ART AND MUSIC JOURNAL.
GOOD MORNING.
    And how are you ? I was emailed last week and asked if I had any ghostly Halloween tales ? I scratched my head! I,ve had one or two supernatural encounters, Feeling arms round me as I wrapped up an electric razor in a friends house way back in the 1980,s when I had a thick head of unruly hair!! Coming up against what felt like a wall of negativity in The post office next to Tintagel castle in Cornwall, Reputed to be one of King Arthurs castles Maybe even Camelot! A member of the company was a member of the clergy and told me there was definitely something of an otherworldly nature and unpleasant disposition present ! But Halloween ? Nothing sprang to mind!
  I logged off and headed downstairs pausing only to close our daughters bedroom door and mutter to myself that she wont open her curtains no matter how often I ask her to! I made a cup of tea " that seemingly Scottish and English peculiarity, And descended further into my basement studio and started preparing the days work! Then it struck me! My daughters darkened bedroom!! Suddenly I was back in the steel mill / factory as part of a 4 man sunday night crew!
  I never liked nightshift, I cant sleep during the day, So by the end of a typical nightshift week I would be feeling depressed, and bloated from " Grazing " all day and all night. But as far as the actual shift went It was great, No supervisors, Just a note to tell the workers what to do! Easy peasy really! If only I could have slept during the day this would have been perfect for me as I have an inbuilt dislike of authority.
   Anyway this sunday night  three or four of us were sitting in our HOWFF = personal canteen, And I reckon it must have been hallows eve as the local radio Clyde show was asking listeners to call in with " ghostly" encounters ! which we sat happily debunking using sarcasm, scorn and the odd well timed fart! Then one of my Coatbridge based workmates said " Davy! Here,s a tale from the next village to yours! A HOUSING SCHEME = SUB DIVISION next to where I was raised! Craigneuk by name, Literally across the railroad tracks from my now demolished estate in Station Rd Clarkston! Rolling eyes we sat to listen, and the tale unfolded and gradually the goosepimples arose on our arms.
   For a start the caller was very articulate and simply laid down the tale and didnt care if we " the radio audience " believed it or not! It was true! The lady and her husband had moved into a rather small 2 bedroom rented council house with two daughters aged 9 and 14 respectively! The girls soon chafed at sharing a small bedroom and the husband , a construction worker with native enterprise converted the loft for the eldest daughter, Without planning permission ! he didnt want to risk refusal, Thus he couldnt install a window , And hereby hangs the tale, The eldest daughter was delighted by her fathers work and according to the mother it was a great job, just dark but in no way oppressive. The mother didnt like the staircase and soon thrashed out a bargain with her daughter that if dirty clothes and trash were not brought down every day then she would have to move back in with her sister! The daughter agreed and stuck to the bargain and kept a clean loft! A couple of years passed and the girl became a " Goth " dyed  her light brown hair black, dressed all in black and asked her parents permission to paint the loft all black black carpet and bedsheets to! The parents agreed in the spirit that it was a phase she would grow out of! The girl painted her space and everything was fine.
    four or five years later the girl indeed grew out of her Goth phase and moved out to share a house with her fiance, The younger daughter now in later teens asked permission to move into the loft ? And might it be possible to share the loft with her boyfriend of 4 years ? The accomadating parents agreed! The only change would be the younger daughter would " lighten the loft up to her boyfriend and her more mainstream tastes! Everything was great until the first night, when the young couple snuggled down in their new " home " for the night ! The household was woken up by a fierce screaming match between the couple! The young guy had gotten up to use the bathroom in the dark and fell over a pile of clothes ,records videotapes etc  in the middle of the floor! He shouted at the sleeping girl! The girl woke up and pitched into him in return! when they calmed down they realised that they hadnt  either of them piled the possesions on the floor of the loft! Things rapidly got worse but the resilient young couple werent going to give up and lose their wee home! They just put on the lights and tidied up the mess the ghost was making each night!
  The climax came when the couple and parents went out for a meal one evening and returned to see a man kicking at the front door of the house and alternately shouldering the door in a very aggresive manner! The husband was paying the fare when the driver said! " Big man some one is trying to break into your house! Typical Airdrieonions ! the two couples and taxi driver piled out and ran at the angry man shouting and asking " what the fk he thought he was doing? The man glared at them and ran down the side of the house with the family and driver in hot pursuit! A natural response until the figure ran straight through a brick wall ! The people looked at each other in disbelief! They spent a sleepless night as the ghost spent the whole night banging at their front door! Eventually they let it back in and it went back to the loft but not before glaring at each member of the household in turn! The terrified people heard the noise of the loft being " rearranged!
  A priest was called in the next day and the mystery was soon put to rest! The soul hadnt realised it was dead and existed in the darkened attic even when it was converted and occupied by the gothic elder sister! Then the younger sister lightened the room up and the spirit became threatened and acted out! Somehow the spirit then got out of the loft and frantic tried to force it,s way back in. a blessing was performed and the soul was persuaded to move on to the next dimension which it did! The house returned to normal and the young couple could presumably then go to the toilet albeit groping their way in the dark without tripping over their possesions! I,ll tell you though ! We the skeleton crew on that sunday nightshift stuck with each other for the rest of the shift.

HAVE A GREAT DAY WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE WORLD ! DAVYTHESCULPTOR and teller of tales!