It was a monday night, the 31st October. Anthony was pulling on his halloween costume, and even though he was already 15 he still went 'trick-or-treating' every year with his siblings. His costume was home-made, like every year. His mother had a sewing machine and sometimes made them out of old clothes, but if they had no old clothes she would cut and decorate bin bags for them. They preferred having them made with the sewing machine though as being seen dressed in a bin bag can be quite embarrassing. This year they had to use bin bags again as they really needed all of their clothes. Anthony was dressing as a 'litter monster'. His mother had washed some empty cans and packaging and stuck them to the bin bag, he also wore a potato bag as a hat and put some charcoal on his face. Anthony liked trick-or-treating as it was the only time of year when scavenging seemed to be acceptable.
"Tom and Violet are ready to go now Anthony!" he heard his mother calling from downstairs.
"Alright mum, I'm coming down now!" he called back. He was grateful for all the things his mother had done for him in his life, even when they were struggling the children always came first. Every penny he earned from doing paper rounds and baby sitting went straight to his mother, even though she insisted the contrary. Thomas and Violet were Anthony's younger brother and sister, Thomas being 4 and Violet being 7 years old. He also had another younger brother called Brendan, but he was just 3 months old and couldn't go trick-or-treating at that age. Anthony reached the bottom of the stairs, Thomas and Violet running into his arms.
"You ready to go?" he asked, ruffling up their hair. They nodded excitedly, both also dressed as litter monsters, and ran towards the door, "we're going now mum, bye!" Anthony called as he opened the door, Tom and Violet racing out.
"Bye, take care, oh and don't forget to buy some baby food!" she called back.
"I won't," he said as he shut the door. He turned to his siblings and smiled at them, "come on then litter monsters!"
YOU ARE READING
Anthony Taylor - Watty Awards 2011
AdventureMost people complain when they can't get the phone they want. Anthony doesn't complain when he has to skip a few meals so that his siblings can survive. Living with 5 people in a 2 bedroom house and a single parent can be a struggle, but you don't h...
