You're probably wondering, what is a kid doing in his backyard wearing a Dia de los Muerrtos costume, digging a hole with a handful off pumpkin seeds in his hands? Well, it all started a few hours ago...

(!)

"What do you think, mom?" Henry asked, inspecting the costume in the mirror. He was wearing a skull mask with a curly mustache, a black sombrero with silver flowers on it and a black serape with skull patterns on it.

"It's great, dear," the woman said. "But I still think it's a bad idea."

"What, the costume?"

"No. You going trick or treating without me. I still think it's not safe."

"It's all right, mom! I am going trick or treating with my friends! We'll be safe."

His mother sighed. "Well, all right. Do you have your flashlight?"

"Yes, mom."

"And do you have your cell phone?"

"Ugh. Yes."

"Don't take that tone with me, young man."

"Sorry."

"And remember, be back before midnight. I don't want to worry."

"Okay, mom! I gotta go!" And he ran out the door. His mother sighed. "Please be safe."

(!)

"There you are," a witch leaning against a tree said. "We were starting to get worried."

"Sorry, Sarah," Henry said. "You guys know my mom. She nearly insisted on going with me again this year."

"Dude," a skeleton said. "You have got to stand up to her."

"I just did, Chris."

"Yeah, but what if she changes her mind next year?"

"Enough!" shouted a goblin. "Can we get to trick or treating already?"

"Sure, Kevin," Sarah said. "Come on, let's go."

The four kids soon began their trick or treating, going to house to house, admiring the neighborhood's decorations, and other kids' costumes and most importantly, getting candy. The whole time, they were happy and enjoying themselves and not caring about anything in the world at the moment.

"You know," Sarah says as she and her friends stopped to take a break. They were sitting on a park bench as she continued, "We really do take for granted where Halloween comes from. It's not always about getting candy and pumpkins. It's also harvest time."

"Harvest?" Chris asked as he ate one of his Tootsie Rolls.

"Mmm-hmm. The Celts called it the festival of the harvest. It was the start of the year in our old Celtic lands, and we'd be waiting... in our houses of wattles and clay. The barriers would be down, you see, between the real and the unreal, and the dead might be looking in... to sit by our fires of turf. Halloween... the festival of Samhain! The last great one took place three thousand years ago, when the hills ran red... with the blood of animals and children."

"You just quoted that crappy Halloween III movie," Kevin pointed out.

"Well, there is some truth to it."

"Dude, no one cares about that anymore," Chris said. "Now it's just candy, candy, candy!" He laughed as he scoffed down a candy bar.

"Oh," Sarah said. "Then I suppose I shouldn't tell you the three rules of Halloween."

"Three rules?" Henri asked.

"What three rules?" Kevin asked.

"Rule one: Always wear a costume. You must wear a costume to fool the ghosts and goblins. Rule two: Always give out candy. The dead demand food. Something sweet to eat specifically. It's in the song after all. And rule three: never blow out a jack-o-lantern before midnight. To blow out a candle before midnight means Halloween is not over and you're inviting the ghosts and goblins into your house."

"Superstitious bastard," Chris scoffed. "Guess which movie that line is from."

"The Mummy with Brendan Frasier. And it's not superstitious. It's a way of life!"

"Whatever."

"Come on, come on," Kevin said. "Can we just go to the next house?"

"Sure. I'm well rested enough."

The four kids walked down the street, looking for more houses to go get candy from. They soon came to a more darker part of the neighborhood they had never been before. There were no lights save for the jack-o-lanterns that were placed on the fences and front porches and there were no people at all.

"Where is everybody?" asked Kevin.

"Must not be a popular spot for trick or treating," Chris said. "Which means more candy for us."

"I don't know," said Sarah. "Something about this place...doesn't seem right."

"Come on, Sarah. Where's your sense of fun?"

"Let's just go," Henry said. "I am tired of you guys arguing."

They were just about to head for the first house on the left, when they heard someone walking behind them on soft feet. They turned around to see a little boy wearing the simplest costume ever: he wore ragged orange pajamas and a burlap sack with a single button eye and a single triangular eyehole, three strands of yarn for hair and a stitched mouth.

"Cool costume, kid," Chris complimented. "I don't think I've seen anything like that one before. Did you make it?"

The boy said nothing.

"You coming here to trick or treat?"

The boy said nothing, but nodded.

"Cool! The more the merrier! And from the look of this neighborhood, this place could be a whole lot more merrier."

"Hey, I got an idea," Kevin said. "Since there are no people here, why don't we split up and get more candy that way?"

"I don't know," Henry said. "Won't we run into someone bad if we split up?"

"We'll have our flashlights with us," Chris said. "Just give them a few bashes on the head with them and they'll run off."

"Well..."

"Cool. So, let's meet back at that tree where the kid in the orange pajamas...hey, where did he go?"

"Uh," Sarah pointed to where the kid was, at a house already trick or treating. "I think he's ahead of the game."

"Oh, we'll see about that. Game on!"

And so the kids split up and started knocking on doors and ringing bells as fast as they can. Some received candy even before they could say "Trick or treat!" while others just had the door slammed on their faces. Yet, there was one thing the people in this neighborhood had in common: they all looked like they had seen a ghost. A real one in this case.

(!)

"Whoo!" Chris said several minutes later, hauling a fat sack of candy. "I don't know about you guys, but I think that was the best neighborhood ever! Even if these people aren't exactly that creative in the decoration department."

"I don't know," Sarah said. "There seemed to be a really creepy vibe here. Like everyone was expecting us. Why else would they be so quick to give out so much candy?"

"Ah, you're just being paranoid," Chris said again. "Anyway, I got the biggest haul...and..." He stopped speaking when he saw the kid walking up to them, carrying a huge sack of candy; so huge, the kid was carrying it in a wagon. "Where...where did you get that wagon?"

"Forget the wagon," Kevin said. "How the heck did you get more candy than we did?!" He was practically green with envy.

"Well, it's getting late," Henry said. "We might as well go back home."

"Yeah," Chris said. "Although," he added, eyeing the huge sack in the pajama kid's wagon. "It would be nice if you share some of that."

"Hey, kid," Henry said. "Would you like to come over to our house, exchange candy?"

The boy tilted his head to the side, tapped his chin, then nodded.

"Great."

"We're going to eat so much candy," Sarah said. "The dentist will have a field day!"

As the kids walked back home, they didn't realize someone was following them.

(!)

"By the way," Henry said to the boy in pajamas. "We didn't catch your name. My name's Chris. This is Kevin, Sarah and Henry. We're the best trick or treaters in the neighborhood. Although, that title now belongs to you." The kid whispered something. "What was that?" The kid whispered again, slightly louder. "Sam?" The kid nodded. "Nice to meet you, Sam."

"I tell you," Chris said, patting his bag. "I am going to eat until I puke!"

"I'll drink to that," Sarah said.

"You're too young."

"It's an expression."

Suddenly, a deep, gruff voice said behind them, "Hey, you." The kids looked around to see a dirty, bearded man wearing rags behind them. "Watcha doing here all alone?"

"Trick or treating, duh," Chris said, pushing the younger kids behind him. "And we're done, so we're going home."

"Well, I got some candy for you." Sam tugged the wagon in front of the man and held out the bag.

"Sam?" Sarah called out. "I don't think that's a good idea..."

Indeed it wasn't. The man instantly pulled out a knife and pointed it at the boy. "Now, you come with me, right now, all of you!" He instantly grabbed Sam and took off running down a dark alley.

"Sam!" the kids shouted. Henry instantly took after the man, not caring he was twice his size and armed with a deadly weapon. His new friend was in danger! However, he was stopped by Chris. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I have to help him," Henry said. "Who knows what that psycho is doing to him?!"

Suddenly, there were sounds of fighting and screaming. The kids held their breath, assuming the worst. Then, soft footsteps could be heard, walking toward them. Chris stepped forward and pointed his flashlight at the alley. All he could see was Sam, the stitched mouth of the mask torn open.

"Sam," he said, reaching for him. "You okay?" The kid nodded. "Okay, maybe we should go home right now."

"Yeah," said Kevin. "I've had enough excitement for one night."

"Hey," Henry said. "Can you not tell mom what happened? I think she'll be my trick or treating partner for the rest of my life if you did."

"Deal," said Sarah.

(!)

When the kids got to Henry's home the first thing they did was empty their huge sacks of candy. "Oh, man, this is going to be the best," Chris said, already stuffing his face with the candy.

"Easy," Kevin said. "One at a time. You don't want to get sick before Halloween is over."

"Don't tell me what to do," Chris said as he stuffed his mouth. "If anything, you should tell that to Sam there." He pointed to the kid in orange pajamas. "I mean, there's no way any human being can eat all that candy in one sitting!" He laughed as he ate one chocolate bar. Suddenly, he stopped laughing. He made a few faces before he stuck a finger in his mouth to pull something out. What he saw horrified him and his friends: a thumb tack. Suddenly Sarah snapped her fingers.

"Now I remember! It wasn't three rules! It was four rules! Rule number four: always check your candy!"

The kids looked at their candy and at each other.

"I suddenly don't feel like eating candy right now," Henry said.

"Yeah, me too," Chris said. "In fact, I might have to go to the hospital. I'm going home first."

"Yeah, me too," Sarah and Kevin said.

"It's getting late anyway."

(!)

So, everyone left. All except Sam, who was busy eating his own candy. "Wow," Henry said. "That was one crazy Halloween. Note to self, never go down that neighborhood again. What about you, Sam? When are you going home?" No answer. "Sam? At some point you have to go home." No answer. He began to think he was ignoring him on purpose. "Hey, you know, you don't have to be so rude just because you got more candy. Dude!" No answer. Having had enough, Henry pulled the boy's mask off.

What he saw made him so scared, he forgot to scream. Instead of a human head, the thing in orange pajamas had a fleshy jack-o-lantern for a head. Sam, this thing, glared at him and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a huge pumpkin lollipop with a bite mark in it...and stabbed himself in the head with it. Henry's face turned green in the face as the monster disguised as a human boy carved a circular hole in his head, reached in to remove a handful of pumpkin innards instead of brains, and placed some seeds into his hand.

"Plant them," he said in a ragged voice.

Hesitantly, Henry nodded. With that, Sam took his bag and walked out the door.

(!)

And now, here we are, a boy digging some holes to plant some pumpkin seeds, waiting for the day Sam will come back on the next Halloween season. Trick r' Teat!