The Visitors
The autumn evening is cool and quiet. The day is over and your mind is at rest. You lean back in your favorite chair, close your eyes, and gently drift off into a doze.
At the edge of consciousness, you hear a sound. It repeats. As you rise up out of the haze of slumber, you realize that the doorbell is ringing.
Still half-asleep, you stumble to the front door and open it.
“Trick or treat!” chorus four voices.
You look down. Halloween already? It must be, because there they are, holding out pillowcases and shopping bags. A devil with plastic horns, a pirate grinning through smudged eyeliner stubble, Spider-Man with his own name written across his chest, and even an old-fashioned last-minute bedsheet ghost with scuffed sneakers just visible below the hem. You smile blearily.
“Give me just a second, kids, I know I’ve got something around here somewhere.”
In the kitchen, you rummage through the cupboards, looking for suitable treats. You’ve been so busy that you completely forgot to buy candy, and now here you are, with not even a Fun-Size Snickers to your name. You dig further, hoping for something acceptable, anything, candy bars, cookies, gum. Nothing.
You walk slowly back. The trick-or-treaters have stepped inside, and are waiting patiently by your front door. Red-faced, you shrug.
“I’m really sorry. I thought I had something. I hate to turn you away empty-handed on Halloween. Maybe I’ve got some spare change, do you want that?”
The pirate speaks up. “No, that’s all right. We really were hoping for treats, though.”
The devil nods in agreement. “I guess it’s time for the trick.”
And as the children shift into their true forms, you remember that Halloween won’t be here for weeks.