Trick or Treat

“You’re taking your brother with you and that is final. I don’t want to hear anymore about it!” Charlie’s mother attempted to whisper, even as her face was flushed with anger.

Her lowered voice didn’t mater, the declaration still rang like a scream in Charlie’s ears. His mother was delivering the deathblow to his social life and all she cared about was Max not overhearing their argument in the next room. She was more worried about protecting his little brother’s feelings then his. No doubt she’d lied and already told Max that Charlie wanted to take him to the party.

Charlie stormed out of the kitchen and into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him and grumbling a few choice words. He was 14, almost 15, and he was sick and tired of having to drag his little brother around with him wherever he went. He folded his arms and stared at the pumpkin shaped card tacked to his bulletin board.

Tiffany would never invite him to one of her parties ever again. She was the most popular girl in school and the cutest. Last week when she had unexpectedly handed him the invitation to her Halloween party after class, he knew he would finally have the chance to be one of the popular kids too.

The card was handmade and lettered in Tiffany's tiny, looping penmanship. The ridges of the pumpkin were highlighted with glitter glue and it had been sealed with a smiling bat sticker. He imagined her carefully crafting each invitation and then just as carefully selecting her guest list. Charlie had made the cut and now his little brother was going to ruin everything. The guys would never let him live this one down.

He ripped the card off his bulletin board and tossed it at the waste bin. It landed on the rim, bounced off, and hit the floor releasing a puff of orange glitter onto the surrounding carpet fibers. Maybe it would be better to just not go at all.

Charlie was still sulking in his bedroom when his father came in and glared at him. He looked absolutely ridiculous in a big poofy 70’s wig and bell bottoms. His mother stood out in the hallway wearing a long fringe jacket over a tie-dyed dress.

“Get ready to go.” With those four words his father had sealed his social fate.

***

Charlie walked down the sidewalk towards Tiffany’s house at an excruciatingly slow pace. The sun was just starting to set and he was dreading the night ahead. Oblivious to his older brother’s foul mood, Max skipped along beside him swinging that childish plastic pumpkin bucket he’d insisted on bringing. Charlie had tried to explain to him several times that it wasn’t that kind of party, but Max was convinced he would need it to carry home all his candy.

The ten year old was dressed in a stupid crayon costume, complete with a pointy tip hat. It was blue, Max’s favorite color. Charlie was embarrassed to be seen with him even if most of the foot traffic at this hour was young kids trick or treating, their exhausted parents trailing behind. He was mad at his parents for sticking him with the job of babysitting. If they didn’t want to take Max to their party, why would they think he’d want to?

Charlie was proud of the job he’d done on his costume. Especially on his makeup. He looked like a real zombie complete with a gory head laceration and an oozing bite wound on his arm. Now he was a zombie with a blue crayon. Not cool.

Charlie crumpled the paper his parents had given him and stuffed it down into the pocket of his torn jeans. It had the number of where they would be at written on it just in case there was an emergency. They were planning on leaving their cell phones in their car since their costumes didn’t have pockets.

A few houses ahead Charlie saw the old Miller place. It had been abandoned for as long as he could remember. Something about it being a historic house that half the town wanted to rebuild and the other half wanted to tear down and sell off the land. Charlie slowed even more as they approached the high, stone fence that stood around the property’s garden. He stopped in front of the wrought iron gate, hatching a plan.

The only way to get out of taking his brother with him was if Max decided he didn’t want to go. Then he could just call his parents and have them pick him up and go on to the party without him. Max had stopped beside him and was looking at the run down house with wide eyes. Perfect.

“Why do you even want to come anyway, Max? The party is going to be too scary for you. We are going to tell ghost stories and watch horror movies.”

“I won’t be scared.” Max said in a firm voice, he looked back at his brother, hands on his little blue crayon hips.

“Fine. You can come with me to the party. But, only if you prove that you won’t get too scared and embarrass me.”

“I won’t be scared.” Max declared for a second time.

“Are you willing to prove it?”

“Yes!”

Charlie leaned down and whispered. “Do you know why no one lives in this house, Max?”

“No, why?” Max asked, hesitantly.

“Because its haunted.” Charlie whispered, conspiratorially.

“You’re making that up! I can tell!”

“No, I’m not! It’s true! And the ghost...the ghost is a witch too!”

Max narrowed his eyes and Charlie thought perhaps he had gone too far with the lie. His little brother was naive but not stupid.

With near perfect timing, a neighbor's fat orange tabby ran past them, and squeezed between the iron bars of the padlocked gate. It was no doubt rattled by the unusually busy streets, full of squealing children in costumes. Charlie saw this as the perfect opportunity to elaborate on his story.

“You see! There goes one of her cats! It used to be a boy. That is what she does when she catches little boys. She turns them into cats and then they have to eat mice for the rest of their lives. No more candy for them!” Charlie paused dramatically. “I wonder what color cat you would be?”

Max began to look rattled and Charlie felt a little bad for scaring him so much, then he remembered Tiffany and the party. Charlie took Max’s pumpkin from him and tossed it over the stone wall surrounding the garden.

Max looked momentarily surprised and then angry. “What did you do that for? Now what am I going to carry all my candy in?”

“I already told you, it isn’t that kind of party. You said you were willing to prove you aren’t too scared. Well, if you can get your bucket back from the witches’ ghost then I will know you are brave enough for an adult Halloween party!”

Max narrowed his eyes and Charlie’s heart sunk. His plan was failing. He knew that look of determination on his younger brother’s face, he’d seen it before. Max, ever the agile tree climber, scampered over the rock wall before Charlie had a chance to stop him.

“Max! Max!” Charlie called out for his younger brother straining to try to look over the top of the fence, then moving to look through the bars of the padlocked gate. Max was nowhere to be seen. Neither was his pumpkin bucket. Maybe he had thrown it further then he though he had?

***

Max landed on the other side of the garden fence and winced when his sneakers met the hard stone path. The drop made his feet sting and his hat had fallen off. He picked up the pointy crayon tip from where it had rolled into the grass and dusted off the fresh blades that clung to it, then placed it back on his head. He didn’t want to walk around looking like a broken crayon.

He glanced around the garden looking for his pumpkin bucket in the quickly fading light. Rows of pretty golden lanterns clicked on overhead as night fell. They bathed the flowers and bushes in a warm, cheery glow. Green ivy vines trailed up the sides of the stone wall along with a vine that was covered in white flowers that were larger then his hand. In front of him a line of rose bushes bloomed, each one a different color. Off to the side, a large area was planted with a variety of herbs arranged in intricate little rows and kept neatly trimmed.

The bright orange of his bucket stuck out among the herbs like a real pumpkin growing in a pumpkin patch. He carefully pulled it free of the plants. The smell they released into the night air reminded him of when his mother was cooking spaghetti. He looked around again and saw lights on inside the house. His brother had definitely been lying. The house wasn’t abandoned and there were no ghosts.

“Well hello there!”

A voice from just behind Max made him jump. He spun around and saw a beautiful young woman standing just a few feet away. She was wearing a witch’s costume and was carrying a big blue bowl filled with candy.

“Hi!” Max’s eyes were focused on the candy. He held out this newly recovered bucket. See, his brother had been wrong, he did need his bucket after all.

“Well, what do you say?” The woman prompted, a mischievous smile on her face.

“Trick or treat!” Max replied without hesitation and the lady dumped a heaping handful of candy into his bucket.

“I’ve made cupcakes too. Would you like one?” She asked.

Max nodded vigorously and followed her down the path and up the stairs to a door leading into the house. It led directly into the kitchen. It was a large, bright room with dark wooden cabinets. The walls were covered in a beige wallpaper dotted with little pink roses. The marble counter tops were blanketed in cupcakes in various states of cooling and decoration. The smell inside was absolutely wonderful.

The lady set down her bowl of candy and handed him a cupcake with blue and black frosting swirled on top. A little chocolate ghost was set into the middle. She clapped her hands in delight as he scarfed it down and immediately handed him another.

“These are delicious.” Max mumbled between mouthfuls of the moist cake and sweet icing.

“Oh I am so glad you like them! I was worried I wouldn’t get any trick or treaters. Its been so many years since the children have come by. I’ve missed seeing their costumes and smiles!”

Max looked around at all the cupcakes and noticed several bowls of candy as well. He wondered why she put so much work into all of this if no one came by. He also wondered why no one came by. This had to be the best house in the entire neighborhood!

“I love your costume.” The lady handed him yet another cupcake and then took his pumpkin bucket. She filled it up the rest of the way with candy. “Blue is my favorite color too!”

“Thank you.” Max beamed back at her and then frowned. “I’m sorry miss but I have to go now. My brother is waiting for me outside.”

The woman’s face fell. She seemed really lonely. Max would have to tell all the kids about her place so they could come by and get cupcakes too. Maybe he could tell his older brother and then he could tell all of his friends at the party. He knew being popular was really important to Charlie. His older brother’s friends would all think he was the absolute bestest if he got them as many cupcakes as they could eat!

“Alright.” The woman sighed and then smiled a little sadly at him. “Well you have a safe night Max. And here, take a cupcake for your brother too.”

Max took the cupcake and retrieved his now very heavy candy bucket. He started down the stairs and back out into the garden trying to remember the lady’s name so he could tell his brother about her. Surely she must have introduced herself at some point. How else would she know his name?

***

Night had fallen. They should have already been at Tiffany’s house. How long had Max been gone? Charlie checked the time on his cellphone, but without knowing what time Max had climbed the fence, it did him little good. If only Max had a cell phone, he could just call him and tell him to get back out here, but their mother still thought he was too young for one.

Charlie paced up and down the sidewalk, just outside the locked garden gate. He regretted lying to Max now. Taking him to the party with him might not have been that bad. At least he would have been safe. There was a condemned sign on the front door of the house and trash littered the yard. What if he ran into a group of squatters inside or what if he fell through some rotten floorboards and was hurt?

Charlie tapped the button on his phone’s screen to turn on the flashlight app and walked up the cracked pavement to the staircase. The rotten stairs leading to the front door creaked and bent under his weight. He found that the front door was unlocked, which just made him even more worried some strangers might be lurking within.

He entered the house and held up his phone light and looked around. The wallpaper was yellowed and pealing from the walls. There were holes in the floor and holes in the ceiling above him. A few pieces of rotting furniture remained and he carefully picked his way around them to peer into the other rooms. The place smelled of mold and dust. He called out for Max repeatedly but got no response.

He discovered a room that had once been a kitchen and a side door that led out into the garden. It was also unlocked. He opened it and stepped out onto a staircase that was just as rotten as the one at the front of the house. He sputtered and swiped at his face as he stepped right into a thick spiderweb. He could see from here that the garden was terribly overgrown and there was no sign of his brother or his brother’s bright orange candy bucket.

Charlie headed back out the way he had come. No footprints led to the second floor, in fact his were the only ones in the thick layer of dust and grime. He returned to the sidewalk and resigned himself to calling his parents. He wasn’t worried about getting in trouble anymore, he was just worried about his little brother. A short time ago all he had wanted was to get rid of him and now all he wanted was to have him back.

Charlie dialed the number his parents had given him. It took a few moments for the person on the other end of the line to pick up and then a few more moments for them to find his mother and bring her to the phone. It was really loud at their party.

“Charlie?” He could barely hear his mother’s voice over the music. He explained what had happened. He had no trouble hearing her after that.

***

The police pulled up at the same time as his parents. His mother and father looked completely panicked and his mother’s makeup was running down her face. She had been crying on the short ride over here. Charlie felt horrible.

He explained what had happened again to one of the officers. The other officer took a large flashlight and went into the property to look for Max. His mother and father wanted to go as well, but the officer told them it wasn’t safe and that they all needed to stay put.

A few minutes later the officer came out of the house shrugging his shoulders.

“One of you should go back to your house in case he heads back there. I’ll radio this in and get a dog out here. Don’t worry ma’am, he couldn’t have gone far.”

Charlie’s mother held him tightly as if he might disappear as well and somehow that was even worse then her yelling at him. He’d gladly be grounded for the rest of his life if his little brother would just come back.

Charlie’s father was reluctantly heading back to his car to check for Max at home, when the garden gate swung open behind them on loud, rusty hinges. The chain and padlock that had been blocking entrance now dangled loosely from the decorative iron bars.

Max stepped out, his crayon costume a bit scuffed from his climb over the wall, but otherwise no worse off for his time missing. He had a huge smile on his face and was struggling to lug his plastic pumpkin which was now overflowing with candy. In his other hand was a cupcake, precisely decorated with a swirl of black and orange icing, topped with purple sprinkles and a little marshmallow ghost. Max looked up and Charlie noticed his face was smeared with blue frosting.

Max appeared momentarily confused as he glanced between his parents and the police officers who were all frozen in place in shock. Then he spotted Charlie and grinned at him, proudly hefting the pumpkin bucket out in front of him.

“See? I told you I wasn’t afraid! And the lady who lives here is really nice. She even gave me a cupcake for you too.”

It was Charlie’s turn to look confused.