Bella's First Halloween

 Bella’s First Halloween

Every day, George Marchand watched the Asian mother with her little girl. They played in the garden or went for a walk. The little girl, Bella, was almost three. One day, there had been a pleasant exchange as he walked into town and came across the pair.

The summer ended and the little girl still too young to go to school went to a babysitter every day while her mother went to work.  He would see them arrive home together as a man from the mother’s work drove them to their place.

The fall arrived suddenly and the days turned gloomy and dark. The leaves changed colours quickly and they were a sight to see. Bella collected the red, orange and yellow ones with enthusiasm.

One day, George went over after they had arrived home for the day.

Ling opened the door and smiled.

“Yes, can I help you?”

“Hello, I am your neighbour across the road. We have met before.”

“Yes, I remember you.”

Bella stuck her head out the door.

“Look, I have balloons.”

“Yes, balloons are fun. Speaking of fun, have you ever taken your daughter trick or treating?”

Ling feigned a smile. She didn’t understand what he was saying.

“In North America, the kids get dressed in a costume and go from door to door collecting candy. My children used to do it all the time. We don’t have to go to many houses, but it would be fun for her.”

Bella looked up at her mother.

“I am not sure.”

“Well, the offer is there. If you don’t have a costume for her, I do. “

“I will tell you tomorrow.”

All night long, Ling thought about the man’s generous offer.  She called up a couple of friends including Sue Lin.

“Oh, that be fun for Bella. Say yes.”

The following morning, Ling woke up with a smile. Later that day, she went over and knocked on the door.

It opened slowly.

Ling smiled.

“We go trick or treating.”

Bella was very excited even though she didn’t know exactly what was going on. But her mother talked to her and said: “we are going to do something fun.”

Fun usually meant going to the park with the swings and other playground equipment. Or visiting friends like Ming and her lovely daughters.

“Great, I will pick you up after it gets dark and we will go, We can pull her in that wagon that you take for walks. Do you have a costume?”

“No costume. Sorry.”

“That’s okay.”

So on Halloween night, the weather was warm but not too warm. It was a fine night to collect candy.

George showed up with a ghost costume.

“Come in.”

He went inside and it was simple but tasteful.

Bella put on the ghost costume and ran around the room screaming Boo!

She was adorable.

So they put her in the wagon and started down the street. They came to the first house.

“Okay, now you have to knock on the door and say: Trick or Treat. Can you do that?”

She looked at George, smiled and nodded her head.  

He took her by the hand and they slowly made it up the sidewalk to the door.

The little tyke was very shy and barely knocked on the door.  In fact, her knock was so faint that nobody heard it. George did it for her and the kind woman answered the door.

“Oh, my what a sweet little angel,” she gushed.

The female dropped a generous amount of candy into the bag. The little one looked inside and her face lit up. She couldn’t wait to hit the next house.

They moved through the night. She squealed with delight, but always listened to George and her mom. He took her by the hand as they walked from one house to the other.

“What do you say after you knock on the door?”

“Trick or treat.”

“That’s my girl,” he laughed out loud.

But, she was still too shy to say anything or knock on the door hard enough.

She started to smile and bounce around and then at the fourth door, the little one blurted out: “trick or treat!”

From that point on she would shout the catch phrase and it was wonderful.  With each new house they hit, the candy bag grew more full.

“Oh, she is the sweetest little ghost.”

“That is the cutest little ghost, I have ever seen.”

The comments rolled out all night long.

By the tenth house, she had accumulated a pretty good haul already. And, she wasn’t even close to being done. They were only supposed to hit about a dozen places, but kept going.

Every where she went, the candy givers were enchanted. She had gone from a shy, young girl into a candy machine collector.

She skipped and laughed and George’s smile and her mother’s smile grew wider. The girl was having the time of her life.

There were other trick or treaters out that night, a whole lot of them dressed in a myriad of costumes. Some were quite impressive and elaborate, while others were pretty simple.

Although, she didn’t have the most expensive costume, Bella had the greatest spirit. She was so excited and oozed so much enthusiasm that the other kids became riled.

Her joy was infectious and spread. Soon all the kids on the street started to jump and shout and it turned into a spontaneous party-like atmosphere. The kids danced around and celebrated the great tradition of getting candy.

The celebration was recorded and put on You Tube. Bella was at the centre showing off her best moves and everyone around the world laughed and watched. There were millions of hits and the kids became instant stars.

The street dance was a true refection of a little girl from a different country enjoying a special day.  

But like all good things it had to come to an end.  They had to take her home reluctantly and the great night was over.

They walked home with George holding the sacred candy bag so full of goodies that it was too heavy for the almost three year old to carry.

They stopped at the house.

Bella looked at the large man and ran to him jumping into his arms.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

He held her in his arms for a long time and then let her go.

Ling hugged him and thanked him.

They went inside and George went home. He sat in his chair and turned on the TV.

Eventually, he fell asleep and then woke up early in the morning, He smiled at the previous night’s activities. The phone rang and he answered it.

“Dad, you’re on You Tube.”

“I am?”

“Yes, we can see you in the background.”

“I took the little Asian girl across the street on her first Halloween. I would say it was a success.”

“That is great, dad. We all love you.”

“Thank you for calling.”

He smiled and realized that it would go down as his favourite Halloween.