Swinging On A Halo.

My first Halloween.

I could hardly wait until my sister woke up from her nap. I had learned so much today. October thirty-first. Who knew it was the month of the spooks. I had never heard of spooks until this morning. I heard it on a cartoon, just before nap time.

They are apparently something to be feared. I knew we were in trouble when I had asked our new grandmother if she had ever heard of a "spook". Her answer sent shivers down my spine. My heart was beating so fast. She said, she was the Queen of the 'spooks'. I am six, and I had never heard of such a thing. Yet, here I am living with the Queen of them all... what ever 'they' were. I had to warn my baby sister to be on guard and stay close to me. I had protected her all the time we were at the orphanage and I will protect her against 'spooks'. But, for now, I had my questions in my head. One, what are they? Two, why are they dangerous? "Why do they only come out in October?" There also had to an answer to one real curiosity. "What is Halloween?" The cartoon characters were really excited about it. It had something to do with 'spooks'.

My new grandmother had no idea the fertile ground she had planted the seed, "I am Queen of the spooks." Please understand the blanket of fear my imagination had wrapped around my mind. I whispered to myself I must be brave. Then suddenly my sister woke up and giggled because I was hiding under the bed, but she could see me in the mirror hanging on the back of the closet door. "Oh my," I instantly shushed her. I had forgotten how loud she giggled. I told her what ever happened she could not laugh. Her eyes got big, and she nodded that she understood as I removed my hand from her mouth. I then whispered to her that our grandmother was the Queen of the spooks. "What spoo..k?" She said in a voice that to me was loud enough to expose our position. I proceed to the closet and pulled down two shirts and two pairs of pants. I used our bed pillows. Then I dressed the pillows and tied them all up with some ribbon. I stuck dolls in the top all the way up to the neck. Only the heads stuck out of the top. I arranged my two foolers (as I had named them) so that they looked like they were taking naps. Then I took my sister by the hand and proceeded to fix up a nice hiding place just behind the bedroom door.

My grandmother had been so loving up till now. I had no idea what to expect. She always read a story to us after we got up from our naps. She came into the room. Grandmother bent down to kiss us awake like she always did. Suddenly, she giggled. She glanced around, and I was sure did not see a thing. She walked over, sat down in her big barrel chair, and opened a book and started to read. I was thrilled that the 'foolers' had worked. She started reading a story about a rabbit and a turtle who were running a race. It was a good story. She did seem to giggle a lot as she read. I had to be very careful not to laugh. Grandmother then told the 'foolers' they needed to get up, so we could get ready for Halloween. My eyes got so big. My sister's did too. Then she said the words that would put total fear into my heart.

"You little ones will be angels." Oh, I knew angels were what happens when people die. She was going to kill us. I thought to myself, Oh my, how would we escape? I did not really mind being an angel but really thought it would come a little later in my life. Then I just had a flash of my climbing a tree as an angel. What does an angel do with their halo when they want to climb a tree? Maybe they use their wings and don't get to climb at all. How sad. Do angels spend all their time in church? Do angels have pets? These were questions that would need to be answered... just in case we did not make our escape.

"I have your costumes all finished, and I need to get your halos right. So, you two better get up, or I'll use magic on you. Now, I am going to go get the candy ready." She left the room. All of a sudden my sister broke away from me and ran after her.

I was not prepared for grandmother to use the idea of having candy to capture us. I was too smart. Not only that, but I would not be caught. I instead made my way to the living room and hid behind the sofa. I had no idea that every time I moved, I made the drapes move. Grandmother seemed perfectly happy dressing up as Queen of the spooks. I listened as the doorbell rang. It seemed like several children had come to the door. Grandmother made a big deal out of what wonderful spooks they were and gave out candy. She even thanked them for coming. I heard my sister giggling. I could not see, but I listened with my heart pounding.

"Baby, I wish your sister would get up. I guess she is going to sleep the night away. You and I are going to go trick or treating. You are such a good angel." Those words made me cry. She had already turned my sister into an angel. "I am going to have to take care of that sister of yours before we go. She then went into the bedroom and yelled, "Abracadabra." Then I heard her giggle. She left through the second entrance into the room. When I heard her in the kitchen, I took the opportunity to sneak back into the bedroom. I stood there completely speechless. There, on the beds, where I left the two foolers. On one bed a turtle. On the other bed a bunny rabbit. Oh, she had taken them out of the story she had read. Then I saw hanging behind the closet door a beautiful white gown with wings.

Grandmother entered the room, I jumped out of my skin. It was my grandmother's voice but not her face. She had red lips and blood coming out of the corner of her mouth. She had teeth that stuck out from under her lip and blood dripping from them. I started screaming as loud as I could. "I don't want to be an angel yet. Not yet."

Grandmother instantly grabbed me and held me very close. I think she suddenly realized I had taken her seriously. She remembered calling herself the Queen of the spooks. She started kissing my face. Grandmother had tears coming down her cheeks. "We are only pretending sweetie." She gently brushed the hair out of my eyes, "Why don't you want to be an angel?"

I had to look away from her. I could not look at that horrible face. Her tummy was quivering and shaking. "It is not funny." I shouted. You are going to eat me. "Where is the baby?" I shouted. "I don't want to die." I started trying to wiggle loose. I started crying when my baby sister walked into the room dressed in a white gown with wings just like the one on the back of the closet door. She had a funny wire that stretched out from behind her neck and held a shinny golden ring. "You killed my baby." I ran to my sister and was surprised to see she was real. I suddenly became aware of my grandmother's costume. She was dressed all in black with a tall pointed hat and the picture of a black cat arching its back on her apron.

This is Halloween my love. You don't have to die to be an angel on Halloween. This is pretend. None of this is real. I started pointing to the turtle and the rabbit and started huffing and puffing. We are taking care of them until Timmy, from down the street, and his grandmother get back from Trick or Treating." I read the story about the tortoise and the rabbit because I knew they were coming over tonight. I thought for a minute and thought I had remembered hearing Timmy's voice while I was behind the sofa.

"What about the halo. Can angels climb trees with a halo?"

"Yes, they sure can. I have a sneaky hunch you will be swinging on your halo no matter what."

I immediately put on the angel costume and went trick or treating with my grandmother. Likewise, I told everyone we met that I was going to swing on my halo later. My grandmother laughed and clapped her hands. By the time we got back, went through all the candy, and got into our pajamas... I had forgotten about swinging on a halo. The next morning the turtle, the rabbit, and the halo were all gone. It was November 1st... My first turkey day had its own surprises.

Every Halloween now, I think about the time I was an angel dreaming about swinging on my halo.