To be Featured in the Short Story Halloween Anthology
"This sucks." The wizard hat sighed drooping over to one side in the dark cupboard. The damp and mold smell was starting to get to him.
"What's wrong?" the cape asked.
"What's wrong? You ask what's wrong? You don't have the same problem. You get to hang coolly off the hook and don't need to deal with the grime on this dirty cupboard floor." The hat huffed and carried on, "We sit here the entire year for this one darn day that this dude might open this hellhole of a closet and let us out. We get to roam like royalty for one evening and then back in here for a whole 364 days of waiting. And on top, you don't even know if he's fed up of us old props this year."
"Chill... chill... dude. Don't get your knickers in a twist."
"I don't have any knickers under my hat."
"Didn't know you went commando." The cape chuckled softly.
"Shut up and think about it. It's been two decades since Harry Potter came out. Maybe this kid is fed up with us. This year he might choose something new. I heard there's a new hero on the block, some dude who wears underpants on the outside."
"You worry too much, Hattie. We'll be fine."
"At least you guys get to go out," the plastic pumpkin grumbled. "All I get to do is sit on the doorstep pretending to be the real thing. I'm fed up of the candles burning my ass off every year."
"And I have to lie in the mud to scare the heck out of the neighbour kids," the plastic skeleton complained in a low throaty growl.
"If anyone has a right to complain, it's me. I didn't even get picked for five years now," muttered the tiger outfit, "since you two turned up." He glared at the cape and hat.
The noise of the doors opening hushed them all. A little girl popped her head inside, closely followed by an older woman.
"Can I really take anything I want?" The little girl's eyes twinkled as she clapped her hands.
The woman sighed. "Yes, sweetheart. I should have really given away all this a few years ago but I couldn't make myself."
Another squeal. The little one jumped up and down. Her eyes scanned each item enthusiastically landing on the orange outfit with black stripes. "Can I have that?"
Tiger outfit had just enough time to wink at the rest with a smug smile as the lady took it out of the hanger and handed it to the girl who ran away in giggles, practising her tiger growls.
Just before she closed the doors, the lady's eyes swept over all the items and a tear slipped down her cheek. "He's been gone three years and I still can't make myself do it. I hope you are having a fab Halloween in heaven, son."
As soon as the door closed the hat said, "Did she just say three years? He's been gone three years? How can that be? We went out last year and the year before and the one–"
"Shut up, Hattie. Let me think," the cape said. "It's rather mysterious. If he's been dead three years..."
A little boy's voice from inside said, "Guys, you ready to party?"
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