'Who's at the door?' said Clara, putting her teacup down. She frowned at the clock. 'It's too late for visitors, surely?'
The knock came again, along with a weird call.
'“Trick or treat?”' repeated Lucas. 'What does that mean?'
'No idea,' said Clara. 'Let’s find out.'
Abandoning their quiet evening, they cautiously opened the front door.
'Trick or treat,' cried the miniature monsters on the doorstep.
Pint sized wolfmen, witches, and ancient Egyptian mummies littered the garden path, each clutching a small basket decorated to match their homemade outfits.
'Um,' said Lucas, looking at Clara, who was equally mystified. 'What do you mean, "trick or treat?"'
'We mean,' said the tallest of the group, who had chosen vampire as his persona for the evening. 'If you don't give us a treat, we'll play a trick on you.'
'Will you, now?' said Clara crossly. 'And what do you think I'll do then, Freddy Meakin? I'll be straight round to your mother's, that's what.'
'Oi, that's not fair,' whined Freddy. 'We was told to.'
'By who?'
'Saffron, of course,' replied Freddie sulkily. 'Part of Halloween, it is.'
'Is it? said Lucas, baffled. 'And it's not Halloween yet, anyway.'
'’Snot my fault, is it?' said Freddy. 'And all we wanted was some sweets.'
'Well, we haven't got any,’ said Lucas. ‘So run along.'
Freddy's bottom lip began to wobble. 'You - you haven't?'
‘No,' said Lucas, unmoved. 'So scram.'
He went to shut the door, but Clara stopped him.
'Lucas,' she said in her best persuasive voice. 'It's not his fault, is it?’
'And it's not ours either,' argued Lucas.
'They're kids,' replied Clara. ‘We should be nice to them.’
'Disappointment is part of childhood,’ said Lucas.
‘We’re being nice,' said Clara firmly.
'But we haven't got what they want,' said Lucas, getting as whiny as the children outside. 'What can we do?'
'We don't have sweets,' said Clara to the monsters. 'But we do have biscuits.'
'That'll do,' said Freddy.
'I was looking forward to them,' said Lucas.
'I'll get the tin,' said Clara, smiling at the unexpected visitors.
'Cheers, missus,' chorused the children.
Lucas groaned. 'Bang goes our quiet evening,' he muttered.
Oh dear, things just aren't going Lucas's way this month, are they?
Probably isn't going to get any better tomorrow, to be honest. See you then! x
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