by Taylor Rogers '24 on November 10, 2023
Portfolio Co-Editor
Portfolio
For the first year ever, Pippa and Charles were finally allowed to go trick-or-treating by themselves. They had basically shoved their parents out the door on a date night, insisting that ten years old was a perfectly acceptable age to explore their small neighborhood alone. Pippa had decided to go as Anabelle and had made her brother dress as Chucky, the duo giving the younger children of the neighborhood extreme jump scares, both dressed in layers as the temperatures in rural New Hampshire were below 40℉ at night. The two shivered as they wandered down each street, looking for the houses with the most candy to ransack as they were further and further from home.
The duo neared the end of their street, noticing a small shack with giant candy bars inside a bright-orange pumpkin. Most children skipped over the house, which the twins found quite odd.
“They have so much candy, why is nobody going there?” Charles curiously asked his sister, running his hand through dyed red hair.
Pippa shrugged, tugging on the itchy wig on her forehead. “No clue, but there’s more for us, yeah?”
Charles nodded and the two approached the porch, noticing a giant TAKE ONE sign. He and Pippa look at each other, then at the people actively ignoring the hut. “We’re taking the entire stash, right?”
Pippa looks up, half the pumpkin’s candy already in her pillowcase. “Oh, definitely. They have the best candy, why isn’t anyone over here?”
Neither of them noticed the witch watching the children eagerly, knowing that her candy caused adverse reactions. She sat knitting in her kitchen, hands weaving through the fabric in succession as the children before her grabbed piece after piece, their greediness irritating her. While she was grateful to receive her first-ever trick-or-treaters, she was upset: how would she get more if those kids took all the candy? She racked her brain for an idea to punish them for being so gluttonous and then flicked her needle in satisfaction.
“When they eat it, they’ll get a taste of their own medicine.” The witch concluded, cackling as the twins cleared the rest of the pot.
The two children continued walking from house to house, soon forgetting about the TAKE ONE warning with each passing step. Soon, they had to fill up a second pillowcase, then a third, eventually unable to carry the sacks.
Charles examined their haul happily, “think it’s time to go home and sort this all out?”
“Duh, then we can go back out and get even more!” Pippa answered as they walked up the cobblestone steps to their house.
The two entered the silent kitchen, Charles and Pippa quickly switching candies and determining who would get to eat what. Charles grabbed the biggest bar and took a huge bite, then handed it to Pippa. She did the same, clutching her stomach.
“Charles, I feel a little funny,” she complained, face turning green.
Her brother paled before her, a green steam coming out of his ears. The same happened to his sister, and the two managed to gasp before transforming into the very chocolate they had chewed seconds ago. Gone were the happy twins, replaced by a rich dark chocolate with the label Greedy Girls & Boys. The delicacy sat on top of their stacks of candy, remaining intact for a few hours until a loud stirring made the house burst with noise yet again.
“The kids left their chocolate, that’s not like them.” A woman wondered, looking down at the stack of candy.
Her husband nodded, “Hey, more candy for us. Let’s split the chocolate, they won’t notice one piece missing.”
The woman giggled, plucking the Greedy Girls & Boys bar with a pair of Halloween-themed acrylics. She took a bite, “this chocolate’s divine, try some.”
She finger-fed her husband the candy, who smiled. He answered, “Ooo, I haven’t had chocolate this good in forever, I’m sure the kids went to sleep after their sugar high. Let’s finish this bar and do the same?”
The couple cleared through the chocolate quickly, unaware of who they were eating. Soon, the majority of the candy was gone, and they patted their stomachs before heading up to bed for the night. They’d ask their kids about trick-or-treating tomorrow, the chocolate had left them tired and desperately needing a nap. Both adults fell asleep in seconds, silence overtaking the house as the children swirled around in their parents’ stomachs for the remainder of the evening.