It is 7:30 a.m. on October 31 and you are quickly throwing on your Halloween costume before going to school. As you run downstairs, you smell your mom’s pumpkin shaped pancakes and the newly bought apple cider scented candle. To complete your princess costume, your mom hands you a sparkly, pink tiara. The both of you share a smile as you put it on, perfecting the outfit. As you walk to your mom’s car, you pass the mummy in the front yard and the skeleton waving out to the pedestrians on the street. She drives you to school while listening to “Thriller” by Michael Jackson on the radio. As an elementary schooler, you are so excited to spend the day in your costume and indulging in all the fun treats.

Now, it is 8:15 a.m. on October 31 and you are running late for school. As you run downstairs, you see your mom waiting for you with a hot cup of coffee. You quickly grab it while she asks you, “Where is your costume?” A frown appears across her face as you try to explain how you are a high schooler now and it isn’t cool to dress up anymore. On your way out, you walk across your empty front yard to your car and speed off to first period class. As you walk down the school hallway, you see a flood of sweatpants and reminisce on the days when the halls would be filled with horns, wings and sparkly pink tiaras.

The clock on your computer reads 7:00 p.m. while you are working on homework. After hearing the doorbell ring, you swing open the door only to find a four foot tall vampire. He is repeatedly yelling at you “trick or treat.” Before you can even grab the bowl of candy sitting next to the door, he takes a hand-full of treats and runs off. For a second, you contemplate leaving the bowl outside so the kids don’t keep interrupting your homework session, but then you see another one coming through the gate.

A pit forms in your stomach as you watch the tiny child in a princess costume walk toward you. Once the young girl gets closer, she says to you in a squeaky voice, “trick or treat?” For a moment, you thought you saw your sparkly, pink tiara and your soft hair that laid beneath it. You thought you saw your princess costume that you wore along with the smile that stretched from ear to ear. You thought you saw yourself plunging into the candy bowl and running off into the night.