A Halloween Story, Part Three

Reagan's antics were quickly forgotten. Dave dropped Ria and his sister at their friend Tina's house and left.



The girls were stunned by Tina's outfit. She was an ice princess. Her costume had not been put together at home from bits and pieces, but had been professionally made. Her ice blue dress had an overlay by a light tulle that was studded with glass crystals and drops. Her beautiful blonde hair was up swept, and cascaded in curls along the nape of her neck. Her face was made up by a professional hand, probably her mother who was a cosmetologist, and even though her lips were an icy blue, and her eyelashes apparently had ice crystals on them, she looked completely natural.



Erin's red clown lips formed a perfect "o" at the sight of their beautiful friend. "Wow!"



Ria finally found her voice. "You look like you should be going to a party, not Trick or Treating."



"You are stunning! I bet you'd win a prize." Erin agreed.



Tina's face grew red under her white makeup. "Uh, thanks. C'mon, lets go!"



After getting Tina's curfew and saying goodbye to Tina's mother, the three girls left the house.



The neighborhood sidewalks had groups of costumed children. Adults had joined together with friends and guided virtual herds of children from house to house.



The sky was getting darker as the moon was slowly rising. The street lights were coming and Ria noticed that most of the little children were no longer Trick or Treating.

Pools of light came from the un-curtained windows of houses. More and more lit Jack O'Lanterns appeared on the porches of houses.

The girls met up with another group of friends from school and they all began to Trick or Treat together.

"Did you hear about Mrs. Robinson's cat?" Ria heard a scarecrow say.

"Isn't that your neighbor's black cat?" a gypsy asked the scarecrow.

"Oh, that's unique, a black cat story on Halloween. Boooooooo!" a boy dressed like a fedora wearing gangster said sarcastically.

"What about Mrs. Robinson's cat?" prompted a clown that wasn't Erin.

"He's missing. He's been missing since last night. Mrs Robinson has posters up at the supermarket, and she even offered to pay me to look around the neighborhood."

"Did you do it?" asked the fedora wearing gangster.

"I did it for free before I bought my little brother Trick or Treating. I didn't catch even a glimpse of him." the scarecrow replied.

"If I had any colored cat, I wouldn't let it outside anytime near Halloween." opined a girl dressed like a bag of jelly beans. Some of the children agreed and Ria was glad that Reagan was safely underneath her parents bed.

Tina was walking more slowly, and she waited on the sidewalk while the other children Trick or Treated. The second time she did this, Ria and Erin waited with her.

"What's up?" asked Erin. "You look kind of like you are in pain."

"Are your shoes hurting you?"

"No, but I'm starting to feel sick."

"Do you want to go home?" Ria asked.

"I think I'm ..... gonna toss my cookies." Tina said, and then she did.