Johnny set the knife down on the counter, eyeing the carvings he'd made into the bright orange flesh of the pumpkin in front of him. "What d'you think, Bill? Spooky enough?"
The little boy stood eye-to-eye with the jack o' lantern, furrowing his brow as he tilted his head. "Could be spookier. Needs fake blood!"
Johnny raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked down at the eight-year-old. "I've been letting you watch too many scary movies," he said, pulling out a candle from a counter drawer. He set the candle inside the pumpkin placing the top back into place. "There."
"You gotta light it, Pops," Billy insisted.
Johnny knew there wasn't a lighter or matches in the whole of his apartment. "Well, you got a light, firebug?
Billy shook his head dramatically. "You said stop startin' fires and I stopped."
"While that's good, we need fuego...Go look in the drawer in my nightstand. There might be matches in there," Johnny said, gesturing with his head in the direction of his room. He watched through the kitchen pass-through window as the boy jogged through the living room into the hallway. He cringed, wondering if Billy's footfalls disturbed the Floreses downstairs. Johnny waited for just a moment, then focused his power just a little on the candle in the pumpkin as it caught flame. He opened and shut the drawer loudly, for show. "Oh! There it is! I found some matches. Come look, Bill!"
Billy hurried back through the living room, into the kitchen. "Yeah, now that's cool."
Johnny ruffled Billy's hair, laughing a little. "Happy Halloween, son."
