Rosco the Rascal Trick-or-Treats - A Short Story for Halloween

Chapter Three | The Old Oak Tree

Rosco went back outside to find a steady stream of costumed kids filling the sidewalks. Mom stood in the doorway, giving out candy, to a parade of witches, robots, superheroes, and princesses who marched up and down the front walk. Dad played eerie music from a speaker in the living room and joined Mom by the door, exclaiming over the outrageous and adorable costumes.

Rosco followed James and Mandy onto the lawn, and soon, James' fifth-grade friends, Leo and Ian, and Mandy's second-grade friends, Trisha and Naomi, arrived. Everyone was dressed up, and once again, Rosco needed to sniff. What was going on here? Their scents were familiar, but the people looked different.

They held out their hands so he could recognize them and Rosco sniffed a few times.

"It's Naomi," said Mandy. "You know her. She's a butterfly tonight."

"And look," said James. "It's Leo. He's going as a zombie." Leo faked a scowl through his black-and-white face paint then smiled at Rosco.

Rosco stared for a moment then sniffed some more. Oh, right—Leo and Naomi. He panted, grinning.

Ian, dressed as a baseball player, went next, and then Trisha, dressed as a cowgirl, held out her hand. Okay, he knew all of these kids. He panted at them, smiling.

"Rosco, we match!" said Trisha, tugging at her red bandana.

She was wearing a cowboy hat like his, too. Rosco smiled agreeably at Mandy's best pal.

They said goodbye to Mom and Dad, promising to follow the usual route.

"You sure you'll be all right without us this year, Mandy?" asked Mom.

"I'm sure." Mandy waved and followed her friends down the walkway. They knew most of the families in the neighborhood, anyway, and James and his friends would keep an eye on the younger ones.

Out on the sidewalk, trotting along beside James-the-wolf, Rosco was baffled as a child dressed in a green bodysuit and a big round mask walked by. Was that what Mandy usually called an alien? He'd never seen such an odd assortment of kid-sized creatures and characters—monsters, ballerinas, athletes, and clowns. The neighborhood seemed to have transformed into an entirely new place.

The mood was of pure excitement, and Rosco decided that going door-to-door in the darkness, dressed in strange outfits, must be just another human tradition that didn't make much sense to dogs. But it involved treats, and everyone seemed to be having fun, so it suited him just fine.

He wasn't so happy about wearing his own costume, though. The bandana didn't bother him, but Mandy had forced the hat onto his head. He'd have to shake it loose later.

"Look, you guys—a mummy!" said Naomi. She fluttered her butterfly wings, excited.

"Did you see those kids dressed as pirates?" asked Trisha. "Their costumes looked so real." Mandy shook her head. Still, she looked excited—there was nothing too frightening going on out here, not as far as Rosco could tell, even if a lot of strange things did look real. Don't worry, Mandy. I'll protect you.

Rosco studied the yards and houses they passed. He saw spider webs, witches, broomsticks, and cauldrons. Some yards had bats that seemed to fly among the trees, while others had skeletons that seemed to be crawling out of the ground. The kids grew more excited with each new front-yard scene.

Rosco noticed a few porches lined in orange lights like the McKendrick's, with pumpkins, hay bales, and scarecrows filling every square inch of space, just like at the pumpkin patch. Rosco thought back to their visit and smiled, remembering the corn maze.

He was shocked to see an inflatable version of a man atop a horse outside the next house. The man had no head, just a pumpkin on his shoulders! Wow! What was next? Poor guy!

The kids' favorite part seemed to be that they could walk up to any neighbor's house, knock, and holler "Trick-or-treat!" and someone would drop a piece of candy into each of their sacks. Their tricks were so easy—it didn't seem fair. Dogs had to work a lot harder for their treats.

***

Soon, the moon climbed higher in the sky, and Mandy checked inside her bucket. It was getting full. It was also getting heavy.

Mandy noticed that the crowd had thinned as the trick-or-treaters spread out across the neighborhood. "Wow, it sure is dark out now," she said.

Naomi nodded.

The street where the kids soon found themselves was very quiet. Mandy checked to be sure that Rosco was still with James—he was.

They soon passed a large oak tree next to a fence that ran along the sidewalk. Mandy looked up at the oak tree, adjusting her thick mad scientist glasses so they wouldn't fall off. It looked scarier in the dark. Most of its leaves had fallen off already.

The tree was big—big enough to shade the whole front yard outside of the house in front of which it stood. Its long branches swayed in the soft wind like giant arms dancing in the sky. Mandy shivered and took Trisha by the arm. "It's kind of spooky here, isn't it?"

An owl hooted somewhere nearby. Mandy's shoulders stiffened and she looked around trying to find it.

Trisha nodded. "It is, kind of."

Suddenly, breaking the stillness, a small, four-legged figure jumped down onto the fence next to them and landed with a light thud. The kids froze.

Rosco raced forward and barked. "Ruff, ruff!" His hat slipped down, partly covering his eyes. He shook it back and barked some more.

The figure crouched down and flipped its long black tail back and forth, hissing at Rosco. Its eyes glowed yellow in the dark and Rosco barked again.

James-the-werewolf kept a firm grip on Rosco's leash. "Whew. It's just a cat, boy. Settle down now."

Rosco went quiet and stared up at the cat. Mandy took a deep breath, trying to get her heartbeat to settle down again.

"Wow. He's not a very friendly one, is he, Rosco?" asked Ian.

Leo glanced at Ian and let out a breath. "That sure caught me off guard."

The black cat tiptoed along the fence, balancing itself with its tail. It stopped hissing and paused to watch them and Mandy finally caught her breath.

"Let's get out of here," said James, turning to go.

"Right behind you!" said Leo. "Real black cats on Halloween—now, that's creepy!"

"It came out of nowhere!" said Naomi.

"Straight out of the sky!" said Trisha.

"Can't be from the sky, Trisha," said Naomi, frowning.

"I know!" said Trisha. "You know what I mean."

Naomi grinned.

Mandy squinted, staring up. "The cat must've been hiding in the tree. Look at those low branches."

"Wherever it came from, it sure surprised me!" said Trisha. "I saw so many fake witches and black cats tonight—I wasn't expecting a real one!"

Naomi and Trisha exchanged a few nervous giggles. Mandy took another deep breath and picked up her step. This was exactly what she was talking about—how Halloween always made her heart race. She'd better stay close to her friends.

All photos and artwork courtesy of Pixabay