The mystery of the blond girl

A Halloween Mystery

On October 31st, 2018, it was my first Halloween in this particular home. I purchased candy in case any children knocked on the door and I placed Bible tracks in each bag praying they would be read. About 20 children, (some with parents) showed up between 5:30 and about 7:50 so at 8:00 I shut the door but did not turn off the light.

At 9:00 I went on the front porch to see if any trick-or-treaters were still in the neighborhood before I turned out the light and saw a young blond girl who looked to be about nine or ten years old riding her bike up the hill on the street to my right. I went inside and grabbed a bag of candy as she parked her bicycle and when I came back outside she walked up to the porch and I gave it to her.

I watched her get on her bike and go back the way she came turning in circles as she disappeared down the hill. As I stood on the porch a number of questions came to mind. This was a predominately African American neighborhood but there were a few families who were Korean, Hispanic and Caucasian. My grandchildren and I walked through the neighborhood often and occasionally went to the park that was three blocks away.

A stranger in the hood

I had never seen this girl before and when she left she went down the hill towards the main street and not in the direction where houses were. Why I wondered was this child out alone in the dark on Halloween? Why was this little girl riding a bicycle at 9:00 at night and trick-or-treating without friends or adult supervision?

Why was this white child alone in a black neighborhood if she did not live nearby and where had she come from? Even more interesting was the fact that she came to my house for candy but did not go anywhere else and I never saw her again. Why would she come up that hill on her bicycle and only make one stop? Perhaps it was because my porch light was on and she may have been told not to go to houses where there were no lights.

I also noticed that she did not have a trick-or-treat bag or any other candy with her but at that moment I simply wanted to give candy to a child who dropped by but all of these things came back with clarity in hindsight. Over the year my writer's mind went in different directions. This had appeared to be a normal child but what if she were not a girl at all but the spirit of a child who had died one Halloween?

Is there a logical explanation?

Perhaps she was riding her bike to obtain candy and was hit and killed before she got any and came back every year until she finally got her treat. I searched the Internet but found no record of a girl being hit by a car while riding a bike. That would make a great fiction story but I'm not a fiction writer. Had this little girl been with other children, an adult or come earlier in the night I would have thought no more about her but she did not.

Perhaps this was just a little girl who lived nearby who showed up late, after dark, alone, riding a bike, on Halloween. Maybe she only stopped at my house because my light was on or maybe there is a different explanation. Please leave your thoughts in the comment section and if you enjoyed this tale tips are appreciated.