Orange Shark

“Maisie! C'mere now, we’re gonna choose your Halloween costume, uh-huh?”

Floe’s three-year-old, Maisie toddled clumsily over from her mini cooking set, her eager eyes wide with excitement and her mouth made an 'o' shape.

“Mama! Mama! Are we going?”

Floe nodded, a sense of pride rushing through her. There really were moments where she’d feel glad about making her daughter happy.

“YAY! We’re going for Halloweeny!”, she chanted and bounced on the balls of her feet.

“But, we won’t be going if you don’t get dressed up right now,” she said, “I’ll count till three!”

“One-”

Floe was cut off by an energetic Maisie throwing herself onto her lap. She looked up at her with vivid eyes and an angelic smile that made Floe want to cuddle her forever. 

After getting Maisie dressed, Floe dressed too in a wrap coat and loosely tied a creme coloured muffler around her neck. It was chilly outside, winter’s wrath was coming way too soon for comfort, they had to have fun before that.

Maisie was clad in a pink puffer jacket, leggings patterned with small, cartoonish flowers and a cute beanie that was a tad too big for her. “Let’s go then?” Floe asked.

Maisie nodded vigorously, making Floe smile at her enthusiasm. She held out her pinky that Maisie clutched with her small hands.

The weather outside got colder every day, today was no exception. The leaves were all browned, and most of them were on the ground spinning in circles, making small tornadoes at the side of the pavement. The wind nipped at her nose every time a gust of wind blew through the trees.

Floe turned at a corner to find a large costume shop, through which she could see a handful of people also doing some late minute shopping for Halloween.

“Decided what you wanna be Maisie?”

“Yup! I’ll be a shwark!”

“You mean a shark? Good choice!”

Floe pushed the door open, relishing the warmth of the shop. Maisie rubbed her hands together and ran off to see the colourful costumes that hung on the numerous metal rows.

A sales-clerk with dark hair made her way to Floe, "Welcome to The Costume Haven! Is there something you’re looking for in particular?” 

“Yes, I’m looking for a… shark costume? It’s for a three-year-old girl.”

“Right, just follow me!” she grinned.

You wove through the carefully arranged outfits, examining each of them until the clerk finally stopped at three shark costumes hung under the three to four age sections. Maisie appeared behind her, apparently, she was hiding between the clothes that hung in a circle. 

“Maisie, which one do you like? The purple, blue or orange one?”

Maisie furrowed her brows as she thought carefully. Her features relaxed a few seconds later when she decided on one.

“I like the orange shark! I'll be the orangie orange shark!”

Floe bought the costume, and when she went out, she found that the sun had almost set. It was almost time for the trick and treats.

“Let’s hurry now!” Floe picked up her pace slightly, but not too much because she didn't want to tire Maisie out already.

Once they were back at home, Maisie got changed into her shark outfit and did a small twirl in front of the mirror. “Good girl Maisie! Here, take this,” Floe handed her a pumpkin basket.

“Mama! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“Okay, let’s go, Maisie!”

The sun could barely be seen over the horizon, the streetlamps flickered on, illuminating a group of young children all dressed up in various costumes. Maisie didn’t hesitate for even a second before running to the bunch and introducing herself. An older kid, perhaps in their early teens took charge of the group.

Floe watched the group as they split up and each went towards different porches. She closely followed Maisie, not wanting to lose sight of her in the crowd. But even if she did, she would find Maisie almost immediately because of the delighted aura surrounding her. 

Maisie’s group's ‘leader’ knocked on the door and it was opened almost instantly by a middle-aged man.

“Trick or treat?!” yelled out the kids

“Hmm let’s see… I suppose I’ll choose treat then eh?” he grinned widely.

The group cheered and held out their baskets which were all promptly filled with a handful of sweets. Maisie looked at her basket, she was delighted! After all, that must've been the most number of sweets together that she'd ever seen.

Floe noticed that Maisie whispered something to the girl beside her and they ran off to the next house on their own. Floe sighed and sped up to catch up with her mischievous daughter.

Maisie knocked on the door and right when it was opened, she exclaimed, “Trick or treat?!”

The woman that opened the door smiled and replied with “I guess a trick?”

If it was even possible, Maisie’s smile had become even wider and she whispered something to her friend who nodded at her.

Maisie and her friend hid behind the door and paused for a moment. Then, they jumped out and yelled aloud, “BOO!”

The woman let out a surprised yelp and started laughing heartily. She ruffled their hair and gave them each a candy bar.

Maisie skipped down the stairs and talked to her friend with exaggerated movements. They both giddily skipped to the next few houses, getting a bunch of sweet goodies until their basket was near overflowing. They sat down on a nearby bench and munched on all the goodies that had collected.

Before long, Maisie was exhausted, but satisfied and came running back to Floe, Floe picked her up and twirled her around. After saying the goodbyes, the two of them began walking home.

"So, how was your first trick or treat?"

"Mmm... it was SO fun! There were lots of chocos!" Maisie spread out her arms to show the number of sweets they had.

"Do you want to go again next year?"

"I wanna go tomorrow!"