"Here, listen to this," Jig said handing Ephram a set of headphones. They were sitting in Jig's room on her bed. Ephram placed the headphones around his ears and listened to the song for a few moments. He turned to her.
"What is this?" he asked her completely baffled. Jig grinned.
"It's the Sailor Moon theme in French," she told him. That surprised him.
"How'd you get this?"
"A friend recorded it for me when he went to France," she explained. That surprised him too.
"You have friends that go to France?" he asked her. From what Jig had actually told him of her life in LA, she wouldn't have friends who could afford to go to France. Jig nodded.
"One. He's been everywhere. Long story," she said.
"You have a lot of those," he told her. She nodded with a worried smile on her face. She turned away from him to the portable CD player in her hands. She pressed a button on it.
"This one is the Sailor Moon theme in German," she told him.
"How many different languages do you have this in?" he asked her.
"Five," she said proudly. Ephram listened to the song for awhile before turning to her again.
"So, am I ever going to hear any of these long stories of yours?" Ephram asked her. Jig sighed and turned to him.
"I don't think you'd believe me," Jig told him. She stood up to walk away but he grabbed her arm. She turned and looked at him.
"I'd believe you."
It had been a week or so since the big snow fall, and already all of the snow was gone. It had been a premature snow and so melted quickly. Which was perfect because Halloween was that night and none of the children felt like walking around in a foot of snow. The decorations at the meeting hall were already being put up and Rose Abbott was orchestrating everything, including the orchestra. She was the deputy mayor in Everwood, which meant every year she got to be in charge of the "Mayor's" Halloween party. Pumpkins in every corner, gummy worms in every brownie, and a detached body part in every bowl of punch. Actually everything was going perfectly with the exception all but one band member was dressed as a skeleton. But they did have a spare costume for him. Everything was great. That made Rose incredibly happy, it meant she had plenty of time to go home and change into her costume. It was the type of costume that needed time to get into.
"Trick or treat!" Delia and Murasaki yelled in unison. The woman at the door smiled and placed pieces of candy in both the cat's and witch's bag. Dr. Brown and Murasaki's father stood at the sidewalk waiting for their daughters to return.
"It's nice to see Murasaki with a friend," Murasaki's father told Dr. Brown.
"They do certainly seem to be getting along," Dr. Brown responded. Murasaki's dad smiled and extended his hand.
"I'm Genji," he introduced. Dr. Brown shook his hand.
"Andy."
"It's nice to meet you Andy."
"Yea, you too. Oh, wait, I get it… Genji, Murasaki. I like it," Dr. Brown said. Genji laughed.
"Thanks. You know, there aren't a lot of people in Everwood who would get that," Genji told him. Dr. Brown shrugged.
"I had to read it in college. I rather enjoyed it."
"Really?" Genji said leaning in, "I hated it."
"Then why did you read it?" Dr. Brown asked him curiously.
"It's the heritage, you know… Hey kids! How'd you do?" Genji switched as the witch and cat ran over to them.
"She gave us Skittles!" Delia answered.
"The big bags or the small bags?" Genji asked her.
"The small bags."
"Oh well, that's not bad. Where do you want to go next?" Genji asked them. Murasaki turned to Delia.
"Do you want a bag of potato chips, or suckers?" Murasaki asked her.
"Potato chips," Delia answered.
"This way!" Murasaki said pulled Delia away by her wrist.
"Where are they headed?" Dr. Brown asked Genji.
"The Danders," Genji answered and the two fathers walked off in that direction.
Ephram was in his room cleaning off the last bits of lint and dust from his cloak. He set it on the hanger and looked at himself in the mirror. He straightened his jacket, ran a hand through his hair, and then tied the cloak around his neck. He picked up the mask and put it on. He made sure it was on securely before he walked out of his room. As he left his room he saw Delia and his dad entering the house. Delia rushed over to him to show him all of the candy she had gotten.
"Hey you look great Ephram. Watch her while I go change. Don't let her eat any of that candy," Dr. Brown told him. Ephram nodded. Once Dr. Brown was out of sight Ephram opened Delia's bag and peeked in.
"You get any Tootsie Rolls?" he asked her.
Desi stood at her parents' side as they greeted the guests. Every year her parents were the same thing. They were Othello and Desdemona from Shakespeare's Othello. That's where she got her name from. This year Desi was an angel. She had a flowing satiny, light blue spaghetti strapped dress that went to her knees. She wore golden slippers that wrapped up her shins, and a pair of feathery wings. Sitting nicely in her curly red hair was a sparkling halo. She heard her father burst out in mandatory joy as Harold and Rose Abbott walked into the room. Desi glanced over and saw the couple dressed as George and Martha Washington.
"Rose! You did an excellent job here! This has to be the best ever! I know you never have to do this, but honestly, I can't imagine anyone doing it but you!" Desi's dad complemented her. Rose pretended to blush and complemented him back. In politics everyone loves everyone, even the people they hate. In truth Rose Abbott and Desi's dad hated each other's guts. Watching them being nice to each other gave Desi a slight nausea in her stomach. The feeling wasn't so much by their exact words, but the fact that she knew she had done the same motions with people. The Abbotts passed her and then Desi noticed Amy was with them. She was dressed all in red complete with a hooded cape. It was a hood for riding, actually. But it wasn't little. Desi smiled at her and waved her hand slightly, and Amy smiled back. It wasn't a real smile, it was a courtesy smile since they were going to go to the Gordon House in about an hour.
Amy pulled the cape around her tighter as her parents dispersed into the crowd. She looked around first for Jig or Ephram, but then she looked around for Taylor or Andrea. It's hard enough to find people in a crowd, but it's even harder when half of the people are wearing masks.
"Amy?" she heard a voice call her. She turned around and saw the Phantom of the Opera. It took her about a second to realize the Phantom was actually Ephram. She smiled.
"Wow, you look great," she told him. He grinned.
"You too."
"Where's your dad?" she asked him. Ephram laughed a little and pointed through the crowd. She followed his finger with her eyes and saw his father standing over by the food. She let out a small laugh. Dr. Brown was dressed as Robin Hood. Complete with green tights and bow with quiver.
"Yea, I know. I tried to talk him out of it. He just liked the symbolizism too much. Or the bow and arrows, I don't remember," Ephram said and Amy laughed a little.
"That's okay. Both of our fathers are wearing tights tonight," Amy said pointing to her parents. Ephram nodded.
"Washington?" he asked her.
"Yea. Next year he intends to be John Adams."
"How patriotic."
"How weird. Anyway, Taylor's flagging me down. See you and Jig later?" Amy asked him. Ephram nodded and smiled as she walked away. Once she stopped turning back he dropped his smile.
"Hey Edna! You look great!" a woman in front of him yelled waving her arms and walking over toward the entrance. Ephram looked and saw Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein's Monster walking into the room. Ephram watched them until they passed and looked for Jig. Only he didn't see her. A few more people entered and still, no Jig.
"Where is she?" he asked himself.
"Where's who?" he heard from beside him. He turned his head to see Jig standing next to him, a cup of cider in her hand. His eyes widened in surprise at her costume. Her hair was all tied up and pinned there with a tiny cap. Her dress was a shiny blue with a low-neck line, a brooch, lace edging, pleated satin, a white embroidered apron, and a quitted petticoat. Around her neck was a blue choker with a pendant sewed to it. Ephram noticed his mouth was gaping open and closed it.
"You, you look great! Where'd you get that?" he asked her. She smiled and did a turn for him.
"Amy gave it to me. She said she bought it but decided not to wear it, so she gave it to me. It's nice, huh?" Jig explained.
"It's beautiful. It looks, warm…"
"Oh it is. I'm wearing like, seven layers," Jig said with a laugh.
"That's only two more layers than usual," he joked. She laughed.
"Hey, you look good. Dark mysterious organ player, it suits you. Where'd you get the mask anyway?" she asked him. Ephram paused.
"My mom made it," he answered. Jig paused this time.
"She did a great job of it. And- oh my god, is your dad actually wearing tights?" Jig asked spotting Dr. Brown through the crowd. Ephram laughed.
"And a feather in his cap."
"You didn't make too much fun of him, did you?" Jig asked him.
"Just enough," he told her and she smiled.
"Where's Delia? I thought she was coming too," Jig said looking around.
"Ah, change of plans. Delia's spending the night with her friend," Ephram said. His dad had dropped Delia off at Murasaki's house on the way here. Ephram hoped she was having a good time.
"Well that's good. Listen I-" Jig said but suddenly ran off into the crowd. Ephram narrowed his eyebrows and turned around to see Wendell walking through the crowd toward him. Ephram sighed. Wendell was dressed as a frog, complete with a yellow crown on his forehead.
"Hey Brown," Wendell said rubbing his webbed gloves together, "seen my princess? I think she owes me a kiss."
"Jig went that way," Ephram said pointing in the opposite direction Jig went.
"Thanks," Wendell said walking off in the direction Ephram pointed. Ephram shook his head with a grin. Things were just not going well for Jig.
