Boo!

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday (even though it's not technically a day-off kinda holiday). Dressing up and collecting goodies appeals to the kid in all of us. Imagine - costumed you shout "trick or treat" on someone's porch and you are immediately given candy. (Can life get any better than that?)

There were "good" Halloweens and "bad" Halloweens. I remember a really old couple on my street who gave out taffy apples (that they made in their kitchen). This was the ultimate and we often walked out their back door only to run around to the front of the house and get in line again hoping that we weren't memorable enough to be noticed. I remember another Halloween where a neighbor of mine dressed up as a bride. Her gown was beautiful and was handmade by her older brother who was attending art school (don't ask!). She was reduced to tears when during the evening the hem of her dress ripped. Not even a pilow case full of candy could consol her.

My most memorable Halloween was the year I turned 7. My older brother who was 8 (my only brother at the time) had gone out early (as usual) and came home with a bag full of candy. My aunt arrived with my cousin who was 9. The three of us set out on our own. This was quite something as it was the first time we went trick or treating unescorted and we ventured further than we should have.

Somehow after the time changes in late October evening not only comes earlier but seems DARKER as well. The three of us were not too far from home as we were near school which we walked to every day but we had walked beyond the school. It was way dark and although it couldn't have been more than 7:15 or so most of the porch lights were off and we found ourselves alone.

We started to walk back when out of the blue (or should I say black) older boys (who couldn't have been more than 12 or 13) appeared and grabbed my brother's bag of candy. We were stunned. We didn't know what to do. They towered over us. We were no match for them and we all knew it. Then one of the older boys grabbed my bag and we began a tug of war. He pulled one way and I pulled the other. Then I let out a wail that would wake the dead. The boys took off and we hurried home, my brother crying all the way.

It still makes me wonder whatever possessed these tweens to take advantage of three little kids and ruin their fun but that's another post.

The moral of this story is that when someone is trying to take what's rightfully yours - hold onto your bag/idea/valuables/scruples and SCREAM (at the top of your lungs) and then watch the culprits scatter into the night. . .