Halloween Happenings

      "That's awesome," Kassandra answered, laughing.

      Karen said nothing.

      "Hey, Karen, what do you think?" Kallie called to Karen.

      "I think this whole thing is pathetic," answered Karen.

      "What? Why?" said Kassandra.

      "Halloween. The whole idea of it. I mean, dressing up like someone else to get candy? How lame. Candy is bad for you, anyway."

     "Oh, come on, Karen, where's your Halloween spirit?" Kallie responded. "It's fun. And you know you love candy. Besides, it only comes once a year; make the best of it."

     "Yeah, and there's lots of stuff to do!" said Kassandra. She began to sing: "Masquerades, costume parades, candies to earn and cool stuff to be done! Creepy thrills and spooky chills, Dress up, come on, and let's go have some fun!"

      "What's so great about that? Costumes and stuff?" argued Karen. "Everyone always tries to be something they're not. How is Halloween any different?"

      The two other sisters thought for a moment. Finally, Kallie said, "Whatever you say. Kassy and I are going out trick-or-treating tonight. If you don't want to come, it's your loss."

     ***

      As soon as night fell, Kallie and Kassandra were all ready to go. Kallie was clad in a purple and green wig, fake wings, and a dress like Jhudora. Kassandra had decided on Captain Scarblade: she held a plastic sword, had a patch over one eye, and wore a hat with a skull and crossbones on it. Each also brought with them a pumpkin-shaped bucket in which to store the loads of candy they'd get today. They stood at the door with their owner, prepared to leave.

      "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" their owner asked Karen.

      "Yeah, please? It'll be real fun!" Kallie added.

      "No, that's ok," Karen answered.

      "Ok… Then will you be fine on your own here?"

      "Yes, Mum, I'll be fine," Karen answered, sounding a little annoyed.

      "All right. Bye then, Karen! Take care!"

      "Yeah…" said Karen as they shut the door behind them. "Whatever." After her sisters and owner had left, she looked around in the empty NeoHome. She saw the black and orange Halloween decorations all around her, the fancy jack-o-lanterns intricately carved to look like the Brain Tree, the Pant Devil, anything you could imagine.

      She wondered why anyone would go through all that trouble for such a stupid holiday. It's not like they were even that scary -

      A loud howl cut off her thoughts. "Who's there?" she whispered to no one in particular. The Ghost Lupe? she thought. Balthazar? A high-pitched scream followed closely after the howl. She looked around, and saw no one.

      Okay, maybe it is scary, she decided. But it's still dumb.

     ***

     Meanwhile, Kassandra and Kallie were having a great time trick-or-treating. So far they had acquired nearly 50 candies: Eye Candy (which they really weren't going to eat…), some lollies, lots of candy corn, candy peas, and even a few Neggs. They were going to have a major party when they got back home!

     It's just too bad, thought Kallie, that Karen couldn't be a part of it…

     ***

      Back at the house, Karen was still hearing those eerie noises…

      She went to the door to see if there was anyone there. She opened the door just a bit and peered through. Sure enough, there was someone there making the noises. They weren't eerie noises, they were Eyrie noises.

     A young Eyrie in a Lord Kass costume stood there laughing as she completely opened the door. "Did I scare ya?" the little Eyrie asked. "Did I? Huh?"

     "No," lied Karen. "Now leave. What are you doing here making those annoying noises on my doorstep?" she said angrily.

     "I came here to trick-or-treat, of course!" said the Eyrie, holding out his trick-or-treat bag. "Trick-or-treat!"

     "Listen, kid, this house doesn't give out candy. Now beat it."

     "Aw, come on, I know you have something in there. Where's your Halloween spirit?"

     Karen rolled her eyes at the Eyrie, remembering her sister's same words. She thought about how maybe she should have gone with her sisters and owner; that way she wouldn't have had to deal with this irritating little boy.

     "Fine," she said, heading to the kitchen to get some chocolate from the pantry. She made her way back to the door and dropped the candy into his bucket. "There. You happy?"

     "Yeah, I'm happy," answered the Eyrie matter-of-factly. "Why are you so grumpy anyway?"

     "I'm not grumpy," said Karen.

     "Are too," argued the Eyrie.

     "Am not," insisted Karen.

     "Are too!"

     Karen was getting mad now. She slammed the door in the Eyrie's face. She opened it again a few seconds later, yelled, "Am not!" and then closed it once more; just to get the last word. Then she sat down on a couch near the door and thought about what a long night it was going to be.

     "Are too!" Karen heard the shout from outside and sighed.

     ***

      Kallie, Kassandra, and their owner were about ready to head home after a long night of trick-or-treating. Their buckets were filled to the brim with yummy sweets and they couldn't wait to eat it all.

      "So, how many are you going to eat tonight?" Kallie asked Kassandra. "I'm going to eat the whole thing!"

      "But Kallie, Mum said we could only have a few tonight and save the rest for later," said Kassandra.

      "Oh yeah…" answered Kallie sadly.

     Suddenly an evil grin crossed her face. "She never really said how many a few was, did she?"

      "I guess not!" said Kassandra, giggling.

     ***

      Finally the trick-or-treaters arrived back at home. Their owner rang the doorbell and waited for Karen to answer it.

     "Go away," said a voice from inside.

     "It's just us, Karen," called Kassandra. "Open up."

     Karen got up and opened the door, groaning.

     "Wow, Karen, that was so fun! You really missed out on some cool trick-or-treating! Look at all the stuff we got!" Kallie showed her one of the full buckets of candy.

     "Wasn't it scary, out there in the dark, with all those creepy things?" asked Karen.

     "Yeah, sorta, said Kassandra. "But that was the fun part!"

     "Ugh, not for me," said Karen. "These darn trick-or-treaters seem to like the trick part better than the treats. In the past few hours I've been spooked by a fake Spyder, scared by a skeleton, and creeped out by countless freaky noises. And all the candy in the house is gone, given away to those bothersome kids. Halloween is horrible."

     Her sisters laughed.

     "Sometimes it's good to get scared, though," said Kallie. That's what Halloween is about."

     "Yeah, and plus, wouldn't it be fun if you were the one who got to do the tricking?" Kassandra added.

     Karen laughed. "Yeah, it would be!"

     There was a pause. Finally Karen said, "Hey, would it be okay if I went trick-or-treating with you guys next year?"

     Her sisters smiled. "Sure!"

     Their owner was still standing there. She said, "Hey, Karen, do you have a costume?"

      Karen frowned. "No, I'd never even thought about it…"

     "Well, let's go get you one then!"

     "What for? This year's Halloween's already over," said Karen. "I have until next year to decide."

     "There's still an hour or so left. I think we can make time for a little more trick-or-treating." Their owner smiled.

     "Really? Thanks, Mum!" Karen hugged her owner.

     They all went upstairs and dug through the costume box to find something for Karen to wear.

     ***

     Her sisters and owner waited downstairs while Karen put on her costume.

     "What's taking her so long?" Kallie wondered aloud.

     Suddenly a paw tapped Kallie on the shoulder. "Boo."

     Kallie let out a little yelp and jumped. "Hey!"

     She turned around to see Karen in a Vira Halloween costume, laughing. "I thought you said it was good to be scared!"

     Kallie giggled. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go!"

     So they all went out the door, candy buckets in hand, to go trick-or-treating for just a little while longer.

     ***

     Somewhere a Lupe howled at the full Kreludan moon, and somewhere the Shadow Usul slipped along a dark wall. But Kallie and her sisters weren't scared as long as they were with each other.

The End