Little Danielle Locke was a disaster when it came to saving money.
So many times she had tried, to save for a special doll or toy, once even a bicycle, and every time, she found something she wanted “more”; a silent need for instant gratification in a moment, and there went the money, sending Danielle back to square one. Usually she would have to wait for her birthday or Christmas for whatever the initial item was that she’d wanted, if she even remembered it by then.
But when her mother told her that she’d have no choice but to save her allowance if she wanted one of those Silver Shamrock Halloween masks, that was different.
Danielle loved Halloween and waited for it with bated breath each year. Choosing the costume she’d wear when she went trick-or-treating with her supercool Aunt Theresa was serious business, and, once she’d heard about the Silver Shamrock masks, she knew she had to have one. Anyone who was anyone was going to be wearing a Silver Shamrock mask that Halloween, and Danielle didn’t consider herself just anyone when it came to Halloween. Sure, maybe other kids liked it, but their favorite holiday was Christmas. She knew that for a fact because of a survey her teacher once took for the sake of making a pie chart. Halloween was her night, and if Silver Shamrock was all the rage, then she must have it.
It took her several weeks, and many chores she wouldn’t normally have done, but by the time there were six more days ‘til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween…, Danielle had saved up the money. She was incredibly proud of herself, and even more so when her family joked that of course she would finally learn the value of a dollar when it came to something Halloween-related. She recruited both her mother and Aunt Theresa to go down to the drug store with her and help her choose which mask she would wear that Halloween night.
The deliberation lasted at least half an hour. Every time Danielle thought she’d made up her mind, she’d suddenly see another pro in one or both of the other choices, and change her mind again. The pumpkin was so perfect and traditional, and she’d actually worn a pumpkin costume on her first Halloween, as a baby. Maybe it was only right to choose that one. But the skeleton was so spooky, and bore almost a sad expression that made Danielle feel like she had to rescue him. And the witch…the witch seemed to be the most detailed of all, offering a total transformation that no ordinary witch costume could.
She’d been partial to the pumpkin beforehand, but for some reason, she felt an inexplicable connection to the witch, and ultimately chose the bright green shrouded face to be her Halloween disguise for that year. She was sad to leave the pumpkin, and also the skeleton who looked so sullen, but she was happy with her decision.
For the remainder of the week, she would dance around the house with her mask on, pairing it with different pieces of black clothing until she created the perfect costume. She drove her family insane, singing the Silver Shamrock jingle at the top of her lungs, whether it was on the TV or not. She thought to herself, that she might continue to sing it even once November first came, at least once a day, to keep the countdown alive. Perhaps next year she would save up again and buy the pumpkin mask, and then the skeleton the year after that. Or could she possibly save up enough money to buy both at once? What a thrilling thought! She couldn’t imagine wanting anything else so much that she’d blow the money like usual, between now and next Halloween.
Finally the night came. Aunt Theresa complimented Danielle on how she’d pulled an entire costume together, and Danielle could not have been happier. She ran from house to house, getting some compliments from neighbors as well, and also feeling as if she were a part of some special club with the other kids who wore Silver Shamrock masks. They all sort of nodded to each other, in a similar way to how she’d seen motorcyclists wave at each other along the road. She wondered if anyone even knew who she was, or if she knew any of the kids inside the other masks.
Unfortunately, though, at the end of one street, near the woods, she ran into someone she definitely did know: The meanest girl in school, and her personal bully, Jenny Peck.
Jenny wasn’t wearing a Silver Shamrock mask, or any mask at all, for that matter. At nine years old, she acted like she was already a teenager, and was, on some level, “too cool” for Halloween. She was dressed in a vaguely hippie-ish style, but there was no real discernible costume. In that moment, Danielle almost felt sorry for her, being so unable to just enjoy the greatest night of the year.
Jenny surprised Danielle just then, by jumping back like she was afraid. She screeched dramatically, “Aah! A witch! Don’t let it get me!”, and in that moment, Danielle couldn’t help herself. Believing she’d scared her bully, the big, bad Jenny Peck, she pulled off her mask and stepped closer, laughing right in the other girl’s face.
But Jenny, it turns out, was faking. In one swift motion, she grabbed the Silver Shamrock witch mask right out of Danielle’s hand and threw it, hard, into the woods. She then ran off, before Danielle even had a chance to react.
Aunt Theresa, who had been lagging behind a bit, talking to some other adults she knew, caught up with Danielle just then and tried to tell her to calm down, but Danielle was inconsolable. She begged Aunt Theresa to go into the woods with her to look for the mask. They walked as far in as they dared to go, with Aunt Theresa shining her flashlight all over the place, but the mask was nowhere to be found.
“I’m sorry, Danielle, but I don’t think we’re going to find it out here tonight,” Aunt Theresa finally said. “It’s getting late. If the masks are on sale tomorrow, I’ll give you some money for a new one, but we’re going to have to head home without it.”
“But what about the big giveaway?!” Danielle protested. “Even if I get a new mask tomorrow, I’ll miss my chance!”
Aunt Theresa laughed gently. “Danielle, you didn’t really think you were going to win that thing, did you?” she asked as they reluctantly left the woods. “Look how many kids in this town alone have Silver Shamrock masks. The odds of winning that giveaway, against all the kids in the world who have Silver Shamrock masks, are extremely against you.”
“I guess…” Danielle said sadly.
“Look,” Aunt Theresa reasoned. “It’s already probably on record somewhere that you bought the mask. You probably don’t need to actually be wearing it to be the giveaway winner.”
“That’s true, maybe,” Danielle agreed, albeit reluctantly. “I mean, what are they going to do? Look through the TV to make sure I have my mask on? That’s impossible!”
“You didn’t always think that!” Aunt Theresa teased. “Remember when you thought the people on the TV lived in there, and could see you?”
“I was three!” Danielle protested, with a laugh.
“Come on,” Aunt Theresa prodded. “We should get home before the end of the horror-thon. They could be announcing your name right now!”
Danielle laughed, but didn’t protest. Who knew what might happen during the big giveaway?
The crazy thing, though, was that nothing happened. When Danielle got home, she ran to the TV, trying to brush off her parents’ questions as to where her mask was, and waited for nine o’clock to come. It came, and the Silver Shamrock commercial played once more, with a pumpkin flashing in and out on the TV. Danielle thought for a second that she heard a muffled scream coming from somewhere she couldn’t quite make out, but she eventually just shrugged and turned the TV off, bored. Her parents sighed with relief that they wouldn’t have to hear that Silver Shamrock song anymore, and Danielle went to bed disappointed that the big giveaway turned out to be a scam. Of course, that’s what would happen when she finally managed to save her money for something. Sure, the mask had been cool and all, but was it really worth it?
*************************************************
Back on the neighborhood streets, Jenny Peck was on a mission. She swore she heard screaming while she’d been sitting up in her bedroom, trying to avoid that overhyped horror-thon that was being put on by the company that made those stupid masks, the ones that were making so many of her classmates, especially Danielle Locke, act like babies. She walked all around the neighborhood but couldn’t find the source of the screams.
Too bad. She thought. I guess nothing exciting ever actually happens on Halloween.
It occurred to her though, as she passed the street corner near the woods, that maybe she could still have a little fun once Halloween was officially over. If she could just find that mask that she’d thrown, who knew what Danielle Locke would be willing to do to get it back?
Jenny took off into the woods, searching. She very nearly gave up, but then, she saw something just slightly shining in the moonlight.
It was the Silver Shamrock trademark, hanging slightly off the mask, as it lay there limply, discarded, forgotten.
Jenny picked it up slowly, asking out loud, “What is the big deal about these stupid things anyway?”
As she lifted the mask to put it over her own face and maybe find the answer to her question, a beam of light shot out of it.
Before she had a chance to react, Jenny Peck was gone. A Halloween vision of a broken face that no mask company could ever recreate.
Trick or treat, indeed.
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