The Halloween Emporium was packed on that Saturday afternoon before the big night. Practically every kid under the age of thirteen decided to get their costumes just three days before, five of which were the Loud sisters.
After spending a few minutes finding an open parking spot, the entire Loud family entered holding hands and were quickly stunned by the crowd. The line had six couples in it, each with children. As they made their way to the costume section, they encountered many familiar faces in the decoration and candy aisles. Rita and Lynn Sr. stopped a few times to greet their neighbors, although such meetings were hastened by the kids' begging and dragging.
The costume section was the most packed; almost every aisle had at least two people squished along the walkway's width. Unlike the other sections, where the aisles were defined by overbearing shelves, these paths were lined with crates filled with props and tall white walls dotted by pictures of all the available costumes. And tucked in a corner of the complex was a door that led to the mysterious storage room, where the real things were stashed.
The next twenty minutes were defined by nudging, stretching, turning, and bending in an effort to see all the options on the wall. Lori's first pick—Marcy—had a red sticker beside its picture reading 'Sold Out'. After briefly pouting at the disappointment, she brought herself back together and continued her search. She eventually found one available for Barbie, surprisingly enough. Before she could question how such a popular brand wouldn't sell out so quickly, she ran to Rita, who was holding the baby Lynn.
"Mom! I want to be Barbie!" she said, grabbing one of Rita's hands and directing her to the picture of the outfit. The older woman examined the costume; it had a standard pink dress, pieces of foam wrapped around the outside of the shoes to mimic heels, and a cheap plastic mask resembling Barbie's iconic face.
"Honey, are you sure you want that one? There's a lot of costumes to pick from," she said, carrying a little concern.
"Yes Mom," Lori replied, pointing at it, "I've looked around and this is the only one I like!"
Rita quickly realized that there were little options remaining. She then gave one more look at the picture.
"Well let's try it on and make sure there's a size that fits you," she finally said.
Meanwhile, Lynn Sr. was monitoring the other three kids as they searched through all the available options. Although the three were not side by side, they were all within their father's view.
It didn't take Luan very long to settle on one. Entitled 'Circus Clown', it consisted of a toddler-sized white suit with purple suspenders sewn and colorful polka dots splattered across. In addition, it came with a pair of Groucho glasses that made her laugh. When Luan told him her choice, he went over to Rita, who was waiting outside the door to the storage room with Lori and Lynn Jr., and informed his wife.
Luna walked along the entire wall at least three times, her mind fixated on three different options. She struggled between Oscar from Sesame Street, a Black Power Ranger, and a police officer. Her eyes examined each of her preferences, trying to nitpick and make the choice easier, but it was more difficult than she hoped.
Leni looked and down at a slower pace than either her sisters. She glanced at each picture one row at a time. While she appeared to be indecisive, she actually had a clear image of what she wanted to go as. With every column she completed without having found it, she felt a wave of anticipation that the next one would have her coveted prize. And so it went. Eventually, she had taken a gander at every picture, but none of them appeared interesting to her. With her body lacking conviction, she made her way to Lynn Sr.
"Um...Daddy."
"Yes, sweetie," he said, giving her a smile. Unfortunately, it failed to transfer to her daughter's face.
"I don't see Ducky..."
Lynn Sr. had a strong feeling that was what Leni was going to desire. In his six years of parenting and visiting the Halloween Emporium, he didn't recall seeing any Land Before Time costumes. Granted he never did a personal inventory check, but the film had been out of relevance for years. For a lot of kids, Land Before Time was little more than a collection of direct-to-video sequels acting as background noise during playtime. What store would still have Halloween costumes for it?
"Well honey," he said, carefully crafting this sentence, "maybe they don't have a Ducky costume. Why don't we take another look?" he then pointed to the top of the wall, "maybe there's one way up there."
The two then went to one of the wall and began their search.
"Would you like me to hold you so you can see those pictures at the very top?" Lynn Sr. asked.
Leni moaned and and stood there, almost unattached from her father's conversation. Lynn Sr. was familiar with that response and he figured the answer was no.
The two spent a couple minutes looking at all the available costumes. The top ones were a little hard to see, but the father could make out their basic outlines and could tell none of them resembled a dinosaur. Sadly, his initial thought was confirmed and no Ducky was found.
"I'm sorry, Leni. It looks like you have to pick something else," he said reluctantly.
Leni didn't answer immediately. Her face didn't wince or tense up, but nothing seemed to indicate acceptance.
"But...I wanna go as Ducky..." she said blandly.
"I know you do, but I'm afraid they don't have Ducky."
Had it been one of her other daughters, there would have been some degree of an argument. Lori would have gone on for a minute or so trying to fight him—as if he were dangling the desired costume just out of her reach—before sighing and moving on. Luna or Luan would have had a meltdown, as the latter had last year and the former the one before that; there would have been a twenty minute struggle in the store's bathroom, trying to wipe away the tears and calm them down, followed by an effort by him and Rita to save face to the employees and other parents. Leni didn't cry or get grumpy. She barely said even a word. But she seemed to have turned her body towards an unspecified point away from the costume section. Lynn Sr. gestured towards the wall, urging Leni to at least take a look at it.
"Here, I'll help you find a costume you'll love," he said. He then scanned the pictures closest to him, trying to find one that relates to his daughter's interest.
"Look here," he said, throwing on a smile, "here's a fluffy bunny! It looks just like Bun-Bun."
That got her to move a little bit closer, however she didn't even bother to look at the picture Lynn Sr. was referring to. With that, her father continued his examination, trying to find another.
"How about this one?" he said, pointing to a puppy with black fur. Although it resembled Blacky, Leni didn't take the time to consider it.
For the next few minutes, Lynn Sr. slowly went through all the pictures once more. He knew his second daughter was fond of cuddly animals, which the wall had no short supply of. But despite her eyes being in the direction of the collage, Leni was barely paying attention. By the end, it was concerning Lynn Sr.
"Honey, are you okay?" he asked, looking down at her. All Leni could think about was her precious Ducky and how she wanted to dress up like her. If her father hadn't asked his question a second time, she would have never received it. However, despite knowing the question, she simply shrugged.
"Do you want to pick from one of these animals?" he asked.
Before she could respond, though, Luna came running up to them.
"Dad! I want that one! That one!"
Lynn Sr. turned to her third daughter, who was starting to direct him to the specific point. Leni automatically followed along. They stopped about half way down the wall and Luna tapped the picture of Oscar. Leni stumbled her way into a spot where she could see the costume. From what she could see, there was a lot of fur covering the kid wearing it and it looked really soft. Sure it had a trashcan lid on the head, but she didn't seem to mind.
"I...want that one," Leni said, lifting her arm and weakly pointing at the Oscar costume.
Lynn Sr. was surprised. He knew all his children saw Sesame Street, including Leni, but he never imagined her liking a character like that. Oscar was the opposite of courtesy, gentleness, and cleanliness. If there was any character he felt she would have picked, it would not have been Oscar.
"Are you sure honey?" Lynn Sr. asked, turning to Leni.
"It's mine!" Luna exclaimed.
"They have Elmo," he said, pointing to said costume. Conveniently, all the Sesame Street costumes were lumped together, "they also have Big Bird and Rosita."
"I want that one," she repeated. She got closer to the Oscar costume picture and started tapping it like Luna was.
And like that, she was settled. Lynn Sr. knew it, and nothing would have changed Leni's mind now. Besides, he felt like it would have given this Halloween a couple extra photos for the family album.
He went over to Rita and the other three daughters, with the older two carrying their costumes. Lynn Sr. told the employee to give them two Oscar costumes.
"Aw! That's gonna be adorable!" Rita said upon hearing the news.
Sure enough, the two costumes arrived in the appropriate sizes. Lynn Sr. handed it to the two for them to try on. It took about two minutes and some help for the sisters to get on the outfit and secure the trashcan lids on their heads. As expected, they fitted pretty well.
Both the parents felt wonderful seeing their daughters standing side by side in the same costume. Rita wished she could have captured the moment with a picture. But then, for the first time that day, Leni smiled—always a good sign. And then, she embraced Luna. Any underlying annoyances Luna had towards her sister having the same costume evaporated. She grinned and then hugged her back.
Now, Rita regretted leaving the camera at home.