Looped Candy

The day is October 31st, today is the first day I taste the sensation of Trick and Treating.

However, I’m not alone, I’m joined by my twin brother Jimmy.

Jimmy: “Mom, we’re going to be late!”

Jimmy, I imagine, is jumping up and down with excitement in his white Knight costume.

Mother: “Sorry, I just wanted to take one last look at my boys.”

???: “We’ll come back home...mother.”

I came out of my room in a pirate costume ready to leave the house but mother stopped me.

Mother: “Awww, Timmy you look adorable! But, why did you pick a Pirate as your costume?”

Timmy: “….Because they always look like they’re having fun.”

Mother: “….Well I hope you have fun out there too, you boys are almost 15 years old. I think you deserve to experience this at least once in your lives.”

Jimmy: “Thanks a lot mom!”

Timmy: “We should get going soon, right mother?”

Mother agrees and takes us to the front door just in time to beam her signature smile to the neighborhood parents and kids.

She then kneels down to give us our orders:

• Don’t talk to strangers

• Come back in an hour

• Don’t get too much candy

• Stick together

• Mother loves you

We agreed and hurried to get some candy but I couldn’t help but look back at her….waving to us. Truly, today must be a special day.

Jimmy: “Okay, what house should we hit first Tim?”

Timmy: “I don’t know, this is our first time out here. Maybe we should just go around to random houses.”

Jimmy: “I wish mom went with us, she would know what places have the best candy.”

Timmy: “Come on Jim, we’re big kids so this should be no problem!”

I bump my fist in the air to psych myself up. Despite being scared I can’t help but also feel an extreme amount of excitement.

Jimmy: “R-Right, we got this. It’s just some stranger's house, what's the worse that can happen….”

Timmy: “They could decide to not give us candy.”

Jimmy: “R-Right, I guess….”

We just walk around gazing around at the other kids dressed up in stuff ranging from dragons to cars. Even stuff I’ve never seen before.

Lucky…

Jimmy: “Hey Tim, how about that house?!”

I look towards what Jim was pointing at and see a green normal house with many pumpkin decorations.

Timmy: “Sure, why not. Did the pumpkins catch your attention?”

Jimmy: “I guess, they seem….familiar. I think we can get some good candy there!”

I nod in agreement, we slowly approach the house and knock on the door ready for anything.

The door opens up to reveal a smiling man and woman holding a box full of candy.

Skittles, Gumdrops, Candycorn, and Kit-Kats! My mouth begins to salivate at candy I’ve yet to experience.

Timmy and Jimmy: “Trick or Treat!!”

Kind Woman: “Oh, a pirate and knight what an adorable combination.”

Kind Man: “Agreed sweetheart, I think these two are actually new to the neighborhood.”

Kind Woman: “You’re right, I don’t think I’ve ever seen these two before. What are your names?”

We tell them our names and they gift us with a genuine smile.

Kind Woman: “Adorable!”

They reward our bags with an incredible amount of candy, more than I expected.

Timmy and Jimmy: “Thank You!”

Kind Woman: “You’re welcome, good luck with your next house.”

We nod and were about to leave when she went to pat my head. I by instinct….pushed her head away.

Kind Woman and Kind Man: “??”

Timmy: “Haha, sorry about that I want to keep my hair clean for a picture I’ll take later.”

Kind Woman: “Oh...I’m sorry, I hope you enjoy the candy.”

Timmy: “I will, let’s go Jim.”

Jimmy: “Huh, oh...okay.”

We leave our first house with bounty intact, however, I think I need to keep myself in check better next time.

Jimmy: “Tim, are you okay?”

Timmy: “You’ve never asked me that before, what’s up?”

Jimmy: “I don’t know, just felt like I have to.”

Timmy: “Is that right? Well, I’m fine. I’m actually great, you made the right call concerning that house! Let’s get even more candy, I’ll follow your lead.”

Jimmy: “Um, okay.”

We then hit 4 more houses, gaining even more candy than I know what to do with. No incidents, just fun and laughs all the way through. It was actually easier than I thought. I'm...happy.

Timmy: “Let’s hit one more!”

Jimmy: “I-I don’t know, we have 15 minutes left in the hour. Maybe we should go back to mom.”

Timmy: “Oh come on, just one more won’t hurt. It will be real quick, I’ll even pick a random one. We’ll get in and get out.”

Jimmy: “Mmmm, okay."

Timmy: “Great!”

I spun around with my arm and finger outstretched. Whatever my hand points to is the place we’ll go.

After 3 spins, my finger points to a purple extravagant house that looked more like a mansion. Yet somehow, it blends in with the other normal buildings.

Timmy: “Well, what are we waiting for?”

Jimmy: “….Y-Yeah, let’s go.”

We head to the front door of this beautiful place and knock on the door.

Timmy and Jimmy: “Trick or Treat!”

What greets us after the door slides open is a tall beautiful woman with long raven hair who smiles as soon as she sees us.

???: “Welcome to my home children, my name is Valara.”

Her voice is amazing, it's sweet and captivating enough to block out all other sounds.

Jimmy: “Maybe we shouldn’t do this.”

Timmy: “What are you talking about, we get the candy and leave. What’s the problem?”

Jimmy: “….I-I don’t know but-”

Timmy: “If you don’t want her candy that’s fine.”

I turn my back to my brother and face Valara.

Timmy: “Do you have any candy for this weary pirate?”

She smiles sweetly.

Valara: “For you, I think I have the perfect piece. You’re lucky, I was almost out.”

She turns her back to me and reaches for some candy inside near the doorway.

She comes back with a purple swirly lollipop and hands it to me.

Valara: “Here you go dear.”

It looked amazing and since it came from her, I wasted no time in unwrapping it and going for a lick.

Jimmy: “STOP!”

I stop in my tracks and look towards my brother bewildered.

Timmy: “What’s wrong with you?”

Jimmy: “I-I don’t know! I just don’t think you should do it, what would mom think?”

At hearing him mention mother, I have even more reason to eat it. I shove the candy in my mouth and it tasted….incredible.

Timmy: “This is our night, she has nothing to do with this.”

Valara: “I hope you enjoy the candy Timmy, I don’t want to intervene with this family drama so I’ll exit your stage.”

Valara gracefully goes back into her home while I walk away with the Lollipop in my mouth.

Jimmy: “Wait, where are you going!”

Timmy: “Home, where else? You’re acting weird Jimmy.”

Jimmy: “….I guess you’re right.”

We began the walk home and kept silent for most of the way. I noticed my brother fidgeting in the background and looking around frantically. I don’t know what’s wrong with him but it’s getting creepy.

After some time, he looked to the ground with 5 minutes left before our hour is up and just….froze.

Timmy: “What’s wrong now?”

I turned around with the lollipop almost completely gone to see Jimmy staring at the ground in shock.

Time seems to freeze and all noise around us stops. The world only holds us now.

Jimmy: “Why didn’t you ask that woman how she knew your name?”

Timmy: “Is that what this was about? I don’t know, it just didn’t seem important. Maybe she overheard us, I know she’s a nice person.”

Jimmy: “How could you know that!”

Timmy: “What’s wrong with you Jimmy? I’m going to leave you if you keep acting like this.”

Jimmy: “You know, I’ve been getting a deep sense of Déjà vu ever since we went to our first house. I…guess I know why now.”

Timmy: “What are you-”

I follow his gaze to the ground and see it.

I understand now.

Jimmy: “Why….why would you do this!?”

Scapped into the concrete with red stains is "Tim = Time Loop". I would poke fun at Jim but deep down I know it to be true, I remember what I did.

Jimmy: “I don’t know how you did it but-”

Timmy: “It’s the candy.”

Jimmy: “What?”

Timmy: “I have a feeling, when I finish this lollipop the day will reset. Haha, I guess Valara was a witch or something that granted my wish.”

Jimmy: “This isn’t funny! I can’t even imagine what I had to do to carve this into concrete. Why Timmy?! Why repeat this day?”

My anger at his ignorance starts to resurface. If this world will repeat when I finish this then it doesn’t matter.

Timmy: “Why else? Because I treasure the little freedom she gave us tonight. She may be a monster but she gave me a chance to live a life outside that house.”

Jimmy: “Who? Mom? She’s-”

Timmy: “Don’t lie to yourself. She's cruel and vindictive. She’s only nice to you because you suck up to her like a little solider while I….”

I uncontrollably shiver from the memories I rather forget.

Timmy: “There’s no happiness in that place for me. If this night is all I have then I don’t want it to end. I want to experience my first trick or treat, my first time under the moon, and my first taste of what it feels like to live. I want to experience it all forever! I’m grateful for Valara granting me this small miracle.”

Jimmy: “But….even if that’s the case, I’m sure one day she’ll let us grow up. This is not the way! The entire world, millions of people are stuck in this loop!”

Timmy: “I don’t care! Even if she let us go, it would be too late! We would be stunted for the rest of our lives, unable to live a normal life.”

Jimmy: “Now the rest of the world can’t live a normal life, great job Timmy.”

Timmy: “They don’t know about the loop, they’ll have the same fun they would have had on a normal day of Halloween. They might even find freedom if they discover the truth.”

Jimmy: “Y-Your insane….”

Timmy: “And you’re part of the reason why this happened. Maybe it would not have been so hard if I wasn't alone.”

I take out the candy from my mouth and see that it’s almost gone. I smile knowing that my freedom won’t be taken away from me.

Timmy: “You know it’s funny, I have another feeling I killed her in one loop. I mean, why wouldn’t I?”

Jimmy: “!!!”

Timmy: “Hopefully I’ll do it again, since the time for this loop to end is near.”

I shake the lollipop in front of Jimmy, his late effort doesn’t mean anything now.

Jimmy: “I-I won’t let you!”

Jimmy lunges at the lollipop but I quickly put it back in my mouth and grab his face.

He tries to remove my hand but I keep a tight grip on him.

Timmy: “Accept the reality, we can finally be free from her. In the next loop, maybe we can have more fun together.”

Jimmy: “Tim I’m-”

I break the lollipop into pieces in my mouth and the world shatters along with it.

The world begins to fade into nothing in preparation for the next loop.

Jimmy: “-Sorry….”

It’s much too late for that...Jim.

….

….

The day is October 31st, today is the first day I taste the sensation of…life.