The Trickster's Treat

‘Aren’t you cold?’ I ask the little girl who’s walking next to me. Her diadem wobbles with every step she takes. She insisted on being a princess even though her mother had told her that it might be a bit old-fashioned. She didn’t care. It was her fantasy from the first trick-or-treating she had to miss, and she was not about to let go of it.

‘No, I’m not cold at all,’ she answers. Her cheeks seem to glow with excitement as she looks at all the children haunting the streets. Floating orange and red flickering lights seem to send laughter into the night. Her eyes flash from house to house, desperately trying to decide where to go first.

‘It’s very exciting this whole thing,’ I tell her.

She nods and pulls my sleeve to the first house she wants to visit.

‘Do you also have this in your country?’

I shake my head. The wolf mask I’m wearing being dragged along, rubbing my cheeks.

‘No. People here dress up for Halloween to scare the ghosts. In my country people don’t believe in ghosts, that’s why they are extra scared of people who are different.’ 

She ponders over this.

‘That’s a shame. Do they also wear masks to scare those people away?’

I laugh muffled from under my mask.

‘No, not really. They wear masks of anger on their faces. That’s just as scary.’ 

She holds still for a second at the picket fence in front of a white wooden house. They decorated the porch with colored lights and there’s a decapitated corpse on the lawn. She stares at the path leading to the door.

‘Don’t worry, it’s all make-believe,’ I say.

She sighs and frowns.

‘I know that, dummy. I’m just checking to see if they would have much candy’

A woman dressed as a witch opens the door. She looks at the little girl by my side while holding a bowl of candy. 

‘Wow, your highness, it’s an honor to have you here.’

The girl smiles and looks at the ground. 

‘And your daddy is such a scary wolf. In your shoes, I would be too afraid to go out with such a scary creature, but you are a very brave princess.’

The girl shakes her head.

‘He’s not my dad.’

The woman hesitates for a second and throws me the kind of glance I have seen too many times in my life. 

‘My real daddy left when I was a baby. This is the new and improved daddy. He’s finally taking me trick or treating. Mommy never could because she’s always working.’

The woman relaxes, smiles, and puts a hand full of candy in her pumpkin. 

‘It’s good that you have a nice daddy now. A princess deserves the best father possible.’

The girl smiles as she watches the candy disappear into her pumpkin.

‘Now, what do you say to the nice lady?’

‘Thank yoouuu.’

I nod my head to the woman. Then we turn around and return to the street.

I met her mother at the supermarket, looking exhausted with messy hair and circles under her eyes. There are too many women like that in certain areas. Got pregnant too young, abandoned by the father who was still a boy, and then struggling the rest of their days to make ends meet. We somehow clicked though. For a woman like her, every guy is the right man at the right time. She just needed a father figure for her child and someone stable to rely on. She didn’t even mind my little accident in the bedroom. On a deeper level, I know that she’s using me, but I don’t mind. I feel a bit sorry for her and it’s not like I have that much choice. I got the chance to be her savior again when she had sighed that she wished there was someone who could finally take her daughter trick or treating. 

‘So Popje, where do you want to go next?’

She looks up at me.

‘Popje? What does that mean?’

Some kids run by, screaming. They wear Marvel costumes.

‘It means something like Little Doll.’

‘Little doll? I don’t like that. I’m a person, not a doll!’

I smile from underneath my mask. 

‘You sure are a person. A very pretty one.’

She smiles at that and starts to hop. I hold the pumpkin for her.

‘Do you like Halloween?’ she asks.

‘I do. It’s a lot of fun to dress up.’

She looks at a little group of older kids walking by.

‘Yes, though next year I won’t go as a princess. I think it’s a bit childish.’ 

She looks down at her blue shiny dress with a bit of disgust.

‘No, don’t be silly. There’s nothing wrong with being childish. It’s better than being a boring adult. Adults are stupid.’

She laughs at this. 

‘You are not stupid. And mommy neither.’

I smile. 

‘You are right. Your mommy is a very sweet and strong woman, but maybe a little bit boring, no?’

Her eyes sparkle. 

‘Maybe a little bit.’

‘And I’m also boring. Very boring.’

She wildly shakes her head. 

‘No, you are not. You are still dressing up, not like all the other adults who just walk around in their clothes.’

‘Well, in my country I never had the chance to do that, so this way we can celebrate our first Halloween together. Now I’m a little bit like a child myself, just like you.’

She smiles broadly and starts running.

‘Last one to get to that house is a boring adult!’ 

I shrug and start running after her.

The truth is that I truly love the tradition of wearing masks. It seems like a rule in life that the more you want to be invisible, the more they won’t let you. This is an opportunity to escape that. 

‘Wow, that lady gave a lot!’ I say as I look into her pumpkin. There’s a full Snickers bar inside. 

‘She must really like your princess dress. I told you it’s not stupid.’

We are walking down a street that’s almost empty. There are fewer and fewer houses and they are further apart. The streetlights glow like little moons in the darkness. This neighborhood looks friendly. People have somewhat messy yards and welcoming signs next to their doors. Still, I wouldn’t want to visit every single neighbor to introduce myself. This is a much better way to go door to door.

‘Let’s go to that house over there.’

I point at a single porch light burning in the distance, surrounded by trees. 

‘Fewer children go there so they have more candy.’

She stares at it and lowers her pace. From the houses around us come the cries of drunk teenagers

‘I don’t know. I’m getting a little bit scared,’ she says as she grabs my hand. A shiver goes through my entire body as her skin touches mine, her tiny little fingers wrap around my big, strong hand.

‘Don’t worry Popje,’ I say. 

‘I think we properly scared away all the ghosts.’

She seems comforted by that. 

‘Okay then. Only if you promise to protect me.

I smile at her. Soon she will find out that some people are scariest when they drop their mask.