Halloween: The Year the Great Pumpkin Almost Blew It
I rushed to the kitchen, retrieved from its hiding spot the Barbie: Swan Lake movie the dratted Great Pumpkin was supposed to leave, and handed it to Bruce, who stuffed it under his shirt.
I made sure the kids were still in their rooms as Bruce quietly opened the front door.
By the time the girls had arrived at the front landing, Bruce was sitting innocently on the couch. I ushered them outside, and heard a great whoop of joy as Geneva and Paris came dashing in with their prize.
“He came!” Geneva bellowed.
Paris chanted: “Barbie Swan Lake! Barbie Swan Lake! Barbie Swan Lake!”
They settled in front of the TV, and Bruce and I padded into the kitchen to start breakfast.
“That was close,” said Bruce.
“Too close,” I replied.
And thus, a near disaster was averted and the Great Pumpkin lived to make another appearance.
But did I learn from my mistake? Not quite. One day I accidentally “locked out” the tooth fairy. It’s a good thing I think fast on my feet.
Michelle Houlden is a journalist and illustrator who lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Share your favorite Halloween moment in “Comment” section.
CareerComposers
Thank you for such a wonderful idea! This is going to become our new Hallowe’en tradition.
Sarah388
As someone who has grown up with several allergies Halloween was often a dreaded time for me. I often sat by as my parents searched through my goodies for anything that contained milk, wheat, egg, corn etc. This often meant that I was left with the pop as long as it was light coloured pop, chips and apples while my sister, who doesn’t have any allergies, was able to eat whatever she wanted. My parents used the you don’t want to get sick do you routine when I got upset. As I got older it was easier because my parents would buy my halloween treats and whatever I gathered that night would be given out to other kids. Today, I am able to eat those foods but have to limit the milk products but I am not allergic to nuts. I can’t imagine if nuts had been in my list at that time I wouldn’t have been able to eat any of the treats. When Halloween comes around I often buy chips and choc bars that have the nut free symbol knowing that I would have appreciated that as a child.
I have to say that your idea is brilliant. I am definitely going to keep that in mind for when I have kids since chances are they will probably have some allergy.