(editor's note - no more comments please on this post - thanks!)
Yay! It's Halloween! I love, love, LOVE Halloween!!!
Cutie lil kidlets, dressed up like lions, punkins and fairies. They work their way up my front porch stairs, trying to get their short, chubby legs around their capes and tails. Big eyes stare up at me, a silent secret shared between us, that they don't quite understand why their parents are telling them to talk to me, a stranger, on this one day of the year.
I smile back, secretly reassuring them that I know exactly what they mean. At their parents' prodding, they hold up their bag, with the top folding in on itself. Their lips move ... a whispered "twikotwee" ... and then wide-eyed wonder as I drop a handful of candy into the bag.
Another silent exchange. "Is that it? Have we completed this ritual?"
From the bottom of the stairs - "What do you say? Did you say thank you to the nice lady?"
A few more whispered syllables, and they turn, trying not to trip over their tail or cape as they go back down the stairs.
I take mental pictures all night long, because to take real pictures tips the balance of trust, turns me into an unsafe stranger. So I enjoy the moment for what it is, doling out candy as the evening goes on, as the kids become older and unaccompanied by parents.
The last one is always a teenager who calls his hat his costume, is old enough to shave and refuses to say "trick or treat". That's when I go inside and turn out the lights.
Halloween is over for another year.
