Halloween

The evening darkness starts to blanket the leaf-covered streets and sidewalks at around 5:00. Bands of children dressed as fairies, Muppets, ghosts, and zombies herd along the walks with parents tagging along behind. They have special privileges on the streets tonight. Cars drive more carefully than usual, easing along, hesitantly, yielding to the costumed youth as they wander across the streets. From one house after another, the make-shift thespians walk up to the front door of a house where they incant "Trick or treat!" From the door, an arm emerges with a basket from which the costumed beggars reach in and extract the candy wrapped in crinkly plastic. Then, each one dutifully says "Thank you!" as parents urge them to retreat and let the next tribe through. They shuffle down  the walkway, rejoin their parents, consult with each other about what they just got, and move on to the next house. Looking down the street, six groups of frightful tricksters generate a sound of children's high-pitched twittering with parents punctuating the noise with reminders to be careful. The shuffling of feet in the leaves, the cool night air, and the smell of leaves and candles inside of pumpkins adorn this curious annual ritual. By seven o'clock, the children seem to have finished and older kids are roaming in twos or threes without parents. By eight o'clock, the rite seems to be over for this year.