Have you ever felt like something or someone was lurking in the dark shadows, waiting to attack you? Everyone seems to have had the experience at one time or another.
One place in particular was full of dark shadows for my brother, David, and me when we were young… the dark haymow at night! I’m not sure what we expected was hiding and waiting for us, but we could feel it! It was enough to send chills up our spines.
A haymow at night can be a frightening place, especially to young, fertile imaginations that grew up on stories of Trolls, Nisse, and Boogeymen.
In the winter, one of our jobs was to feed hay to the cows. But before we could feed them, we had to throw bales of hay down from the haymow… a very dark and spooky place. The sun sets early during the winter months, which means you need a flashlight to see what you’re doing. My brother and I took turns going into the haymow. The other would start feeding the hay that was thrown down the chute. We much preferred the job of feeding the cows!
If it was my turn to enter the haymow, I would take the trusty flashlight in hand, and climb up the wobbly, wooden ladder situated on the outside of the barn. It rested against a small open door in the side of the haymow. I’d crawl through the door and into the haymow where it was very dark! When the haymow was full, bales would be stacked nearly up to the cupola at the top of the barn. I climbed up a narrow shaft of bales to the top, always shining the light around and looking for any sign of trouble. Who knew what kind of scary creature might be waiting for me at the top of the shaft.
Hans Sherpe in haymow door.
The soft cooing of the pigeons roosting in the tin cupola could be heard as my presence and the flashlight disturbed their slumber. They stirred nervously, halfway between going back to sleep or taking flight.
More than once, a creature would suddenly spring to life and bound up the bales above me, making my heart skip a beat. The tail of a cat could be seen disappearing into the hay. In my wild imagination it could have been some wild animal that had found its way into the warmth of the haymow instead of just a wild barn cat!
Upon reaching the top of the bales, I went quickly to work, grabbing bales and tossing them down the hay chute. Before grabbing another bale, I’d cautiously scan every nook and corner of the barn with the flashlight, to make sure no creatures were lurking in the shadows.
Grandma Inga always told us stories about Trolls and Nisse that lived in the barns back in Norway and made their home among the hay. There was also the Boogeyman, who lived in dark places and loved to chase after young boys who had done something wrong… which we were good at doing!
I was pretty sure none of those creatures lived in our haymow… they only existed in Norway. But what if a few had stowed away on ships and made their way to America, along with our grandparents!
The flashlight shining around the haymow made all the dark shadows dance against the roof and sides of the barn, adding an eeriness and an urgency to get the job done quickly and get out of there as fast as I could.
In my haste I had to be careful not to dislodge a bale at the edge of the chute and end up riding it to the concrete floor far below. Many a farmer had been seriously injured falling down a hay chute. It was even more dangerous as I hastily grabbed at bales in the dark.
As soon as the last bale was thrown down the chute, I quickly made my way back down the stairway made of hay bales to the open door. A quick look behind to make sure some creature wasn’t following me, and I swung a leg out the door and onto the ladder. I quickly exited and hustled down the ladder as fast as I could before a hand could reach out from the dark doorway and pull me back in!
Safely on the ground, I turned off the flashlight, knowing I had once more cheated death and the hideous creatures that inhabited the haymow at night.
Trolls, Nisse, and Boogeymen… just figments of an overactive imagination in a young boy? Just fictional creatures in Norwegian folklore? Maybe! But there was a time in Norway when even many grownups believed they were real. Is it any wonder that a couple of young farm boys of Norwegian descent thought that maybe, just maybe, they weren’t just found in folktales, but could also be found in the dark corners of our haymow at night!
I suspect that if our barn was still standing today, and if I climbed up in that dark haymow again, my heart would race a little faster, every little noise would take on a sinister sound, and those dark shadows would still be dancing on the walls and roof of the barn, as the creatures of the night came to life once more!
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Howard, You think you had boogie men. I lived next door to a funeral home. With 2 older sisters who liked to scare the shit out of their brother I can tell you stories that still raise the hair on the back of my neck.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I'd like to hear those scary stories that will raise the hair on the back of my neck!
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