The 31st finally came. Sally was so excited to wear her superhero costume to school. It was pink and purple and a white cape with a big gold "S" on it. She knew that all of the other girls would be wearing the kind of costumes that little girls always wore; those of princesses, fairies, and mermaids. But Sally was sure that she would be the only superhero. She couldn't wait for everyone to see it!
The moment she entered her classroom, the compliments began. Even some of the boys made comments on her costume (the good kind of comments); all of the boys except for Linus of course. She didn't really expect him to say anything anyway, but she couldn't help feeling sorry for him.
Later on the playground when all of the other kids had lost interest in her superhero costume, she casually walked over to Linus. Instead of playing with the other kids, Linus was sitting on a bench all by himself, sulking. She took a deep breath, preparing herself to talk to him, but she was strangely a little nervous. What was wrong with her? She'd spoken to Linus at least a hundred times!
"Hi, Linus."
He looked over briefly and then looked away. "Hi."
When he didn't say anything else, she sat down beside him. "Whadda ya doin', Linus?"
"Nothin."
She tried again. "What are you going to be for Halloween?"
"Myself."
His answer made her laugh until her stomach hurt. Whomever heard of going as yourself for Halloween? Linus always said the cutest things. But suddenly she realized that he wasn't laughing.
Something wasn't right.
And so she tried again. "Are you going to sit in the pumpkin patch and wait for the Great Pumpkin this year?"
"No."
This was certainly strange. "Well what about trick or treating? Or Violet's Halloween party?"
"I'm just going to stay at home tonight. I have plenty of things to do."
Now she was very worried.
"But Linus-."
"I have to go, Sally. The bell is ringing."
To her dismay, Linus hopped off of the bench and ran toward the school, leaving her completely confused.