Halloween By Day: Tales for the Good Children

Tale 6: Quarantined

Ben sneezed into his handkerchief and waited patiently for a “Bless you!” from one of his niece and nephews. But not a word was spoken from the backseat. Ben stared at the kids through the rearview mirror, annoyed.

         “You know, you kids should be grateful. When I was a kid I got down on my knees and begged for my parents to do something like this for me on Halloween.” Chris, his nine-year-old nephew, stared back at him hatefully. Sarah, his seven-year-old niece, had the same ungrateful expression on her face. And Tom, his four-year-old nephew, just stared happily out the window.

         “I hate you.” Ben gripped the steering wheel tightly so that he didn’t take his rage out on the kids. “I mean it, Uncle Ben.”

         “Chris, I want you to stop your complaining right now. It’s Halloween. You’ll get candy. Just this time not from the neighbors. You’re still wearing your costumes. We’ll have fun.”

         “But Uncle Ben,” Sarah started, “No one goes to the zoo on Halloween. We’re going to look stupid!” Ben rolled his eyes. Does anything make these kids happy?

         Ben peered through his thick glasses onto the road. He was 60 years old and had graying hair. He had a thick mustache and wore what Chris called ‘Librarian Suits.’ Chris was a bony kid with short blond hair and was wearing a red Power Rangers costume. Sarah had curly brown hair and was wearing a fairy costume complete with a wand and glitter everywhere. Last but not least, Tom had brown hair in a surfer cut and always wore the sports glasses that rap around your head. He was wearing a Thomas the Tank Engine costume.

         Ben pulled into the Wild Child Zoo parking lot and parked his SUV. The two older kids came out of the back without letting Ben even touch them. Tom scurried out and gave Ben a warm smile. Chris and Sarah marched ahead while Ben held hands with Tom. They went up to the ticket booth were the employee was dressed up in a gorilla costume. He ripped off the mask revealing his red face with sweat pouring from his hair. “Phew! Sure is hot in there!”

         “Yes, um, one adult and three kids,” Ben said.

         “Not a problem. That will be $45,” replied the employee while gasping for air. They walked through the entrance and watched as dozens of families with happy kids in Halloween costumes walked by carrying bags filled to the brim with candy. Another employee wearing a clown costume came up to them and smiled happily.

         “Happy Halloween! You must have just arrived! And- aw gee- it looks as though you don’t have any candy bags! Not to worry, all three of you will get our limited-time only trick-or-treat bags free of charge! Every new animal you see, five pieces of candy will be rewarded to you each,” The employee said this in one breath of air. It amazed Ben.

         “I wanna go to the lions!”

         “I wanna see the giraffes!”

         “I wanna look at the snakes!”

         “Well then,” started the clown employee, “it seems as though you’ve got a full schedule on your hands. But my friend-“

         “Ben’s the name.”

         “Yes, Ben! We have a gorilla shipped in from Africa that is under quarantine, so I advise that you keep the little ones away from that area of the zoo.” Ben nodded to show he understood and walked the kids away. When he looked back he saw the clown employee smiling and waving creepily at them.

         As they ventured into the zoo, Ben realized that what the clown employee had said was very true. Exactly five pieces of candy were given to each kid at every single animal they went to look at. After seeing birds, lions, giraffes, and rhinos, Tom’s request for snakes was finally heard. They headed towards the blue building that had a screen on every window and door and was marked with sloppy orange paint as The Reptile Room.