I know you didn’t expect this to be here today, it being Wednesday and all, but it’s Halloween so I just had to post. I figure I’ll take tomorrow off instead of today.

I never understood why we were forced to go to school on Halloween. It always seemed like some sort of a sacrilege. I’d be at my desk during silent reading, but the book was always the last thing on my mind. I’d be daydreaming instead. I’d be thinking about nighttime and trick or treating. During recess that’s all we talked about: what we’d be wearing, what houses gave the best candy and how late we could stay out. The clock seemed never to move that day.

At home, we wanted to get dressed, but my mother always made us wait. She’d tell us it was way too early. She’s even make us eat dinner. I remember it took forever to get dark. I’d look out the window hoping to see a trick or treater so I could say to my mother, “See, I told you so,” but finally she’d tell us to go put on our costumes. We’d run upstairs and be dressed in a heartbeat. Our costumes were usually homemade as we couldn’t afford the ones from Woolworth’s, but we never minded. My mother put together great costumes, and she always bought us new masks. We were hobos with black beards on our faces, ghosts in sheets or cowboys and cowgirls. My sisters tended toward ballerinas: they were far prissier than I. We’d start out in our own neighborhood then branch out to the nearby streets. Our bags would get heavier and heavier, but we didn’t stop. We’d head further afield. The house across from the First National gave out nickel candy bars. That was always an important stop. We hated apples except for the one or two with coins stuck in them. Back then, we’d get lots of small bags decorated with witches and pumpkins. The tops were twisted so the candy wouldn’t fall out. They’d be filled with candy corn or M&M’s. As the night got older, fewer kids were about and the outside lights were turned off so we knew when it was time to head home. I remember walking on sidewalks filled with leaves and how dark it was except under the street lights, but we were never scared. We just took our time and munched candy all the way home.