NaBloPoMo DAY 9:
(NOTE: See exciting news below on how you can win a prize just for supporting me in this daily posting extravaganza!)
According to an eyewitness, hereby known as Camphor Tree, the plastic Hanger in the above photo was carrying a beautiful orange silk dress when all of a sudden the Wind blew the dress to the ground.
Yet, when questioned, Wind said he knew nothing about it. “Sounds suspicious, if you ask me,” he added.
Meanwhile, a passing Car said it wasn’t an orange dress at all, but a pair of men’s gray slacks that had been placed precariously on the hanger.
“I saw it coming,” the Car shouted as it whizzed by. “There was no way those pants weren’t going to fall off.”
The nearby Grassy Knoll affirmed it was men’s slacks. “But they were brown, not gray. There was a hole in one of the knees, which I could see as the slacks came crashing down on me.”
“It hurt something awful,” added a young Blade of Grass in the Knoll. “My head is still smarting!”
An old bush by the intersection, where it had all transpired, interjected, “Camphor Tree got it right, Dearie. I saw the whole thing. It was a dress with a blue sash, though I don’t think it was orange at all. It had a lot of frills around the collar and clearly it was green, like my leaves. Why, Grass is crazy to think it was pants, and that old Car was going too fast to see anything, yes indeed. I’m the only one who was paying any attention. Is there a reward for my troubles?”
“The color of the blouse–not slacks or pants–was brown like me,” declared a leaf that had fallen in the gutter.
Suddenly, the Hanger, which had been rendered unconscious by the incident muttered a sound, which made everyone stop in their tracks.
“Excuse me,” he said. “I’m in a lot of pain from landing on this block of cement, but I should know what I was carrying. It wasn’t a dress and it wasn’t slacks, and it certainly wasn’t a blouse. It was little boy’s clown costume that he’d worn on Halloween, and it was orange, blue, gray, brown and green. But somebody must’ve taken it from me–and I bet it was that Fire Hydrant over there!”
Startled, the Tree, the Bush and the Grassy Knoll all turned to look at the Hydrant, which hadn’t said a word.
“The Hanger much be right,” the little Blade of Grass finally said. “It’s been quietly standing there all along pretending not to see us.”
“That’s suspicious, alright,” said the Bush.
The Grassy Knoll asked the Hanger, “Are you absolutely, positively sure?”
“Pretty sure,” replied the Hanger.
The Camphor tree then declared, “That’s good enough for me for I’m sure I saw it too! Somebody, call the police!”
And soon they were all talking at once, speculating as to the whereabouts of the costume, which was nowhere in sight.”
I took a picture of the hanger in its perplexed state, and quietly walked away, but as I turned the corner, I could still hear the commotion as they worked out who should call the police, and whether the police would ever believe their story and take the Fire Hydrant in for questioning.
Whether the Fire Hydrant did it or not remains to be seen. Though it is curious that, upon further investigation, the Hydrant couldn’t explain itself or account for its whereabouts.
Meanwhile, the Halloween costume is still at large.
What do you think?
(Note: I’m taking part in NaBloPoMo, better known as National Blog Posting Month. Thirty days, 30 posts. And I have EXCITING NEWS!
I’ve going to be awarding a prize to the one person who has commented on the most posts. If there’s a tie, I’ll do a drawing. So if you want to win a $20 gift certificate to Amazon, make sure to comment often!
And thank you to all of you who have been stopping by and offering your two cents. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be screaming like a banshee from writing all these posts!)
Monica's Tangled Web 
You are so brilliantly creative. My money’s on that tiny blade of grass. Awfully quiet don’t you think? A mystery worth solving.
If you ask me, MM, that tiny blade of grass seemed to be green with envy that the hanger had such a colorful costume, and wanted in. So, that blade is worth keeping your eye on, that is, until the maintenance worker comes along and mows it down. Sigh.
I think I can only conclude it’s a mystery.
A mystery, indeed!
Delightful story with every one’s true account of what happened. That only leaves the elements: earth, wind, fire or water who may know. I would pound the earth of the grassy knoll for answers, breathe a scary banshee scream to the wind, threaten fire with the fire hydrant and water with blazing wood from the camphor tree bonfire. Someone will squeal, scream, extinguish or evaporate under the pressure of the pressure cooker. There now…my mind’s about to explode with the possibilities.
Love that scenario you came up with, Georgette. It’s very plausible!
Okay, I am SO not good at guessing/speculating about anything missing in action, so to speak. My mother always said I’d lose my head if it weren’t attached, and then somehow I DID manage to loose my mind with my head still firmly fixed to rest of me. Good God. I’m not the one to ask!
On another note. I’m trying to get my butt back in the saddle. I did manage to post something a month ago, but have been busy teaching workshops, looking at self-hosting my blog and writing my memoir (yes, I’ve been doing that), but I will make an effort to get something new out this week, including photos of our new home. Sorry to have been absent of late.
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
Speculating and conjuring up stories for them is a wonderful writing exercise, Kathy. You should try it because I know you can do it. I’d love to see you give it a go. I have more that I’ll be posting soon. Maybe one of them will inspire you? Who knows!
I just want to make sure you don’t end up screaming like a banshee! 🙂
Thanks, Shery! In the nick of time, too. I was about to let out a scream for the ages!
🙂
Glad it made you smile. I have more to post soon!
This is playing out like that Secrets game we used to enjoy in grammar school, Monica. You know the one — everybody would sit in a circle and somebody would start a story, the person next to them would tell their version to the one on their other side, and so on, until the last person would announce the story — and everybody would gasp at how it had changed from its first version. I imagine police officers investigating a crime scene come into just such an array of “truths,” each told convincingly by the “witnesses”!!
You kind of hit the nail on the head on what I was trying to get out. Witnesses never seem to see the exact thing. They see something happen but draw upon their own experiences, perspective and biases to explain what happened. So I made sure no one saw the same thing, which is kind of funny when you think about it. All in all, it was fun coming up with this story. I may do more!
OOOO, Monica.
to be in that mind of yours for an hour, dear.
Only “YOU” can make a mere hanger EXCITING & memorable.)) xxx
Thanks, Kim. I look at these pictures of things I find like a puzzle of sorts. There’s a story behind it, how it ended up there and I’m going to figure it out. It’s really a fun activity to do. You should try it!
You’re crazy. Creative and funny. Could be a short animation.
Could you turn it into a comic strip? Shortened version, possibly? Or could we turn it into a musical and get it on Broadway? Oh, the possibilities!
Reblogged this on MrMilitantNegro™.
Thank you, Sir! I appreciate you reblogging the mystery of the missing Halloween costume. 😉
I think the fire hydrant is the scapegoat. You didn’t find a scrap of that costume anywhere near him did you? There’s definitely a conspiracy with the tree the leaf and the grassy knoll. The blade of grass is their weak point and probably could use witness protection.
Volunteer search parties looked high and low for the costume. So far they’ve come up empty. I think there’s more to the Blade of Grass’ story for suddenly he’s requesting a lawyer. Hmm…
I think the coat hanger did it, whatever it is of course.
Then again perhaps the whole idea should be kicked to the curb.
As I understand it, the police have taken over the investigation and the Hanger remains a person of interest. As does the Hydrant. Although without a costume, they may not be able to “hang” the crime on either.