Halloween
Roger Jones
 

It's pouring rain, but my older sister and I head out to trick-or-treat anyhow. Scrunched up together under a small black umbrella. She's a witch. I'm a cowboy.

First stop, our neighbor's house. A middle-aged, balding, reclusive bachelor. We ring his bell; he answers, asks us to step inside and wait in his foyer. Then he disappears through a door. To get the candy?

But minutes pass -- much too long. Sister and I trade glances. What on earth is keeping him?

He doesn't come back. Mary says, "This is creepy -- let's get out of here." We burst out the door, into the driving rain, and race back home separately across the lawn -- no umbrella --, our trick-or-treating over for the year.

windy night
gutting
the pumpkin

Roger Jones teaches English at Texas State University, and has published in various places. His second book, "Are We There Yet," is being published this coming fall by the Texas Review Press.

Copyright 2006: Simply Haiku