#Halloweensie

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Boo!  It's time for the annual #Halloweensie contest, hosted by the wonderful author Susanna Leonard Hill. The rules are simple: no more than 100 words, and include this year's words: treat, slither, scare.

My story came about because of a handful of peppermints that seem to hang out in my cabinet year after year. Sure, they get eaten now and then, but really, do they ever go bad? More musing about my kids' view of "good" and "bad" candy in their Halloween haul . . . and then thinking of candy so desperate to get out of that cabinet that they turn "bad" in the moral sense . . . lying, cheating, stealing. And, a few dozen drafts later (my first draft was 281 words!) here's my Halloweensie entry:

TRICKY TREATS            

 By Lisa Lowe Stauffer

(100 words)

Last Halloween, we peppermints were left behind, stored in a cabinet.

This year our tricky plan will make sure we’re treats.

Whee! Into the bowl with candy corn, chocolates, and boxed jellybeans.

Our plan: Scare up costumes . . .  

“Jellybeans! Boo!”

They jump so high it knocks their boxes off.

“Oops, sorry,” we fib, then wiggle-slither inside the empty boxes.

Perfect disguise.

Ding-dong!

Tiny Batman grabs US!

We party in the bag as he trick-or-treats along the street.

Later—

Our flaps open. Shaka-shake . . . Thunk!

“Peppermints? Yuk!”

We’re shoved into a cabinet.

Drat! Stored again!

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