Mom told me, “They’re playing nine pins, don’t be afraid.”
It was at night. I was not sure who the “they” were. I was too young to know of Greek and Roman Gods, to imagine Mars and Neptune engaged in some sort of sporting diversion. I may have been downstairs in the den when the sounds became unmistakable. At first, a low rumble. The tree limbs in the next-door yard started to sway, the leaves twisted, their lighter underbellies reflected in the street light.
Don’t be afraid… It sounded like whatever they were doing… they were doing it right above our house. They? Possibly other celestial Deities… maybe an angel or two?
Playing nine pins. I have no idea where Mom came up with that… I can’t see Mommie Soph telling her that when she was a young girl.
No, I suspect this was a story of her creation. Or maybe it was a common story of the time, like the stork bringing babies. Or possibly she picked up the idea from reading Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle. That would explain her use of nine pins, instead of bowling. Little men, somewhat mischievous and having a good ol’ time rolling a ball down a path toward standing nine pins. And certainly the sounds of rolling thunder matched the image. A ball rolling its way toward the pins, its sound building to a crescendo before the crash of the pin strike… or in the case of a storm… the crack of thunder.
I don’t recall how Mom explained the lightening… but it certainly went hand in hand with the effect of the ball knocking down all those pins. After all, we’re talking about the expanse of the heavens, and not some dumb duck pin lane on Amity Rd. I can see the electrifying light flash in the night sky… I have moved to the staircase landing between the first and second floors, looking out of the window, into our yard. The garage, the grass, trees… everything in a monochromatic steely grey. No, this is really big. To pull off the sound and light, they have to be real big.
They’re playing nine pins, don’t be afraid. There was something in the way that she said it… a reassurance in her voice; very calming but with a dollop of whimsy. “Sure it’s noisy; but those men are having fun up there!” Don’t be afraid. Well, it did sound like they were having fun! And I wasn’t afraid.
In the movie Bell, Book and Candle, Kim Novak plays a witch (Gillian Holyroyd) and in order to get even with a college classmate played by Janice Rule (Merle Kitteridge), she conjured up thunderstorms to terrify her. Which indeed, had its desired effect. Sure, some people are terrified of thunderstorms.
Not me. In fact, I rather fancy them. The noisier, the better.