It was when its Halloween, I recalled the stooges at my neighbor’s house steps. The neighbor was a bore; grumpy paddy with a nasty habit of shooing me off his lawn. I had to admit his patch was the greenest and widest patch to play on and being kids then, we sneaked over to play there. The grump will come running and then we are off to own patch. We could play on our own but Mum will have me on the drying line if I hit her petunia flowers. Or if my ball hits Dad’s car on the driveway. Either way it was dangerous by kid’s understanding.
Grump may be a spoiler for us but during Halloween, he will decorate his house steps with three pumpkins placed in a row. He has the same design everywhere, and when he lit up the candle, they appeared to come alive.
That’s was why we avoided his house every Halloween.
We called those pumpkins, Moe, Curly and Larry after the Three Stooges. I never knew why but years later, I found out why.
At that younger age, we hardly knew their names so we made it up by calling them Stupid One, Stupid Two and Bashed One. Naturally, Curly was the one named last. He was always bashed by Moe. Little did we knew then, that the Three Stooges were originally the Stooges with four of them; namely Moe, Shemp, Larry with one other named Ted Healy. When I watched the show, it was only Moe, Curly and Larry.
They were our main entertainers then.
So were the pumpkins.
Neither of us dared approach the house with the three pumpkins there. Even the older kids will detour the place or at worse threw rotten eggs at the pumpkins. I guess it was their version of tricks.
That particular year during Halloween, I sprained my right leg and was homebound. Everyone of my age was out there while I sat on my house steps. I had some sweets courtesy of my mother, and that was it. I handed it out to the prankster which dropped by. Even my own mates dropped by and soon my supply of sweets ran dry. I sat there thinking of hobbling back to go back when I saw Grumpy crossed the street. It was like watching Dark Vader approaching me then and with my painful leg, all I wanted to do was scream but I did not.
Or could not.
“Hiya, Kiddo.” Grump greeted me. “Never got your name.”
“Jimmy” I replied and Grump asked if he could sit with me. I nodded at him. What else was I do? Called 911 or the Republic for help? I doubt my Jedi blade in my room will rush to me like Thor’s Hammer. Well, Grump sat down next to me.
“I brought some sweets.” Grump showed me the bag of sweets. Darn, they looked delicious. Who cares about diabetes when you are five? “Here take some. I have more to spare for the others.”
I did and then we sat and looked at the other kids passing by us. And taking the sweets from him. I guessed no one recognized me or maybe I was a ghostly apparition that could not be seen then.
“Jimmy, see those three guys there on the steps.” I looked across the street and saw the pumpkins. I nodded towards him.
“Have you seen the Three Stooges?” I nodded at his question.
“Do you know I knew them in person?” I looked at him. He was no stooge for sure. He looked more like Scrooge on Christmas Eve. Well, Grump continued on.
“I used to work at the studios where the show was made. I was the stagehand. I helped to stage the scene for the shoots.” Grump explained to me. “The Stooges were then Ted Healy and his Stooges. There were then Ted, Moe, Shemp, and Larry. Soon, Shemp left and Curly came on. It was bizarre for Curly left and Shemp returned.”
Grump looked at me and I nodded. I was listening but at five, you learned to nod a lot.
“Well, it was the year Shemp was leaving when we celebrated Halloween. He came to the studio with the three pumpkins. They were not real pumpkins but made of ceramics. He placed them on the ladder and soon the brothers all mimic the pumpkins as if they were carrying out a conversation. We all had a good time and soon everyone left. I stored the pumpkins away. When I retired, I took them home with me. Every Halloween, I bring them out to look at the kids. Do you know why?”
I nodded and the shook my head.
“The Three Stooges brought a lot of fun to everyone on the TV box. They seldom see the smiling faces who watched them. Since they have retired, I thought they ought to see it for themselves, at the fun the kids are having. Just as if it was then when they made us laugh that Halloween.”
I nodded once more.
It was years later, I understood Grump but he had passed on. The pumpkins were not found, but there was a picture of it which I found. It showed the pumpkins smiling at me. I smiled back and kept the picture since. And I laughed as I did when I watched the re-runs of the three stooges. Well, the laughter inside me for I was inflicted by a stroke some years back and my facial muscles are stiff.
Laughter was a therapy of mine for it could move facial muscles. I do it daily in my remembrance of the Three Stooges for they brought laughter to everyone including me.
I wished I could had nodded to that but it will one day when I recover.
No comments:
Post a Comment