The Boogie Man

Aunt Helen and Uncle Vernon and their three sons, Brian, Benet and Barry, spent a lot of time at our house, so Bobbi (my sister) and the boys and I spent many hours playing together. Brian and Bobbi were about the same age and Barry was the youngest. (At the time of this story Barry was about 3 or 4 years old.) One evening, after a day of rain we were playing on our large wrap-around porch because the grass was too wet for playing. There was a door to the front of the house and another one on the side of the house. It was beginning to get dark and Brian and Bobbi were teasing Barry and telling him that the Boogie Man was going to get him. He finally went in the side door and told Uncle Vernon that they were scaring him. Uncle Vernon told him that he would take care of it. He went out the back door, quietly sneaked around the side of the house, and crawled under the bushes by the front porch. Since the bushes were wet, he put a white handkerchief on his head to keep his hair dry. He peered through the porch railing and, in a mournful voice said, "Ooooh." Bobbi and Brian saw the face peeking through the railing, saw the white handkerchief and heard the moan and thought the Boogie Man had really come. In the meantime, knowing that it was his father, Barry went around the side of the porch and in the side door. Brian and Bobbi both started screaming and running for the front door. However, the door wouldn't open because one of them was pulling on the door and the other one was pushing on it. It was a sight to behold. They were screaming and dancing there by the door until, upon hearing the racket, our Dad opened the door from the inside. Both of them continued to scream and cry until they were convinced that it was just Uncle Vernon and not the Boogie Man. Bobbi's face was drained of all color. I have never seen anyone so frightened. Uncle Vernon felt so bad about scaring them that way, but they never teased Barry about the Boogie Man again.