“I can handle dogs. They love me.”

  “Yeah.” Tommy sneered.

  “Don’t you have enough candy already?” Emma smirked. “Your bucket’s full.”

  “But my pockets are empty. Plenty of room in there. Always room for more candy.”

  “Well, I’m not going all the way over there for one little treat. Maybe for a bunch of houses.”

  “Fine. Stay here and I’ll get the goods. You’re missing out.”

  The half-moon above lit the area well enough to see to the edge of the forest on both sides of the gravel road, and along with his flashlight Jackson made his way toward the light. The tall grass swallowed up the path in front of him as he trudged forward. No car had traveled that road in a long time.

  He passed the edge of the forest and entered a clearing. A simple stone path wound up to the front door of a neglected single-story house. No light came through from inside the house, but curtains covered the windows.

  No car. Not even a garage.

  Waist-high grass and weeds surrounded the house. A weak front porch light illuminated half the lawn, and a string of lanterns hung across the roof’s overhang. The roof bowed down in the center and smoke drifted up from the chimney.

  A low moan, like an injured bear, echoed from the forest next to the house. He pictured a pack of wild dogs charging from around the side of the house at any moment to attack him.

  His heart beat faster as he stopped at the bottom of the porch. He cleared his throat as if someone inside the house might hear him. “Excuse me? Trick or treat.”

  He focused on the windows. Nothing moved inside. Maybe nobody was home, but he wouldn’t give up without making sure.

  “If you didn’t want visitors,” Jackson mumbled, “you should have turned off your light.”

  He crept up to the front door, pulling back the squeaky screen door, and knocked. A white fabric blocked a small window in the door. He listened for footsteps inside. Complete silence. He knocked again, and the door flew open. An old grayed-haired woman stood in the doorway. Her eyes… glowed? He shuddered and stepped back.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  A strange smell floated under his nose. Smoke. Candles perched on glass plates hung by chains from the ceiling, illuminating the area behind her. He cleared his throat again. “Trick or treat.”

  She slumped forward, standing in a loose white robe and bare feet. Her ragged gray hair drooped down over her eyes until she pushed it aside. Deep wrinkles lined her face. A circular metal star symbol hung from her string necklace.

  Her eyes widened, and she smirked. “Well, you’re my first customer.”

  Customer? What a strange thing to say, even on Halloween.

  Jackson scanned the area near the doorway for a bucket of candy. “It’s Halloween. Do you have any treats?”

  “Oh, I’m aware of what day it is.” She chuckled. “You want a treat, eh? What a shame, I was hoping to do a trick instead.”

  Jackson chuckled awkwardly. “If you don’t have any…”

  She glanced back over her shoulder. “Oh, I think I can find something. I’ve lived out here for thirty-two years and nobody has ever stopped by on Halloween.”

  “Really? Not even one kid?”

  “Not one. But you’re in luck. I baked a tray of monster chocolate chip cookies. Would you like one of those?”

  He lost his smile. “I’m not supposed to eat anything that’s not wrapped, like from a store. Do you have any Hershey’s chocolate bars or a Snickers bar?”

  “I’m afraid not. I don’t get out to the store much. Let me get you a cookie.”

  She turned and limped down the hallway to a back room.

  “Oh great,” he mumbled, “a cookie.”

  He frowned and scanned her possessions. Frames dotted the walls, but instead of paintings or pictures, they contained rows of black and white symbols, like some ancient language. He knew some Spanish words, but they didn’t look Spanish. Maybe French.

  Several large plants snaked up against the wall beneath the main picture window, but with the sheet blocking the sunlight, how did the plants survive?

  That smell. Sweet, yet it made him gag at the same time. A mix of sugar and manure. Would the cookies taste like that? No way would he eat anything she brought him. She must not have cleaned the house in a long time. Old people lived that way.

  He searched for her back in the darkness. He should just run and tell his friends she wasn’t home.

  “Here we go.” The woman limped back to him, holding the tray of cookies. She stretched it out to him. “Pick one.”

  Again, that sugar and sewer smell. He hesitated, but the cookies were massive. The biggest he’d ever seen. Almost an inch thick and the size of a small plate. Huge chocolate chips covered every inch.

  He leaned toward them and sniffed. Nothing unpleasant about them. Just sweet.

  “You’ll like these,” she said with a grin.

  He reached for the biggest one and pulled it away, watching her face. “Thank you. I’ll just take it home.”

  “I know kids these days like sweets. My cookies are the sweetest thing you’ll ever eat. Try it.”

  His mouth watered. He nodded. “Maybe just one bite.”

  He bit in and within seconds his head swirled. Maybe she put some weird drug in there, but it was so incredibly sweet. The best chocolate chip cookie he’d ever eaten. He wanted to devour the whole thing in that moment. He took another bite. His head reeled, and he smiled.

  “Do you like it?” she asked.

  “It’s delicious. Can I have another one?”

  “One per child.”

  “Can I take one for my friend? He’s waiting back there.” He gestured toward the main road.

  She glanced over his shoulder. “He’ll need to come here himself if he wants one.”

  He stared again at the tray of five more jumbo cookies but turned away as he took a third bite. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Come back next year if you’d like.”

  Next year. He wouldn’t be out for Halloween next year. Too old. But she had invited him. Maybe he’d take her up on it.

  He hurried back to his friends. They’d be so jealous when he told them about his treat. He held it out as he approached them.

  “What d’you get?” Dan asked.

  “She gave you a cookie?” Tommy sneered.

  “Not just a regular cookie, guys.” Jackson waved it beside his head and then bit off another chunk. “This thing is so delicious.”

  Dan reached for it.

  Jackson turned away. “Get your own.”

  “I’m not going in there.” Dan frowned.

  Jackson teased the cookie in front of Dan’s face. “Even for this? It’s magnificent.”

  “Did she put a spell on you?” Tommy asked. “I heard that woman’s crazy.”

  “She’s not crazy. She’s nice. Go get one. If you don’t want it, you can give it to me.”

  Another low moan erupted from the forest.

  Dan shook his head. “I just want to go home.”

  Jackson took another bite of the cookie, wiping crumbs from the corner of his mouth. He closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the thick chunks of chocolate. How could anyone bake something so delicious? “You guys don’t know what you’re missing. You need to get in there and get one.”

  Tommy turned back toward town. “Come on, let’s go home.”

  “You’re leaving?” Jackson glared at them. “Are you crazy?”

  They stopped.

  “It’s getting late, Jackson.” Emma took off her tiara and hung it from the side of her pink pumpkin bucket. “My parents will be mad if I don’t get home soon.”

  Jackson eyed their costumes. He did tell that old woman his friend was waiting for him. Maybe he could use them to go back and get another cookie. “You’re just going to let your costumes go to waste, huh?”

  “What are you talking about?” Dan asked.

  He singled out Dan’s werewolf costume. “You guys are about the same size as me. Lend me your costume, Dan, so I can go back in and get another one.”

  Dan rolled his eyes. “She’ll know it’s you.”

  “How will she know it’s me? I’ll wear your mask, and that outfit covers your whole body.”

  Dan held out his werewolf mask. “She’ll recognize your voice.”

  “I won’t say a word. I’ll just nod and grab a cookie.”

  Dan slipped off the rest of his costume and Jackson did the same. He slipped on the fur leggings first, then the detailed main body section, then the claw gloves. He slipped on the mask last. Damp.

  “Good God, Dan,” Jackson spoke through the small air hole near the mouth, “you sweat a lot.”

  “I’m exhausted. I want to go home.”

  Jackson set down his bucket of candy and took off toward the old woman’s house empty-handed. “I’ll be right back.”

  He stormed up to the front door and knocked.

  The woman opened the door with a broad smile. “How wonderful. Two visitors in the same day. This is amazing.”

  “Trick or treat,” Jackson spoke in a gruff voice.

  “Would you like a trick or a treat?”

  “Treat.”

  She leaned toward him, staring into his eyes, then offered him the tray. “You must be the friend of that other boy. Did he like his cookie?”

  Jackson nodded as he plucked another cookie away from her.

  “Have a bite,” she prodded.

  He shook his head.

  “You must try one bite. I know you’ll like it.”

  “No, thank you,” he said in his regular voice.

  “Hmm, your voice sounds familiar. Have you been here before? Lift your mask and let me have a look at you.”

  “No ma’am.” He spoke in a low voice again.

  She leaned in closer and glared at his eyes. “I know I’ve seen you before. You were here a few minutes ago.” She snatched the cookie out of his hands.

  He stumbled back. “No.”

  “I know it’s you. You demanded a trick or a treat, and I gave you my best treat. You tricked me in return. No more treats. This time, you’ll get a trick.”

  Jackson turned away. He strained to find the steps of the porch through the small eye sockets in the mask. He glanced back one last time at her.

  She raised the star symbol on her necklace toward him and spoke three words.

  “As you are.”

  A flash of light burst out from the necklace and struck him in the chest. He careened down the stairs and toppled to the ground as a burning sensation flooded his body. His face tingled. His body swelled to fill his cloth outfit.

  He pulled at the mask, but it wouldn’t come off.

  “Help me!” he cried out.

  The old woman laughed.

  He flopped to the side, trying to stand again as his vision spun. What had she done to him? Poison him? He spit crumbs from the edge of his mouth as his jaw stretched out beneath his eyes. His airway opened wider, pulling at the mask’s fur as it clung to his skin. No more skin, only fur.

  He ripped at his chest to remove the werewolf outfit, but his fingers tore against his own flesh. No more fingers, only claws. The costume disappeared, leaving only an animal’s pelt that became his own.

  The woman laughed from her doorway, cackling like an old hag as she still held the tray of cookies.

  “What did you do to me?” Jackson yelled, but his words made no sense. Growls and grunts came out instead.

  “You won’t be like that for long, my dear. It’s a trick. But remember not to trick an old woman next time.” She closed the door on him.

  He lurched forward and pounded on her door. “Help me!” Only more growls.

  He scrambled away toward his friends, calling out to them as he ran faster than he’d ever run before. His feet pounded through the grass as a howl filled the air. His howl.

  He caught up to them within seconds. They screamed and ran in the opposite direction, leaving the candy buckets behind.

  “Hey guys, it’s me,” he yelled. More growling and a howl. “Where are you going? Stop!”

  Little Green Alien

  Ben strained to see the object hovering above them. It was about a hundred feet above the treetops and the afternoon sky reflected off the surface so that from below it looked almost transparent. The only thing that gave it away was when it moved, the air rippled around it, resembling a drop of water splashing into a still pond.

  John saw it first and if he hadn’t received that green laser pointer from his dad a few days earlier, they might have just ignored it and moved on, but John was eager to use his new toy.

  “I think I can get it.” John aimed the laser at the object like firing a pistol.

  Nothing happened at first.

  “It’s just a cloud or something. Maybe a sun dog.”

  “That’s no sun dog. That’s a UFO.”

  “Nothing’s there.”

  “I got it!” John’s face lit up with a wide grin. “I got that sucker.”

  “How can you tell?” Ben asked.

  “It moved. Didn’t you see it jump?”

  “No.” Everything looked the same, except the clouds shifted behind the strange anomaly.

  “I’ll do it again, so watch this time. Look for the green dot. There! I hit it again.”

  Ben spotted the green laser dot jittering against a murky cloud.

  John bumped him and held out the laser pointer. “Here. You try.”

  Ben took it and aimed it into the sky at the same strange shape. The clouds shuddered when the light hit the spot. More than shuddered. They convulsed.

  “You hit it too!” John patted him on the back. “Good shot!”

  The shapeless form burst, revealing a solid object within it. Something was there. The object appeared in the sky above them in full view, with no environmental interference to mask it. A silver orb. It wavered sideways before coming to an abrupt stop. No smoke or fire to show they had damaged it, but it wobbled like a top near the end of its spin.

  John howled with laughter. “I told you guys it was a UFO.”

  Ben’s doubts faded. The object circled in the air, making wide arcs until it careened toward them.

  “It’s going to crash.” Emmie pulled Ben’s arm as she stepped back toward the house.

  “Holy shit! I shot it down!” John laughed as the thing plummeted.

  The ground shook when the object crashed into the woods at the end of the cornfield. A dark billowing cloud rose into the air. It knocked over several trees and the sound boomed through the air like a thousand shotguns had gone off at the same time.

  Ben gasped.

  “Get in the house.” Emmie pulled Ben toward her.

  John charged toward the spectacle.

  “Where are you going?” Emmie called out to him.

  He slowed and turned back. “Over there, to see what happened.”

  Emmie shook her head. “We should call the police. You better hope that’s not a military plane you just shot down.”

  John rolled his eyes. “So what if it is? Serves them right for flying that thing over our property. Let’s go!”

  The dust overshadowed the forest. No sign of a fire, but someone might need help. Ben hurried along with John, and Emmie joined them. They crossed the yard and entered the cornfield. Pushing through the cornstalks toward the forest, Ben eyed the skies for any sign of military aircraft searching for the downed object. Nothing yet.

  “Do you think it was a military drone?” Ben asked.

  “I doubt it. Drones don’t hover in one spot. I’m telling you, it’s from outer space.”

  “No such thing.” Ben pushed through the field as corn stalks whipped across his face.

  “Well, I guess we’ll find out then, won’t we?”

  “You better hope it is,” Ben said, “or you’re going to prison for downing a military aircraft.”

  “Can’t prove anything.” John shook his head. “No proof that I did it. You guys won’t say a word.”

  “I hope the pilot’s okay,” Emmie said.

  “The alien pilot,” John corrected. “We’ll take him hostage, if he survived.”

  “If it’s really an alien,” Emmie said, “how are we going to communicate with it? Maybe it’ll want to kill us?”

  “Of course, it’ll want to kill us. We just shot down its ship. But I think it’ll be dead when we get in there. That thing landed hard.”

  “This is just like that Roswell crash in New Mexico back in the 40s,” Emmie said.

  “Yep, except this time we’ll get to it before the government does. We’ll take pictures and post them on the internet before their goons have a chance to threaten us. This will be big news. Everyone in the world will see this.”

  “Do you have your cellphone?” Ben asked.

  “Don’t you have yours?”

  “No.”

  “Shit, man, you always carry your cellphone. We’ll have to go back to the house and get them.”

  “Do you think it’s aliens?” Emmie asked.

  “Absolutely. Be sure to grab as much tech stuff as you can after we take pictures so we can stash it away. The government will take it if we don’t.”

  “Let’s just see what it is first,” Ben said.

  John looked back at him. “It’s aliens.”

  They huffed through the cornfield until coming out on the other side in front of the forest. The dust had dispersed. Still no sign of any fires ahead. No approaching government aircraft, either.

  John pulled out the survival knife he carried in a scabbard at his waist. He held it up in front of him as he stepped toward the trees, as if whatever had crashed might jump out and attack him. John was big on knives. He lined the walls of his room with various swords and ancient daggers. He would pull his knife out at the first sign of trouble, whether it warranted it or not. John sliced the blade through the air.

  “What are you doing?” Ben asked him.

  “Getting ready to kill an alien.”

  “No, don’t kill it,” Emmie said. “If something survived the crash, you just leave it alone.”

  “I won’t leave it alone if it attacks us.”

 

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