All-American Halloween Scare

So maybe I could have skipped the pinata.

By Rachel Chesnut | Posted 10/14/08 | Updated 10/3/24

Bulk up for Halloween with your favorite chocolate candy.

"It wasn't my fault! Though in hindsight, it probably wasn't a good idea to begin with." I tried to hastily explain to my mother, though I do have to admit, I looked very guilty: holding a baseball bat surrounded by shattered glass in my now dimly lit garage.

Now, generally, when someone begins a conversation with, "It wasn't my fault!" It does nothing more than to prove its own inaccuracy, but this time I was telling the truth. Sort of. It really wasn't my fault… entirely.

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and this year I was hosting one of fourteen Taiwanese foreign exchange students in the area. Since their culture doesn't celebrate that fateful Hallow's eve, I decided to give them a taste of OUR culture. I went all out: we carved pumpkins, we watched scary movies (all with Chinese subtitles of course), I even told every host family to bring a Halloween-themed treat. It was beautiful. Ghouls, Pirates, and Ninjas were sharing pumpkin cookies and punch in my kitchen.

I was determined that they would have the ultimate Halloween experience and, so far, I was doing a pretty good job.

A good job, that is, until we got to the piñata.

I honestly didn't see how it could go wrong. To me, at least, it was a perfectly solid plan. I had purchased the ominous-looking Paper Mache pumpkin and hung it from the rafter in our garage. I put a blindfold on my student who's English name was Nina, and explained to her what to do.

"Okay Nina!" I said with increasing enthusiasm, "Now, swing the bat and try to hit the pumpkin!" I do believe that some of my instruction was lost in translation and she began to wildly swing the bat to and fro until, with a distinct crash, she shattered one of four fluorescent lights in my garage and we were plunged into darkness.

At that point everything started to move in slow motion. I heard lots of screaming and people running around in panic. In my haste to find the door, I tripped over the guilty bat and I was caught holding it when my mother came in with a flashlight pointed accusingly in my direction with a stern look on her face.

Okay so maybe I could have skipped the piñata. Hey, at least they all got a taste of an All-American Halloween scare!

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