Trick or Treat

I hum to myself as my feet scrunch over the yellow green leaves strewn on the pavement. Fall is well and truly here, and the benign weather makes me smile at the sodden carpet. Not nearly as satisfying as crunching over bone dry leaves, but a t-shirt under a spring jacket means I don't really care! The earlier sun's rays, that made us squint as we had another round of debating which child to sell to fund the car hire for Chile, rudely overpowered by daylight saving.

Shrieks rent my autumnal musings, but my displeased glare of inquiry melts into a grin as I take in witches, devils, mummies, ghosts, sluts, jailbirds and other unidentified species as they giggle their way across the street, obvilious to the line of traffic. The teens give way to toddlers with less cutely attired parents and I'm amid a sea of snotty noses, soothing voices, distressed wails, disarrayed costumes, bent magic wands, awry headdresses, overstuffed trick or treat bags, as adults struggle with buggies, bags and cranky 4 year olds who do NOT want to go that way. I shudder and pick up the pace, but my feet stall at the sight of a 3 foot nothing shackled to a head board, valiantly lugging it. I'm too busy sniggering to try and figure out what he might be pretending to be, when the the poor mite rests his load with a thunk on the pavement! Omigod - that is not thermacol!!! Those that spawned him patiently wait while he regroups and with an almighty heave, sets off again...Now I've seen everything!