1 Halloween’s Coming

The alien next door. trick or cheat

one halloween's coming HARRIS WALKER RUSHED NEXT door to his friend Zeke's house on Sunday. Harris and Zeke had only been home for a week following their adventure at Beaver Scouts camp, but already it felt like a million years ago. Halloween was coming this week, and that was all Harris could think about.

"Guess what?" Harris asked excitedly when he joined Zeke in his room. "It's almost Halloween!" "Hall-o-what?" Zeke asked, repeating the unfamiliar word. Harris smiled. He had become such good friends with Zeke that sometimes he forgot that his next door neighbor was not from Earth.

"They don't have Halloween on Tragas?!" Harris asked. Correct," said Zeke. "What is it?" "Everyone dresses up in costumes," Harris explained. "For that one day, you can be whatever you want to be—a ghost, a monster, an animal, an object. Anything you can imagine! Then we all go trick-or-treating."

"What does that mean?" Zeke asked. "We go from house to house and get candy," Harris said. "And the whole neighborhood is decorated with ghosts and cobwebs and other spooky stuff. Then we come home, watch scary movies, and eat our candy. It's the best holiday!"

Zeke looked puzzled. "So, once again, like when we were telling scary stories around the campfire on our scouting trip, we want to get scared because it's... fun?" "Exactly!" Harris said. "Now you get it." "I'm still not sure I do," Zeke said. "But I want to learn all I can about Earth culture. And I do appreciate you helping me make my way through your strange customs."