Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
When Jack opened his door, he was greeted by three upturned faces and a guilty-looking girlfriend. The three scooted around him, never taking their eyes off his face or making any sudden moves, then slipped into the house and followed the smell of food. Jack tried to catch Sally's eye. She shut the door behind her and hung up three masks. "Please be mad at me later." "Mad? Sally, I'm not mad at you- I'm just…" A small crash, followed by several clinks, reverberated from the dining room, making both cringe. "Oops," came Lock's voice. Jack and Sally stared at each other for a few moments. Then Jack finished, "I'm just questioning your sanity." At this point, Sally sort of was too. * * * *
Once the grown-ups found out that nothing had been broken (Lock had accidentally pulled down a plate and a napkin full of silverware while he'd been trying to see over the edge of the table), everyone sat down and had a look at the goodies. All three trick-or-treaters stared curiously at the pot steaming pleasantly in the center of the dining room table. "Is that snake and spider stew?" Shock asked, pointing. Jack shook his skull. "No. It's stew, but it's vegetable stew." "Vegetable?" murmured Lock. "How weird," whispered Barrel. Sally uncovered a basket of fresh rolls while Jack ladled out portions of stew and reached around to serve everyone without once having to get out of his seat. The trio started to drool. "Those rolls.." Shock mumbled. "Look good!" Lock finished. The second that Jack had selected his rolls, Shock snatched the basket, actually scaring Jack a little.
Lock tried to pull it away from her and was rewarded with an elbow to the eyeball. Bowls bounced and silverware jittered across the table as the two trick-or-treaters engaged each other in a foot fight of steadily escalating violence. Zero tucked his tail and materialized behind Jack's legs. Barrel jabbed his spoon down, making a few fruitless attempts to sample the stew. Jack and Sally held onto the good glasses and did their best to keep the table on at least three legs. "Lock—" Sally tried. Her soft voice was lost in the fray. "Listen, you two!" Jack barked. At the king's command, Lock and Shock paused in mid-bruising, and their glowers showed fear and just a hint of curiosity. Sally squeezed Jack's hand in gratitude and tried again. "Lock…" The devil boy's sharp eyes flicked to her face, and she had to fight the urge to look away. Sally gestured to Shock. "Why don't you ask Shock to pass the rolls?" The devil boy regarded their ragdoll host with surprise. No one had ever asked for anything in their tree house before…
Under Jack's watchful sockets, Lock turned to his cohort. "Hey, stupid- can you gimme the rolls?" Shock shook her head. 'I'm not done with them yet, butthead." She took two, plopped them onto Barrel's plate, and managed to snatch one more before Lock lost patience and wrested the basket from her hands. The witch girl growled and dropped some butter into his lap. Both Jack and Sally tensed and held their breaths, but mercifully the admittedly tense exchange did not culminate in further combat. Soon the atmosphere in the high-ceilinged dining room was dominated by contented slurping and the clink of silverware. Zero still wouldn't budge until Jack got up to help clear the table. * * * *
Meanwhile, the overburdened clouds overhead reached their breaking point, and rain began to hiss onto the dead grass.