The Lascarina Girls

Chapter One

 "Who are you supposed to be again?"

  "One of the witches from Hocus Pocus," Free explained as she touched up her red lipstick in the mirror above the fireplace. She was waiting for her sister Quinn, and their six year old niece Flo who were her fellow witches.

  "Hocus Pocus?"

  "It's a Halloween movie, Ma."

  "Oh, that stupid one where they're at a school, and that one girl gets turned into a pig?"

  "No, that's The Worst Witch," Free said although her eyes lit up. "I love that one though. We'll have to watch that later tonight. I doubt Flo has seen it."

 "Oh, don't let her. She's too young."

 "She's ten, Ma. It isn't scary anyway."

 "It scared Quinn when she was little!"

 "Everything scared Quinn."

 "I heard that," Quinn said as she came downstairs; following Flo who took the steps three at a time. "Flo and I are all set."

"You look hot Quinn," Free said in appreciation at her sister's new look which was a long blond wig and a skimpy witch costume that highlighted all of her curves. 

"I don't get why I have to be Sarah," Quinn grumbled as she covered herself with her purple cape.

"I don't have the boobs for the dress we found," Free said with a sigh. "I wanted to be Winnie anyway."

"You all look wonderful," Iona said as she stared at her phone. "Now help me with this stupid contraption so I can get a picture."

"You've had this phone for two years," Free said; her hands on her hips.

"Oh hush," Iona told her second-youngest as her third youngest Quinn took the phone and put it on the correct setting without a word. "You should be more like your sister."

 Free made a face, but she got in line in front of the fireplace as they did every Halloween even now that they were adults. They posed for a few shots, and then Flo's brother Steven and their cousins arrived in their various costumes of skeletons, Disney characters. 

  Helen, the oldest of the Lascarina sisters, took a few pictures of her own, but Quinn soon grew impatient and demanded they leave as her wig was starting to itch.

"Are we set troops?" Free asked the children and she stood with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her painted face; the bright red wig making her look more severe than usual. 

"Yes sir!" The crowd of children saluted their Halloween leader. They knew the drill as Free and Quinn took them trick or treating every year. 

"Be back by nine," Iona said as she followed the crowd to the porch.

"Yes Mother," Free said and gave her Mom a salute before heading out the door.

"She talks to us like we're still children," Helen said to her sister Athena as she walked down the steps. "I'm forty years old, and I'm supposed to be back by nine? I didn't know that I still had a curfew."

Helen was dressed as Cinderella in an old dress up gown from their childhood, and Athena was a cat with only her face painted and a pair of cat ears; Free had already called the costume boring three times, and said she had a sexy, skin-tight black cat suit upstairs if Athena was interested. Athena told her sister to drop dead.

The trick-or-treating crowd never went too far from home. They knew almost everyone in their Chicago suburb that was filled with old, rather grand homes. Some had seen better days, but the houses were still impressive. People in their neighborhood loved to decorate and participate in the holidays so there were a lot of stops.