Every Halloween my sister and I would race from house to house trick-or-treating with the largest pillow cases we could dig up out of the linen closet. We were experts, strategically plotting out the path and timing it to perfection.Our final year of trick-or-treating together, I believe it was 7th or 8th grade for me, was a classic.
We had a specific curfew set in place by G The Horrible (step-dad) and in our house breaking curfew by even 1 minute meant being locked in the dungeon with dragons for a month. In other words, no phone and no friends for an unruly length of time.
So there we were, keeping a close eye on our swatches and determining it was the perfect time to set our sights on the nice neighborhood, the one rumored to give out WHOLE SIZE candy bars! We knew the time to get from house to house would be longer as we would need to cover more landscape so we would cut across lawns. We had approximately 30 minutes left until the drawbridge would close. It would be tight, but we could do it.
Stop #1: Gene's house. Oh, he happened to be a fellow student at my sister's high school. He also happened to be a trekkie, into star wars well-beyond necessary, and incredibly dorky. He apparently was also really into lasers and had put months of time into creating a laser light show in his garage for the trick-or-treaters. MAN was I glad my sister didn't date guys like him. But that topic is a story for another post!
My sister leaned in and said 'I feel bad for him, le's stay and watch'. He talked no other trick-or-treaters into staying for the '10 minute' show. I watched the clock as my mouth watered just thinking of gnawing on that snickers bar mere houses away. Oh the glory. The sweet caramel. The leisurely walk home talking about what candies we would be willing to trade for what would be our final Halloween together. She would always want the jolly rancher sticks and I would be able to double my chocolate supply.
THIRTY. FREAKING. MINUTES. LATER. the show is over, the lights are on and I am crapping my pants at how late we are going to be. And he didn't even have candy left to give us at the end! He was all out! GENE! YOU SUCK! Not even a measly tootsie roll or a couple of pennies.
So we were off , running at lightening speed. But not from house to house for snicker bars, mind you, but to the lovely dungeon that awaited us. I think she was dressed as a baby with giant slippers on and I had her Jr. High pom pom outfit on. Complete with giant yarny balls tied to the shoe tops. It's a wonder we didn't fall on our faces we were running so fast, 10 lb candy-filled pillow cases trailing behind. I also remember laughing hysterically at how funny we must have looked as if we were being chased by bees in ridiculous outfits. Nope, just trying to escape any chance of being late and thrown into the pit of despair.
We made it just in time, but Lisa you owe me a king-sized snickers bar for sitting thru that kid's damn light show.
