Trick or Treat?

“Boooooohahahahah!” “Ahhhh! Stop it Ethan you scared me!” Halloween was Ethan’s favorite holiday. Don’t get me wrong it was mine too, but I liked the fun things about Halloween. The costumes, the running around the neighborhood with friends, and of course the trick-or-treating. Ethan liked all the scary things about Halloween. The ghouls, ghosts, and goblins. He loved the pranks, the fake blood, and haunting masks. I don’t know why I always agree to go trick-or-treating with him. But hey, he was my best friend and it wouldn’t be a real Halloween if he didn’t scare the crap out of me at least twice tonight. “Quit whining Tika! You know what it is! It’s all hallows eve and we are ready for tricks, treats, pranks!” “Whatever, where are we meeting the gang at?” “We are meeting at Horner park. I hope you have your bags ready for candy and your gut prepared for some serious scaring.” I let out a huge sigh as we head out the door. 

Toni and Kyle were waiting outside of the field house when we arrived. “Hey guys wasp!” “Hey great costume Tika!” “Thanks girl! I’m ready for some serious candy grabs. This is the last year we can get away with trick-or-treating. We are going to high school next year.” Luckily, none of us at hit a real growth spurt yet. Ethan interrupted, “We may be too old to get candy, but we won’t be too old to pull of some awesome pranks!” “Let’s Go.” I pulled Ethan by the ear into the field house. Every Halloween the park near our house hosts a haunted house. It’s more of a fun house where we can come and collect candy, play games, and win prizes. We always hit up the field house first, then grab our bikes, and hit the blocks with the mini mansions. They always have the best candy and best decorations.

After making our rounds through each room in the “haunted house” we stop in the room where they are having ghost story hour. Mr. Dumas was just about to start the story of the haunted mansion blocks. He told the story every year in hopes of scaring the neighborhood kids into staying nearby to trick-or-treat instead of leaving the neighborhood. It never worked but we still liked to hear the story. After all, Mr. Dumas should know by now that there is not much that will keep kids from getting the candy on Halloween. “Every Halloween night the haunted mansion blocks are filled with a heavy fog covering. This fog comes as a cover to warn the town’s people that they will occupy the space for that night. When they have left normal life in the blocks can continue. Anyone that walks through the heavy fog will be consumed by the fog never to be seen again.”

We’d been hearing this story now for the last three years. It never stopped us from going. Every year we leave the story hour and continue on our merry way. “Can you believe Mr. Dumas? His story almost sounded real this year” said Kyle. “Yea, he was really reaching” Toni jumped in. “I don’t know guys; I always take him seriously. I mean the same EXACT story seven years running. There has to be something to it.” “Tika, are you serious?” Ethan asked holding back laughter. “Yea, he’s told the same EXACT story seven years running and seven years running we have gone trick-or-treating on the mini mansion blocks and returned with every hair in place. We have been fine; we’ve never even seen the fog before.” “Ethan does have a point. Seven years and… no fog” Toni shrugged. “So, I guess that means we are still going to hit the blocks?” “Yes Tika.” “You know I hate when you all speak in unison.” Tika rolled her eyes as they headed out the back of the field house.  

A quick cut through Horner Park and we were at the back of Kyle’s house picking up our bikes. We rode over the bridge and before we hit the bottom of the hill Ethan put his bike breaks on so fast, they made the loudest screeching sound. Kyle and I stopped behind him. Toni was the last to make it and she gasped when she realized why we were all stopped.

The fog. The fog over the mini mansion blocks was so thick. If it wasn’t for the extensive Halloween lights and decorations, we would not be able to see anything. Ethan was the first to speak. “Alright guys let’s go. The best candy in the land awaits us. If we don’t get, someone else will.” “Ummm, you’re not serious, are you?” asked Kyle. “What wrong?” We all looked at Ethan with wide eyes. “Don’t you think it’s strange that there has never been fog before and tonight there is fog?” “Hey man, I’m not scared but if you guys are then I’ll catch you later”. Kyle and Toni quickly started shaking their heads and trying to convince Ethan that they are not afraid to continue. “Oh, we’re not afraid. We thought you were afraid. Are you afraid Toni? She looked at Kyle. “Me? Oh, no I’m not afraid. Are you afraid Kyle?” “Nope! Not a scary bone in my body!” Me? Oh, I was definitely afraid. I was not about to risk my life because Ethan wanted some candy. Best friend or not he was on his own. “Tika, you coming?” “Sure.”

Who was I kidding? I couldn’t leave Ethan if I tried. “You know you guys shouldn’t be afraid of a little fog.” Ethan proclaimed. “Let’s go!” We all rode our bikes into the fog. We were approaching the fourth house when we realized something. “ummm, where is Toni?” asked Kyle. “What do you mean, where’s Toni?” She is usually a little slow to catch up, but this is the fourth house we’ve been too, and she hasn’t caught up. We haven’t seen her yet. What are the chances the fog caught her?” Kyle was looking around and shaking on his bike. “Come on Kyle get serious!” “I am serious Ethan; I don’t have a good feeling about this. I’m turning around to look for her.” Kyle rode off into the fog. It was extremely thick tonight. Kyle and Toni could be just on the other side of us and we would never know because of the heaviness of this fog. Ethan and I were riding up to the sixth house when we heard a loud screeching that sounded like Kyle’s voice. I pumped my breaks as my bike came to a turning stop. “Ethan, I know you heard that!” “Come on Tika, its just Kyle playing around.” “Whatever you say dude I’m not sticking around to find out. Tika’s out!”

As Tika disappeared into the fog Ethan realized he was all alone. “Oh well, more candy for me.” He thought to himself. “Ethan help us. We’re your friends don’t leave us in the fog!” “What was that?” this time Ethan heard his thought out loud. Was he talking to himself? Was he hearing things? He was unsure so he kept on riding his bike from house to house. The wind began to blow as he heard “Ethan we can’t find our way out the fog. Help us!” “Tika! Is that you? Are you trying to talk to me?” “Yes, Ethan its me. Its all of us. Help us out of the fog.!” Ethan began riding his bike furiously back through the fog to try and find them. He tried to follow the sound of Tika’s voice. “Keeping talking, I think I’m getting closer.” Ethan was getting scared. What if he was unable to save his friends in time. What happens if they never find their way out of the fog? He heard Mr. Dumas’ voice in his head “they disappear into the fog never to been seen again… again… again...” Did Mr. Dumas make the last word of the sentence echo like that or was that my brain again? I’m thinking out loud again! Stop Ethan there is no time! This time he thought that to himself and not out loud. “Tika, I can’t hear you keep talking.” Ethan was in a full panic now. He thought that he was hearing things before and now he wished that he was hearing anything at all. Finally, he stopped at the bottom of the hill where they first discovered the fog. Holding his head in his hands he sobbed, “I’ve lost my friends. I was to selfish to stop and help them. All these years of pulling disappearing tricks on them and now they have vanished forever.”

It suddenly occurred to Ethan that he was sitting and sobbing when he should be going to look for help. But who would believe that Mr. Dumas’ story would turn out to be true? “Mr. Dumas! That’s who!” Ethan found himself thinking out loud again. He hopped on his bike and sped back to the field house. He was completely out of breath when he finally found Mr. Dumas. He grabbed his arm in a panic causing Mr. Dumas to ask what was wrong. He only had enough breath to explain that Mr. Dumas needed to come with him right away.

When Ethan made it back to the bottom of the hill with Mr. Dumas it was clear to him what was going on. Mr. Dumas asked, “is this some kind of joke?” “What do you mean?” Ethan asked. “You see the fog, don’t you?” “Yes, I do but what does this have to do with me?” “Well, this creepy fog that you tell us about year after year has finally come around and my friends are missing so this is all your fault….” Before Ethan could finish telling Mr. Dumas what happened he turned around to see that he was also gone. “Ethan, you brought me here and now the fog has taken me away. You can’t save us… us… us…”

Okay, so, Mr. Dumas speaks in echoes. Stop Ethan, there is no time! Ethan running and screaming “Mr. Dumas, wait! You’re the only that can help me!” “It’s too late Ethan! The only way to save us is to try and come into the fog yourself.”

“Welp, I guess this is it.” “Ethan no! Save us! We are friends!” He heard the cries of his friends in the wind. Ethan had a choice to make right here and now. He could save his friend and live to trick-or-treat with them another year or he could continue his own trick-or-treating and buy new friends with bribe candy. “Decisions, decisions.” He decided that riding bikes and hanging out with his best friends was worth way more than some piles of gourmet candy. “I’ll save them this time, but they’ll owe me big!” Ethan was afraid but he ran into the fog howling. He felt the tight grip of the fog gather around his whole body. He began screaming out in fear “No please please, don’t make me disappear. I know I always pull disappearing pranks, but I want to be here!” The grip became tighter and tighter. The fog thicker and thicker. He started feeling like he was choking, and he couldn’t breathe. Ethan knew he was about to pass out. He could hear laughing and snickering in his head. Sounded just like Tika’s laugh. He fell to the ground as he was about to finally faint when he realized the fog was dissipating. He also realized he was not imagining Tika’s laughter. When the fog finally cleared, he saw Kyle, Toni, Tika, and Mr. Dumas standing around him bursting with laughter. They all yelled out “Gotcha!” in unison

When Ethan opened his eyes, he finally realized what was really happening. This was all one big prank. When he looked around, he saw his friends laughing with Mr. Dumas, but he also saw the residents of the mini mansion blocks out on their lawns cheering and laughing. They were all in on it too. Each house had its own fog machine. They let my friends hide out in their houses and they were the team of people that grabbed me as I went into the fog. It was magnificent! It had all come together so well.

“Man Tika, you are brilliant! It finally feels good to get Ethan back after all these years of pranks!” “Yea, Kyle I couldn’t have said it better myself! High fives all around!” Toni held her hands up high. Tika thanked Mr. Dumas and the mini mansion residents for their assistance. They could not have done it without him.

“Wow, Tika, you finally got me! Because I was genuinely scared.” “Indeed, I did Ethan, that should teach you to play with us again. Now let’s go get this candy!” “Wait, you’re not going to tell me how you managed to pull this whole thing off?” “No sir! A good prankster never reveals their tips and tricks.”