Not being able to sleep this one night a few years back during Halloween, I twisted and turned in bed and turning toward the hallway I noticed a dim light coming from the kitchen. Rising from my bed I decided to walk to the kitchen and see what could have possibly turned the light dimmer on. There stood my cousin Joanie. She raised her pointer finger to her mouth before I could say anything. She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the back porch entry. We quietly closed the door behind us, then ran towards the big fall tree out front. Joanie reached down and then showed me a brown canvas bag. I asked her if she had some snacks and she said "No, we are going to go get some snacks." She reached into the bag and pulled a costume for me and one for her. She said "put these on so they can't see the real you." I said "okay." I wondered what adventure we going on and if I would get in trouble..
Once we both had our costumes on, Joanie grabbed my hand and said to follow her. We ran down a few blocks and she turned into an alleyway. There were two bikes parked next to some trashcans and she said to get on one as she got on the other. Joanie said to follow her and it was a bit hard since it was dark. Thank goodness there was a full moon out! We rode a few blocks and then turned down a road that I heard of called Sleepy Hollow. Right away I knew where Joanie was taking me. The empty Bates summer home. Now I had been out here before a few summers ago when the Bates were there with their family. They opened their lake up to the city kids for swimming and a picnics. We had gone with a group from day camp and had a day of fun. The Bates were killed shortly after that in a car accident and their house was empty. Well I thought it was until I saw a a few pumpkins in the yard and a light shining through the window. I was still afraid but I followed Joanie.
We parked our bikes against one of the big trees. She told me that she had a surprise for me and to not be afraid.
I was a bit excited, but still worried. I should have been in bed and not out riding around town so late at night. She reminded me to grab my bag and she headed towards the front door. She waited for me until I joined her and then she knocked a few times. Someone inside said "what's the magic word?" I looked at Joanie and she said "trick or treat" I laughed because it was silly but it did make sense. The door opened and there were a bunch of kids dressed in costumes. They said "Surprise!" Then my parents came out and I was afraid until I saw there faces. They came over and gave me a hug and said they wanted to surprise me and boy did they. I was so worried about being out late without their permission. They said they knew I would follow Joanie because they had heard of the stories of me and the adventures on my bike. The kids were taking off their costumes and laughing and smiling.
It was such a fun party with music and food and a candy table. A lot of my friends were there and a few kids I did not know very well. We played a few games and I was getting kind of sleepy. I told Joanie I was going to the bathroom and headed down the hall.
After using the bathroom. I went back down the hall, but stopped to look at some pictures on the wall. Then I decided to take a peak into one of the rooms. I noticed a big poster bed and decided to try it out. I felt really happy and checked the pillows to make sure they did not have feather in them. Once I knew they were okay, I put my head down. I prayed to God to thank Him for the fun night. I wanted to get back to the party but decided to stay a few more minutes since the bed was so cozy.
I must have fallen asleep because I woke up thinking I was missing the party. But when I opened my eyes and looked around, a realized I was back in my own bed and the room was bright! I realized it was just a dream, and a good one too! I heard a knock on my door and Joanie walked in. I told her I had the best dream and she just smiled and said she did too. I jumped out of bed to get dressed but first I had to run down the hall. When I came back, Joanie asked me where I got the bag with candy in it. She held it up for me to see and I remembered it was the bag in my dream! I asked her if she brought it and she said "no silly". Joanie reminded me we were riding our bikes to the library. Then I remembered we were going to work on our school project together. We had to write a story about Halloween. Boy did I have a story to tell! Happy Halloween!
