Hollows Eve

The carved pumpkins, hardly frightening costumes. The vibrant fall leaves, kids giggling nearby after taking more than one candy out of a bowl. It’s finally here. Halloween.

I'm still fond of my trick or treating days. Dressing up as superheroes with my friends, a simple vampire alone. I can’t believe this time I will be going with my first child.

We walk for a few minutes trying to find a good house, the ones with loads of decorations on the lawn. We settle on one with fake spiders on its fake webs. 

“Go on,” I say, nudging him forward. He takes a few steps then lingers. 

“It’s ok don’t be scared. Just yell trick or treat at the top of your lungs,” 

He continues, walking up the front steps. He knocks on the door. After barely waiting, he knocks again and rings the doorbell. Someone opens the door fast and with that, a powerful belting of trick or treat comes out of my child’s mouth. 

“Whoa, you sure got a big voice. Just for the enthusiasm, I’ll give you more candy,” the elderly lady at the door smiles and asks him which one he wants. He chooses Reese’s cups as always.

“Good job, buddy! You woke up the whole neighbourhood with that roar. I didn’t know you had it in you,” I say hugging him.

I look down at him, smiling. He looks back at me. We’re face to face, eye to eye. I rejoice in the glimpse of hope in his eyes. I’m so thankful I can experience this once again. Oh, to be a child on Halloween night. 

“Who are you?” he says confused. 

“I’m Micheal Meyers, son. it's just a costume, ” I confidently state. I guess I did such a good job at making my costume, my own child had a hard time recognizing me. 

“No, I mean who are you, ” he closes in on me like he’s playing detective. It’s rather endearing.

“Why of course I'm your father, bud. what is all this fuss about?, ” I ask him seriously.  

“No, you're not. My dad never dresses up for Halloween. He hates that stuff, ”

I know fantasies always end too fast. I was just hoping it would last longer than this.

“Your right, I’m not your father,” 

He roughly rips off my mask.

“Ow, that hurt. It’s just me,” 

“Oh wow, hi miss! Sorry, I didn't think it was you. I thought I was getting kidnapped. My parents always tell me how easy it is for kids like me to get kidnapped. I think I did a pretty job 'interrogating'. That's what my dad says is the first step to not getting kidnapped, ” he rambles on and on, considerably lightened up.

“I'm glad to see your back to your usual self. I thought you were going to keep 'interrogating' me the whole time. You would be a really good detective. You had me breaking a sweat and I didn't even do anything wrong, ” I laugh. He laughs too.

“By the way, how did you know where I lived?” he asks back in detective mode.

“I live in the area. I love Halloween so I was taking a stroll around until I saw familiar faces. It was you and your father. While I chatted with him for a bit, I noticed he seemed very tired. So I asked him if I should trick or treat around the neighbourhood with you instead since I lived here anyways. It seemed he truly was tired because he didn't hesitate to answer. I'm glad it was your parents. To be honest, not all the parents are as cool as yours, ” I kneel slightly and jerk my bent arm towards him. 

“That makes sense. I never knew you lived in the same neighbourhood as me. That's so cool. Can I tell the rest of the class on Monday?” he beams.

“Why not,” I smile. Little did he know I heard him tell the whole class his home address today in class.

“You know how I knew you weren’t my dad. You looked happy. My dad’s never happy. My parents fight all the time and today they had a big one. My mom doesn’t want me to trick or treat and my dad does. This is the first time they’ve ever allowed me to go. But I don’t want to trick or treat with my dad if he’s just going to be sad the whole time. It’s no fun,” he sulks. 

“I’m sorry you're having a rough time because of your parents. Don't let them get you down. It’ll ruin Halloween for you. I’ve spent some of my favourite memories on this holiday,” 

He doesn’t reply. He simply keeps on sulking. I feel bad for him.

“You know what. Why don’t we go to my house? I already bought a bunch of candy for myself. We can eat them while watching scary movies, but not too scary,”

He looks up. 

“You think we really can that? That’s going to be so much fun. I want to do that instead of trick or treating,”

“As long as you know your parents won’t get mad. I’ll phone them once we get there,”

“My parents don’t care about me. They never have. Halloween won’t change that,” he looks as if hs trying hard not to tear up.

No kid should feel that way. His parents don’t deserve him, like how my parents didn’t deserve me. 

We walk to my parked car nearby. I drive for what seems like a long time. I let him know my house is a few minutes away. 

Once we reach the house, we get out of my car and walk up the driveway. I unlock the front door and set my keys on a coffee table.

“Wow, your house is so cool! It looks way bigger on the inside than the outside,” he looks astonished. 

I live in an average townhouse. I can’t imagine how he lives if he thinks this is cool.

“Thanks, buddy. There are bags of chips and bottles of soda on the table. Help yourself while I get the movie ready,” 

I walk up the stairs to my entertainment room filled with things like CDs, game consoles, and finally choose to watch Gremlins, a children’s horror classic he's sure to have never seen. 

Once I get to the bottom of the stairs, I notice it’s awfully quiet. There are no fizzing or crunching sounds. That’s when I find him. Lying on the couch, he's sound asleep, mouth covered in Dorito seasoning. How did he fall asleep so quickly? I check my phone. It’s already been around half an hour since we came home. I must have taken a longer time than I thought to pick a movie out.

Oh well, I’ll just watch tv in the meantime. Maybe I’ll check the news. Maybe, someone there will care about him on this lonely night.

On Halloween night's major news, they merely notify viewers of the growing numbers of razors found in treats over the past years. 

As usual, no news of any abductions. 

No news on him. 

No news on me.