Just Another Halloween.
Psych. 1083 words. Alternate Universe. G.
Just a regular ol' Halloween for Shawn & Gus…
Prompt: orange
Halloween Night
1986
It was Halloween—All Hollow's Eve. Ah. My favorite time of the year: where you can have as much candy as you want. Well, at least in theory. If you don't have a commanding father who wants to x-ray your candy sack. Razors, he says. Pish, I think he just doesn't want me to have the goodness and the unhealthiness of sugar.
Not this year. This year I plan on getting and eating all of the candy that I earn. I mean, come on, trick-or-treating is hard work! You have to ring the bell, put on a smile, and wait while those annoying grown ups ogle your costume. One year, an old lady simply loved my police officer costume. She had a very odd wardrobe, and hairstyle to match. Her iron-grey hair was piled on top of her head in a fashion that reminded me of a peacock's tail. Her skin was chocolate-brown, and her eyes reminded me of two stones of jade that I had seen on a bracelet that my mom had worn. She seemed very elegant, but she also reeked of perfume; boy was I glad to get out of her clutches! Although she didn't give me very good candy choices… not that it really mattered since "father dearest" took most of it away…
Standing on a little dais and looking into the floor length mirror downstairs, I can't help but love my costume this year. Sure, it may raise a few eyebrows, but I certainly love it! Who wouldn't? Well, maybe Gus when he sees it. He thinks my obsession is a bit wacky.
"Shawn! Gus is here. Are you ready to go out to trick-or-treat?" my dad yelled down the stairs.
"Yeah, up in a second."
Taking one last loving look at my costume, I headed for the stairs; bending down slightly so I don't brush the top of my costume on the stairwell ceiling. When I reached the top of the stairs I closed the door and looked at the coat hanger by the door.
Using my "o-so-wonderful-observational-skills," I noticed something new on my dad's police jacket: a bullet hole. Gosh, wonder what the story behind that is, I thought. He won't tell me, he never tells me anything about his job; and yet, he still wants me to be a cop just like him. Well, not if I'm going to get shot at, thank you very much.
I shook my head and continued down the hallway to the living room, but stopped suddenly. Dad was standing by the front door, his fall jacket on, and playing with his car keys. That was normal, so why did I stop? Because there was a really ridiculous pumpkin standing beside him. But it wasn't just any pumpkin. This was one that had legs! (Can pumpkins really have legs? I thought.) But, most noticeable of all, it was blindingly bright, neon orange! Wow! There goes my eyesight.
"Gus! What's with the costume? Could you have gotten one any brighter? Seriously, I'm blind! You've scarred me for life! How could you do that to me?!" I cried oh so dramatically, while making flamboyant hand gestures.
"Well, what's with your costume?" Gus shot back at me. "I know you like pineapples, but isn't this going a bit far? What's next, you going to sleep with one while wearing pineapple pajamas?"
I gave Gus my mischievous grin, which I knew he didn't like. "Well, I do have some pajama bottoms with pineapples on them; but no, I can't really complete the fantasy without a halfway decent shirt. Plus, why would I want to sleep with a pineapple? They've got those little barbs. Do you want me to bleed to death while I sleep?"
Gus just rolled his eyes at me. I suppose he's gotten too used to my odd comments and mannerisms. Shame, I'll have to do something to loosen him up. Cuz I definitely need my best friend flexible for anything I throw at him.
"Are you two odd-balls ready?" my darling father asked while watching Gus and I exchange witty banter. Well, witty on my part, I should say.
Gus and I had just finished our last house on the block. I was looking through my bag trying to find a small piece of candy I could stuff in my mouth before my dad saw me. Gus was walking beside me, smiling at his current victory: receiving my favorite candy bar.
"Dude! Could that guy have been any stingier? I swear, Charlie Bucket got more candy than I did." I paused, "Well, after he inherited Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, of course."
"Well, you're just jealous that I got your favorite candy bar is all."
"Gus, I wouldn't be surprised if that was another candy bar – or maybe something worse!—that he wrapped up in that wonderfully silver wrapper. I wouldn't eat it if I were you. You know how those foreigners are. Maybe you should let me try it first, make sure you don't die or contract anything from it."
"No, Shawn. I'm not letting you anywhere near by Baby Ruth. You can just forget that idea right now!" Gus said forcefully while drawing the candy bar out of my reach to emphasize his point.
"So you guys get anything good?" my dad asked when we reached him at the car.
As Gus was putting his "precious" Baby Ruth back into his bag, I answered my dad. "Not really. This guy didn't have anything good to pick from. But Gus got the last Baby Ruth," I pouted. "Can we go home now? This was our last house. You're not going to make us go 'x-ray' our candy again, are you?"
"Yes, Shawn. I am going to x-ray your candy again. You don't know what some people could put in those," my dad replied forcefully.
"Uh, chocolate? Maybe some nuts?"
"And caramel," Gus supplied.
"And caramel," I nodded.
"Well, wise guys, just for that crack. I'm going to x-ray both of your sacks of candy and confiscate half for evidence."
Gus and I looked at each other with surprised and confused looks on our faces. "What!? Evidence for what?!" we whined in unison.
My dad opened the passenger door and gestured for us to get in. Gus and I climbed in, and just before he was about to close the door said, "For smarting off at me."
He then slammed the door in our surprised faces.
A/N: I hope you all liked this. I tried—and it really wasn't that hard, surprisingly—to capture Shawn & Gus accordingly. I do apologize for "foreigners" just haphazardly thrown in there. It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense, so you can disregard it really.
A/N: Large thanks to my beta, Anna.