I can't open the door!

"It's time! It's time! Halloween is near!" little Jack sang as he hopped around the living room.

"Oh please, not again," answered his mother. She was not fond of Halloween. She didn't like the costumes and the sweets, the horror movies and having to stay up late.

"Oh yes ma'am," answered Jack as he sat at the table, his fork in one hand, the knife in the other and his tongue licking his lips, awaiting his dinner hungrily.

Right then, the phone rang and his mother hurried to answer it. A few hushed voices, an exclamation and she shouted, “honey, it’s your friend Ales!”

Jack ran to the phone. “Yes, Alex?” he asked breathily.

“I can’t wait to dress up as a zombie! What are you going to dress up as?” Alex’s excited voice rang through the black object in Jack’s little hands.

“A ghost!” he replied happily. Last year he had been a vampire and the year before, a werewolf.

This year he had decided to try the most classical monster of them all: the ghost. After watching a documentary on ghosts with his older brother, no-one and nothing could change his mind.

“Oh! Nice! And how are you going to make the costume?” Alex asked curiously.

“I don’t need one!” Jack replied, a smug on his proud face.

“What? I don’t understand!”

Jack snickered and blew away a chunk of his thick brown hair away from his eyes. He looked at himself in the mirror and started his description.

“I’m going to colour myself white!”

“That’s it?” Alex asked bewildered.

“No obviously, there’s more! But it’s a surprise!”

“Oh come on!” slurred his friend. Jack could easily imagine Alex’s pout and wrinkling nose.

“Come on children, it’s enough. You can talk tomorrow at school.” Jack hadn’t seen his mother St all and nearly skipped in fright when she took the phone from his hands.

Jack huffed and shouted his friend goodbye. His mom hung up and ruffled her kids’ hair.

“You really are into Halloween, uh,” she told the little boy. “An eight-year-old boy who is into spiders, ghosts, vampires and such.”

He scrunched up his little face and said, “ew! Not spiders!”

His mother laughed out loud as she went back to the kitchen. “Not spiders bug yes ghosts,” she murmured to herself, snickering. “Go to bed,” she called to him, “It’s late and tomorrow you’ve got a big day.”

Jack nodded and ran up the stairs.

After his evening routine, he snuggled in his blankets and soundly fell asleep on his ever-so-soft pillow.

“It’s Halloween, children. Be careful or you might end up dead,” warned Mr. Ralph. Jack watched him as the old neighbor snickered as he terrified him and his friends.

“Nobody will die, Mr. Ralph!” shouted Susan, a little blonde girl that was in Jack’s class.

“Yeah, that’s right!” added Jason, Jack’s friend from basketball. His face was scrunched up and he was focused on defending his friends.

“Yeah!”

“Exactly!”

A few more added in chorus. By then, everyone was booing Mr. Ralph and nobody took him seriously. Except one. Jack.

He’s heard the same scary story from one of his brother’s friends, Matt. He’s talked about becoming a ghost at midnight on Halloween. “As soon as the clock strikes 12, your body will be no more,” the boy had said. Jack shuddered as he remembered and held his pumpkin basket closer to him.

Jack woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. He was covered in cold sweat and was scared out of his pants. What if Matt was right? What if I become a ghost? Jack thought.

He hid under the blankets and held Robbie the Robot close to him.

Finally, despite the negative thoughts and fears, he fell asleep.

“Jack! Open the door!” Alex shouted from the other side of the door while banging his fists on the wall.

Jack sleepily woke up, yawned and scratched his head. Something was off. He wasn’t sure of what, exactly, but he felt strange. He looked around his room but nothing seemed out of place. The clothes were on the chair, messy as he liked them, the schoolbag was lying on the floor, next to the wardrobe, the socks and sweater were hanging on the coat hook, by the wardrobe and his costumes were all on the floor, next to the colours. He twitched his nose, wondering. At that moment a loud knock came from the door. Alex had started banging his fists against the wall again.

“I’M COMING!” Jack shouted, exasperated. He threw his legs off the bed and jogged to the door. Something was definitely off.

He went to turn the door knob but-

“I can’t open the door!” Jack shouted. His hand wasn’t there. He was transparent.

“What are you talking about?” Alex asked, annoyed.

“I’m…” Jack started. “You won’t believe me!” he cried. Tears were readying to fall to his cheeks and he was starting to feel insecure and alone.

“Hey! Of course I’ll believe you. What’s wrong, Jack?” Alex asked. He was, after all, the older brother and hearing his scared voice he couldn’t ignore him.

Jack sniffled and rubbed the back of his hand against his nose. He heisted before saying, “I’m transparent, Alex. Matt was right…”

Silence followed a whole minute before Alex said, “I’m coming in by the window.”

“Jack! I’m here! Open the window!” Alex ordered. His head was dangling from above as he was on the roof. It was the closest way in without having to take two flight of stairs and the ladder.

Jack hurried to the window and went for the latch. His hands passed through like a leaf falling to the ground. Alex was alarmed. He stared at Jack, then his hands, and at Jack again. He looked so… light.

“What if you pass through, Jack?”

Jack’s head snapped to his brother and then back at the window. “It’s two floors… I’ll fall,” Jack answered, preoccupied.

“Alright, let’s meet in my room.”

“So you’re saying you dreamt of this last night?” Alex asked his little brother for the hundredth time.

Jack simply nodded.

“I called Matt and he said that it’s supposed to be temporary. Maybe it’ll wear off in a couple of days,” Alex said, hopeful. He sat next to his brother and bumped his shoulder to Jack’s. Or, at least, he tried.

Jack sighed and nodded, his heart heavy.

“Hey, come on… It’s Halloween and you’re a real ghost!”

Jack gave his brother half a smile and looked down at his feet, sorrow in his eyes. Now no one could look at the costume he had personally designed.

“Look on the bright side: next year you already know what to wear! And… do you know anyone who got the chance to be real?”

“You’re right!” Jack started. He was becoming ever so hopeful and sure, he could wear this year’s costume next year, or make another one!

Five hours later*

“Ready?” asked Alex. Their plan would work perfectly if they remembered every detail and didn’t mess up.

Jack nodded, purpose his sole motif. He felt honored to go trick-or-treat-ing with his older brother and didn’t want to mess up their night. They had only one chance.

“Okay, let’s go.”

They left the house and walked down the street. They could see many kids running around with pumpkin baskets or containers in the form of troll or witch heads. There were many werewolves and trolls, a few goblins and a couple of witches. So far, no ghost. Jack had done his research and he knew he would have been the only ghost. Well, he was, just not the way he expected it.

They turned right and stopped in front of a white, new building. Here lived Sandy or, as Jack liked to call her, Miss. Imperfect. She was the sassiest girl he knew and she always liked to compete. Last year she had cut a hole in Jack’s basket and laughed as all his candies had fallen to the ground. Jack didn’t care as much for candies as he did for respect. To him, every had to be kind to one another.

Alex, too, agreed with Jack’s way of thinking and finally found a way to make her pay.

“Ready?”

“Uh uh,” Jack’s soft voice said. He looked worried yet excited. The joke they were about to do wasn’t something too extreme. It was just to laugh a little. They had already come a with a very logic explanation.

Alex looked at his watch and nodded to his brother. He went to hide behind a tree and followed the little’s boy’s movements.

Right then a girl opened the door. She had long, red hair and she was wearing a long, black, witch’s dress. She was also wearing her mother’s heels and her little black purse was what she was going to use to collect her candy.

Jack hid near a bush and crawled up to her porch. No one could see him unless they were actually looking for him.

Jack laid on his back and pushed himself towards the standing girl.

At the exact moment the girl opened her purse, murmuring to herself, “I need my li- ARGH!”

Jack had stuck his head through the purse, and was looking at her with a smile that showed all his 20 milk teeth.

Sandy fell back, scared, and Jack ran towards his brother. By the time Sandy’s mother arrived, both Jack and his brother had run back home, laughing their heart out the whole way back.

THE END.

(Jack turned back to a living kid that night, at midnight. Apparently, Matt had mixed up the information.)