quickly. As the spool spins on the nail, it makes a loud noise inside the house, startling whoever is inside! Run before they find out who did it!

If you don't have a wooden thread spool, you can find one like this at a craft store like Michael's.  

This is my rendition of a tick-tack following Dad's instructions.  I used an X-acto knife to carve out the notches, but I'm sure Dad would have used a jackknife.  I "hung" my tick-tack on the inside of one of my windows and got good results!

One Halloween, my brother Bob and his friend Hugh Pearsall were on their way to a drilling rig up Lawton Hollow. They happened to have a tick-tack in a pocket, so when they passed Ronald Pierce's house (now Jim Reynolds' home) and saw him sleeping in his chair near the window, they decided to use it. They crept up on the porch and hung it on the window while the tired man slept after a long day's work. As soon as the tick-tack rumbled and rattled on the window, Mr. Pierce jerked awake and came alive! It was so much fun that Bob and Hugh decided to hang the tick-tack on a couple more windows of the same home before going on their way.

Within a few minutes, they had done their third window and were heading to the road. Hugh asked Bob, "What if Mr. Pierce is outside?" Bob replied, "Just keep walking as if nothing happened." At that moment, Hugh saw Mr. Pierce standing by a tree in the yard. He gasped, "There he is!" and took off on a run up behind the schoolhouse with Mr. Pierce on his heels. As Hugh jumped across the little creek, he slipped and fell in. Mr. Pierce picked him up and dunked him several times in the cold mountain stream before letting him go.

In the meanwhile, Bob had decided there was no reason for him to stick around so he made a fast retreat down School Street and on home to Maple Street. It was only the next morning on the school bus that he learned of the ill fate of his friend.

Whenever I recall this incident, a Bible verse comes to mind. Proverbs 18:24 says, "There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother." This is referring to the Lord as a friend to us as Believers. Jesus Christ is the One that sticks closer than a brother. When all others fail us (even brothers and sisters), Jesus does not. He is totally reliable and faithful. 

Since we are to become more Christ-like in our daily walk with Him, shouldn't we also be a faithful friend to others?

-- Darell (and Jan)