Pumpkin Ninjas Strike!

8:08 p.m. We pull away from my parents’ house to drive home after Sunday supper… or so we say.

8:09 p.m. We drive around the block, cruise in with our headlights off and park a few houses down to make sure all is quiet at my parents’ house.

8:10 p.m. We drive past my parents’ house and park so we have a good place to take off from.

8:11 p.m. In our dark clothing, we tiptoe through crunchy leaves, hunched over like we’re in a sniper’s crosshairs. Luck is on our side! We make it safely past the garage light with its motion sensor. It must be turned off for some reason. Unfortunately the porch light is shining brighter than the sun, but we get to work anyway.
The sound of the duct tape (P declared it our secret weapon) is really loud. Unexpectedly loud. We tape up some of the bats. I carefully and quietly hand P each one of the pumpkins and he places them on the ledge so they read “BOO”.

8:13 p.m. The door handle turns…we take off like roaches when a light is turned on. Around the side of the garage we go, adrenaline pumping, giggles escaping our mouths. The family dog comes out, but thankfully doesn’t investigate the giggling from around the corner. She’s not much of a guard dog.

“Mom! Your keys! You left them on the porch. They’re going to know who it is!” P hisses at me. Then, “Mom, stop laughing. They’re going to hear you!”

My dad calls the dog back in the house. We wait a few minutes to be sure it’s safe and head back to finish the job. Sure enough, there’s the roll of duct tape and my car keys. Oh well. We quickly hang the rest of the bats and add our pictures to the rest of the decorations.

8:18 p.m. P rings the doorbell and we RUN to the car, hop in and peel out of there (as quickly as one can peel safely). Giggles continue. We laugh all the way home and wonder who else we can surprise with fall decorations.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Want to be a Pumpkin Ninja? Checkout how we got prepared here.