Halloween was probably my favorite holiday for multiple reasons. For one thing, on the night of Halloween I was able to dress myself in my favorite pirate costume that my mom had sewn for me a couple of years back. It was dirtied and torn in some places from use but I refused to have it repaired. Pirates weren't suppose to be clean in the first place.
The second reason why I loved Halloween so much was because I probably lived on the best street ever for the holiday. Everyone on my street celebrated the day in some extravagant and interesting way. Living next door to me was Luffy and his brother Ace who, despite being older than me by a few years, went from house to house screaming for candy (and sometimes demanding free meals) in last minute thrown together costumes. Sometimes they're the ones that take me trick or treating when my mom's too busy to go herself.
Our first stop is usually the house at the end of the street. Well, it was more like a mansion than an actual house, something taken right out of those Frankenstein movies Ace showed me last year. The mansion was home to Mr. Mihawk and Ms. Perona and they held the town's title of "Scariest Haunted House." I'm not sure if Mr. Mihawk and Ms. Perona actually try to win because their home is scary and doom and gloom year round bu they don't seem to mind the recognition.
Ace and Luffy love going to that house first because Perona usually has a large sack of candy for the children that make it through the scary house. I have to run my hardest just to keep up with the two to make sure that I got my fair share of the candy.
Our next stop was usually Ms. Nami and Ms. Robin's house. They two women's home was all the neighborhood children's favorite. Not because of the candy (in actuality, Ms. Nami gave each kid only one piece of candy. Something about not spending too much money) but because Ms. Robin would sit the children down on their front lawn and read to them scary stories from one of her many books. And although the fact that Ms. Robin would smile through even the most gruesome of stories sent shivers through the children, there was something relaxing and enjoyable about listening to Ms. Robin speak.
Living next door to them was Mr. Zoro and Mr. Sanji. I liked going to their house the most because the were always so interesting. They never gave out candy because Mr. Sanji would bake sweets for all the kids. Plus, every year, right before Halloween, Mr. Sanji would ask if I had any requests and he would make that one treat just for me. Mr. Sanji always wore really elaborate costumes, nothing you could just pick out from a department store. Mr. Zoro once told me that the costumes were gifts from the Okama but he was kicked in the head by Mr. Sanji before he could explain any further.
Mr. Zoro was never quite as into Halloween as Mr. Sanji, he never bothered to put on any costume, but he would sit outside the front of the house to pass out the treats. I remember one year Mr. Zoro had fallen asleep at his post and was so still the neighborhood kids thought he was a decoration. A brave soul poked him in the chest to check and awoke an irritated Zoro. Needless to say, the kids ran away screaming and Mr. Sanji was out in an instant to start the usual yelling match between the two.
After Luffy and Ace would stuff themselves with Sanji's treats (I nibbled at my own, trying to savor the sweet taste) we would meet up with Usopp and Mr. Franky. The two didn't live on our street but were such good friends with everyone that they visited almost everyday. Usopp and Mr. Franky were famous around the town for their extremely elaborate pranks that only got worse on the night of Halloween. Luffy, Ace, and I (pretty much sugar high at this point) would enthusiastically join them in their tricks. Last year, we filled water balloons with paint and attacked any unsuspecting passer-by. Unfortunately, the fun ended when Ace accidentally threw one through Officer Smoker's front window.
From there we would continue trick or treating from house to house, collecting as much candy to last us until next Halloween. When it would get late, Luffy and Ace would lead me to the final house of the night.
Mr. Brook lived in a small house on his own. He was much older than everyone else on the street, old enough to be my grandpa, but he was extremely tall and unnaturally thin. For these reasons, he wore the same skeleton costume each year. I thought it was clever but Ace said it was just an excuse for Mr. Brook to make bad old man jokes.
Mr. Brook would usually run out of candy by the time the three of use arrived but that was okay. He would invite us inside and offer us a warm drink to go with the sweets we collected that night. All four of us would sit down on Mr. Brook's old couch and watch one of those old, black and white horror movies. They were never really scary and they usually had us giggling most of the time.
Eventually, my exhaustion would catch up with me and I would nod off to sleep right there on Mr. Brook's couch, squished between Ace and Luffy. The next morning I would wake up in my own bed, one of the brother having carried me home the night before, satisfied and well rested.
So as I started at the date on the calender, Oct. 30, I couldn't help the large smile that spread across my face. Oh yes, I couldn't wait to put on that pirate costume one more time.