Cindy peeked out of her window to look at the house diagonally across the street. She didn't know the people who lived there but for the past three months, she realized the woman didn't seem to be around anymore. The man was still there; she saw him go to work each morning and return late afternoon or early evening. But her car was gone. As Cindy looked, she was a bit startled to see him arrive home early that day. When he got out of the car, she could see his weary shoulders slumped as he slowly walked up their sidewalk to the front door. He stood there for half a minute staring at the door before he put a key in the lock and let himself inside.
'What's going on?' she thought to herself. 'That is not a happy man.' Her thoughts were interrupted by squealing and crying as Mandy and Chris rushed into the room. They were so full of energy, she at five years and he at barely four.
"Mommy, Mommy!" cried Chris, "Is it true that goblins are real?"
"Why'd you ask?"
"'Cause Mandy says they are 'n' it scares me."
"Mandy!" warned her mother, "You know they aren't real so don't go scaring your brother about them."
"But they are real. I saw it on TV!"
"Now, both of you, relax. Goblins are not real, they're just for fun at Halloween. And when we go trick-or-treating, I'll be there to make sure, OK?"
Mandy snickered at her still-frightened brother but both kids nodded their heads as she wrapped them up in her arms. "Are you getting excited about trick-or-treating? It's in just three more days!"
They laughed and giggled with excitement as her attempt to divert their attention worked nicely. "Now, who wants to help me bake Halloween cookies?"
"I do, I do," they shouted in unison as she led them to the kitchen. She let them help stir the dough and add some of the ingredients. They took a cookie cutter and made shapes of stars, moons, witches hats and cats. Once the cookies came out of the oven, she allowed them to put on orange and black frosting and to have two cookies each, even though it was so close to dinnertime.
'They might as well enjoy themselves,' she thought bitterly, 'Lord knows it'll be a long time before they have a normal childhood, if ever.'
Cindy had had what she considered the perfect life. She had grown up in a loving family which was comfortably middle class. They weren't wealthy but they had had everything they needed. In her early twenties at college, she met her dream guy. Ted was handsome, friendly and, once they went out, he never looked at another woman again. They dated for two years before he popped the question and they had a wonderful outdoor wedding on the grounds of a local vineyard. They were both successful, she as an accountant and he as an attorney. Once they had two kids back-to-back, she decided she wanted to stay at home for a couple of years before resuming her career.
Then tragedy struck. When the kids were still toddlers, Ted's commuter plane went down short of the runway at their local airport. There were no survivors and the crushing loss of her husband and lover cast her adrift. For weeks she could barely manage to function. Friends helped out taking care of the kids while she tried to deal with her overwhelming grief. The only things keeping her going were her children and the realization she would never need money again. Once the kids were born, Ted had purchased a two-million-dollar life insurance policy with a million-dollar accidental death rider. His firm also had a policy on him and split the proceeds with her. The airline, once it realized the fault was pilot error, offered each passenger's families five hundred thousand dollars in return for agreeing not to sue.
So, with more money than she ever thought she would need, she decided to move back to her old hometown to live near her parents and to try and start anew. She purchased a modest house in the suburbs, got involved with volunteering to help the elderly with their taxes and financial affairs and doted on her kids. Her parents helped out by taking the kids every week or so for sleep-overs or for little activities, such as visits to the zoo or trips to the lake.
It had been nearly two years since the accident and though she still missed Ted every day, she was able to slowly move past her deepest grief and try to function somewhat normally again. She met a few neighbors, had tea each week with an older lady down the road and, when the children were at her parent's place, was known to have a glass or two of wine with a lesbian couple next door. She had never met the couple across the street and even though she wondered what had happened with the woman, she knew he wouldn't appreciate her nosing into his business.
On the next day, she could hardly keep Mandy and Chris calm. They were too excited about Halloween and trick-or-treating so she bought their cooperation with generous doses of cookies. On Halloween her parents agreed to pick up the children from their twice-weekly preschool and take them to their condo and feed them. This would give Cindy a breather after a day of volunteer work and before she would escort the rambunctious two out for trick-or-treating.
Before her parents brought the children home, Cindy kept thinking about the man across the street. Although she had no idea what had happened with the woman, presumably his wife, she guessed he would not be handing out candy that night. Somehow it didn't seem right so she decided to help out. Before he returned home, she filled up a small bag with loose candy and clipped on a note saying: For the ghosts and goblins tonight. Happy Halloween. Signed Your Neighborhood Witch. She darted across the road and placed it on his front step before returning home.
She kept watching until he came home. After he walked up the drive, she saw him stop and look at the bag. He picked it up carefully, read the note and casually glanced around. Before his gaze hit her house, she ducked behind the curtain and held her breath. A minute or so later she looked again to see his porch light was on and the bag had been taken.
Shortly after that, her parents came with the very excited Mandy and Chris. Once dusk hit, Cindy helped them put on their home-made costumes. Mandy's outfit was a skeleton painted on a black shirt and pants and Chris went as a ghost with an old-fashioned white sheet for his costume. The kids were proud of their costumes, particularly because they helped make them.
"Mommy, Mommy" asked Mandy, "What are you going to be for Halloween?"
"Oh, Sweetie, mommies don't dress up, just kids."
"No, you gotta go as something. Quick, get a costume."
"Yeah," echoed Chris, "Do something."
"It's too late, Kiddo."
"No, it's not. Wear something nice. Be a princess!" shouted Mandy.
"Well...let me think about it," she answered as she quickly ran through her options in her mind. She recalled she had an old bridesmaid dress she could probably still squeeze into, ran upstairs, pulled out the dress and breathed a sigh of relief when she pulled it on with little trouble. A small table ornament of a few LED lights wrapped around her head became her crown and she was ready to go.
"Mommy, you're pretty," said Mandy in awe.
"Yeah, Mommy, you're like a princess," answered Chris.
"Thank you, you guys are so sweet. Now, don't tell Nana or Gramps until we're downstairs, OK?"
"Uh-uh, we won't," they promised.
Downstairs they were greeted with cries of surprise from her parents. "Oh, Honey, I remember that dress. And you can still wear it even after those two!" her mother said.
"Yeah, I can. Not eating for a few months helped with that," she responded with a pang of sadness thinking yet again about Ted and the months of her suffering after he died.
"Now, Cindy, try to put on a happy face for the kids. This is their night," whispered her dad into her ear.
"I will, Dad, I promise," she answered with her eyes filling with tears and a smile forced onto her face. "Come on, you two. Let's go trick-or-treating!"
The plan had been to take them a couple of blocks while her parents stayed and handed out candy to others. Cindy took them next door where the women oohed and aahed about the costumes. After their visit with them, they went on down the street stopping at all the houses. Once at the end of two blocks they turned around and went back on the opposite side of the street. The last house was the one she had been watching for the past weeks.
The children ran up the sidewalk and rang the bell. Once the door was opened, the man looked down at the kids and smiled before he looked up and saw Cindy. The smile on his face seemed to freeze and his eyes remained focused on her before the children started jumping up and down.
"Twick-or-tweet," shouted Chris while Mandy pronounced it correctly.
"Oh, a ghost and a skeleton, wow, you frightened me!" he responded in mock horror before smiling at Chris. "Let me see, I think I have a little treat for you two," he said as he reached into a huge bag of candy. "Here, how about three pieces for the ghost and three for the skeleton?"
Cindy was surprised to see he had his own big bag of candy and she suddenly felt foolish for sneaking some to his place that afternoon. She didn't have time to think about it before he addressed her.
"And who is this behind you two?"
