At around 8pm I blew out the candle in my jack-o-lantern and turned off the front light. I’d run out of candy, so trick-or-treating was done for my house.
This Halloween night was a banner one, seeing twenty-five costumed youngsters clamouring for candy starting at 6pm – an unheard of number in my neighborhood. The first few years we’ve lived here I felt lucky if I saw two. Though I celebrated Halloween the adult way, with a crazy house party on Saturday, I still love the idea of trick-or-treats and really try to answer the door every time it rings with a smile and a handful of chocolate goodies. It’s my civic duty, in a way.
This year, I had a pretty miserable Halloween day as I spent it in bed with a rotten cold, but I grumbled and got myself up and dressed to meet the kids anyway. I don’t even especially like children, but I remember how sad it was growing up in a neighborhood where there was no other kids and no tricks-or-treats, so I aim to give them what I didn’t get…
Apparently my spending all day in bed turned me into the scariest lady on the block, for one small boy of four years old or so was absolutely terrified of me. He was dressed in a skeleton costume and backed away in fright when I opened the door, trying to hid next to the pumpkin. I didn’t think I looked that hideous but then again, kids always know your true nature. I was the Evil Frightful Witch of S Street to him. The conversation went something like this:
Skeleton’s sister: Say “trick-or-treat” to the nice lady!
Skeleton: (shakes his head and backs away)
Sister: Come on, she’ll give you candy. Don’t you want any candy?
Skeleton: (barely whispering) No.
Sister: (shocked) You don’t want any candy???!!!
Skeleton: No.
Sister: Well, apologize to the nice lady for wasting her time.
Skeleton: (looking up at the lady with big eyes) S-s-sorry. I’m sorry.
Evil Frightful Lady: Awwww….. come on, open your bag. I forgive you. Here’s some candy anyway.
And so the terrible witch of S Street’s cold heart was melted. Maybe kids aren’t so bad after all…
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
As one of the founding editors of We Love DC, Jenn’s passions are theater and cocktails. After two decades in the city, she’s loved every quirky, mundane, elegant, rude minute of her DC life. A proud advocate for DC’s talented drinks scene, she’s judged the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s ARTINI contest, the DC Rickey Month contest, the Jefferson Hotel’s Quill Cocktail competition, and is a founding member of LUPEC DC. A graduate of Catholic University’s drama program, she toured the country as a member of National Players, and has been both an actor and a costume designer before jumping the aisle to theater criticism. Writing for We Love DC restored her happiness after a life-threatening illness, and she’s grateful to you, dear readers. Send your suggestions to jenn (at) welovedc (dot) com and follow her on Twitter.
