"And THIS, dear aliens, is the World Meeting Room!" It was the place where we were supposed to meet up. Apparently it was a very important building, but they didn't tell us why. Why would they make an important building look so ugly and boring?

America had just finished putting his costume on (representing some famous Earthling superhero) and explained to us how Halloween worked. You had to make yourself look like something scary, or something fun, and go to people's houses collecting treats, but America had told us we didn't have to dress up, since aliens were apparently scary enough.

Collecting treats. That sounds promising.

"Alright, wait up here. I'll be right back: I'm gonna get a bigger treat bag!"

Some of his friends were already there. One was dressed in what Tony called a "creepy cosplay outfit". Another was wearing a pumpkin around his hips and nothing else: did that even count as a costume? A man in a pointy hat and with an unusual amount of hair growth above his eyes approached us.

"Why hello there Tony! And who is this new alien? Or are you just in costume?"

America had taught Tony a little bit of Earthian, and he had taught me, but we weren't very good at speaking it...

"It's my brother," Tony tried to say in Earthian, but I wasn't sure if he could understand the words.

"I'm England," said the man. "Are you liking Halloween so far?"

I thought for a moment until I knew something to say.

"I... like... clocks..."

"Oh, goodie!" said England. "I like clocks too! They're even mentioned in my magic spell books!" He pulled some books out of his bag. What was he thinking? I couldn't even read... But I kept watching and listening as he explained:

"This book has a chapter on the magic of clocks, and lookie here: this other book can turn back time! Isn't that bloody brilliant?"

I nodded my head: "yes" in Earthian. I watched closely as he put the books back in his bag, and a soft sound came from my nose. Even after he'd walked away from us and was arguing with the other Earthlings, I was still eyeing that spot in his bag.