As the season of terror is drawing to a close…
iHalloween
My mom had to help me with my costume, but I was ready by the time we had to leave for school. This year, I was going as a ladybug; I wore a red one-piece costume with black stripes, plastic wings on the back, and a black head band with little black sticks topped with black balls that bobbed back and forth when I shook my head. Mom let Sam ride with us on our way to school, so we were the first to see her costume; she was a witch this year. Her costume was a long black dress, a small broomstick, and a big black witch's hat. We loved each other's costume, and so did my mom. I wondered what Freddie would be dressed as this year.
"Hey, Carly," Sam said, tapping me on the shoulder. I looked away from the city passing us by, and turned to my friend. "Are we still going trick-or-treating tonight?"
"Yeah," I happily answered. "You, me, and Freddie."
"Ew," the littlest witch replied, acting like she was freaking out. "But he's a boy."
"No, he's Freddie," I replied with a smile. My mom giggled to herself. I don't really know why; Freddie wasn't really like a boy. He hung out with us, didn't get dirty or play in mud, and liked the same things we liked. "We're gonna have fun. Don't worry."
When we got to Ridgeway Elementary, we said bye to my mom, and walked into the school. The decorations we put up a couple of weeks ago were still up; orange and black streamers, pumpkin and black cat statics on the windows, ghost stickers we put around our lockers, hang-ups of witches and Frankenstein, and little bats we made from black tissue paper and cotton stuffing hanging on the ceiling. Walking down to Ms. Briggs' room, we saw some of our teachers dressed up as the Grim Reaper, skeletons, and a cowboy (because we all know who loves John Wayne). On our way, we bumped into Freddie at his locker. He was dressed as Batman. It was kind of cool; him and Sam kind of matched. I still remember the first Halloween we had as friends…
Sam and I became friends in preschool, but we didn't meet Freddie until first grade. Our parents got to know each other, and decided it would be cute if we all had a theme to our costumes. So, I had to go as a black cat, Sam was a pink bunny, and Freddie was a puppy dog. We looked really, really little, but we still had a good time.
We sat down at our tables, and waited for the Pledge to start over the intercom. After that, we made some last-minute ideas for our party that afternoon. Sam decided to not get seconds of her lunch so she could have more snacks at the party.
After lunch and recess, we all went back to our homeroom. Some kids got changed in the bathroom, but most of us came to school in our costumes. All the snacks were set up on the tables; there were pumpkin-frosted cookies, green and purple cupcakes with little bat and spider rings on them, ghost-shaped Jell-O treats, green "ooze" punch, 7-Up, Sprite, and candy corn in a little bowl. Ms. Briggs brought in a couple of DVD's we could vote on; she had Nightmare Before Christmas, The Pumpkin Tree, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and The Little Vampire. Everybody voted, and Charlie Brown won. We weren't really paying attention to the movie, though. The party was so much fun. Then, we got to spend the rest of class on the playground until our parents or the bus came to pick us up.
Just before the sun started to set, Sam, Freddie, and I went out trick-or-treating with my mom and Mrs. Benson. Dad and Sam's mom stayed behind to pass out candy to our neighbors in the apartment. We always went into the city first. That way, we could stay out longer before it got dark out.
Seattle is really pretty at night. All the lights start to come on around sunset. We went from door to door with our bags and buckets, and got a ton of candy. One of our last stops was in a small neighborhood where mostly older people lived. We always went to Mr. Edward's house. "Trick-or-treat," we called out. After a minute the door opened, and Mr. Edward opened the door.
"Happy Halloween," he said, his voice kind of quiet. He took a handful of candy from his pumpkin-shaped bucket, and dropped them into each of our bags; we got little Snickers, Kit Kats, and even gumballs.
"Thank you," we all said at once, smiling.
"No problem, kids," Mr. Edwards said, his voice really quiet.
"What?" Sam asked, not hearing him.
"Aw, ain't no thing but a chicken wing!" Mr. Edwards happily burst out, his eyes closed and a giant smile forming on his face. Happy with what we got, we said goodnight, and walked back to our parents.
Then, when we got tired, we'd head back to the Bushwell Plaza, went to some of the other floors and rooms to get candy, then went back to my room. We sorted and traded candy, watched some Halloween episodes of our favorite shows, then said goodnight, got into our pajamas, and went to bed. "Happy Halloween, guys," I called out, waving Sam and Freddie off (even though Freddie lives in the room across from us). They waved and smiled, then took off with their moms. Spencer was still out trick-or-treating with his friends, but I was too tired to stay up.
My parents tucked me in, told me to watch out for any silly ghosts, kissed me, and then slowly slid my door shut. "Happy Halloween, Mommy and Daddy," I whispered before snuggling into my bed and closing my eyes. I love Halloween.