The Day I Made the Headlines

When I was a teenager I dreamed of having a superpower and gaining fame. No. I longed for a superpower. I wanted a superpower that would help me deal with the challenges of adolescence. The sort that would also allow me to walk through walls.

My parents were strict and I had broken curfews enough that standing outside on a cold night because I was late on a regular basis became normal for me. You'd think that getting frostbite had taught me a lesson, but it didn't.

Since I couldn’t walk through walls it was the treehouse that was my solace and refuge on the nights I was locked out. My dad built it for my brother and me when we were very young. It looked and felt huge in our younger years, but by the time I reached adolescence, I could just about squeeze myself in.

I stored cans of drinks and packets of crisps so that if I got locked out of the house, I would at least have something to drink and eat.

My parents never knew that I slept in the treehouse on the nights I didn’t sleep in my bed: they assumed I’d stayed with friends. I didn't want them to find out my secret either as the tree house served as a fantastic hideout when I wanted to get out of doing chores.

Everything was going well until one autumn when everything changed.

It was just before Halloween. My friends and I thought it would be fun to practice our Halloween tricks a week early. We'd dress up as witches, carry broomsticks and scare people in the neighbourhood.

We succeeded as a number of people genuinely believed there was paranormal activity in the area.

We must have been very good at it too because the day before Halloween our local newspaper carried a news story about paranormal activity in the neighbourhood. My friends and I thought it was funny that we'd caused such a stir.

We looked forward to telling everyone after Halloween that it had been us all along. Each time we spoke about it and imagined everyone's shocked faces we'd break into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

Halloween was fun. We put on a great show of frightening people and were very proud of our performances. I guess the newspaper article made it easier, too.

After leaving my friend's house, I still felt mischievous and was looking for someone to prank. However, I checked my watch and saw that it was quite late, so I went home.

Since I had once again broken my curfew, I resigned myself to yet another night in the tree house. At least I had a warm sleeping bag to snuggle up in. I also had snacks to nibble on and a drink.

I went straight to the tree house after getting home instead of ringing the doorbell. I was still wearing my witch's costume.

I was about halfway up the tree when I heard an eerie drawn out screech coming from above me.

I glanced into the dark foliage and thought one of my friends had one upped me. I wasn't about to back down and kept moving towards the sound. A pair of eyes stared back at me as the sound intensified.

"Ha, I got you!" I mocked as I reached out to touch whoever was hiding behind the mask. The only problem was - there was no one there.

I froze.

Realising I was facing an unknown being or creature - maybe there really was paranormal activity in the area - I beat a hasty retreat.

A barn owl flew past me causing me to lose my grip on the branch I'd been holding on to. I slipped but my costume got caught in one of the branches. It ripped as I tried to free myself then came off completely.

I ran to our front door.

For the umpteenth time I wished I really could walk through walls. I'd have walked into the safety of the house. But since I didn't possess those superpowers I screamed and banged on the front door instead.

My parents didn't answer. No surprise there but the noise I made woke the neighbours. Fortunately they came to my rescue. I could hardly speak. I managed only to point to the tree.

They all gasped!

The next morning's headlines read:

Paranormal activity confirmed as local teen catches witch in the act

Recent reports of paranormal activity have been confirmed as a local teen, Sonya, was attacked by a witch on Halloween.

Sonya was returning from a night out with friends on Halloween when she had the frightening encounter. Luckily her screams were loud enough to wake her neighbours who came to her rescue.

The witch beat a hasty retreat into a tree but abandoned her clothing which was caught on a branch.

I tried to explain that there was never a witch and that the garment found on the tree was my Halloween costume. Noone would believe me. They thought I suffered so much trauma that the only way I could deal with it was to pretend I had been the witch.

This wasn’t how I’d imagined I would become famous. I often think about that time wish I had been able to walk through walls. If I had been, none of this would have happened.