Trick or Treat

There was only one rule: don’t open the door.

Charlie couldn’t believe this. How unfair! He’d planned to go out trick or treating, and spend a few hours going from house to house on Halloween night, collecting as much sugary crap as possible before morning. It had been planned for weeks; it was going to be an amazing night. But then Charlie’s mum got involved.

“You can’t go anywhere tonight, Charlie,” she said firmly. “Meggie is far too young to stay home on her own, and you know what she’s like when someone leaves the door open for too long.” Charlie could have sworn at his little sister. She was forever ruining things for him.

First, it was his birthday. All Charlie really wanted was two things: a peanut butter birthday cake, and a lego set. Meggie turned out to be allergic to peanuts, so they spent the day in the emergency room. And then when Charlie finally was able to open his gifts, he found a duplo set instead, because “Well, Meggie might accidentally swallow those small pieces, so we aren’t going to have any of those for a while.”

And now she was ruining Halloween too.

Charlie’s parents were away for the evening, helping his grandparents with a hospital visit. Charlie still wanted to enjoy Halloween, so instead he invited his friends over and they played video games for a while. The doorbell had been ringing non-stop with trick or treaters, which annoyed Charlie as he couldn’t join in the fun. Frustrated, he opened the door and tossed out a bag of candy to the enthusiastic kids.

He only turned away for one moment, he told his parents. But when he looked back, the door was open.

Meggie was gone.