Halloween’s Truth
written by: R. Nikolas Macioci
The doorbell chimes. I grab a handful
of Halloween candy from a dish
on the table. A line of trick or treaters wait
for me to drop a Babe Ruth or Snickers bar
into their bag. I wear no costume, my face,
a mask of enthusiasm, grins at the young
people’s inventive outfits, but suddenly,
a teenager, way past adolescence, confronts
me with the proverbial demand. He is
dressed as a hobo, hides behind a full mask.
I reluctantly let a Snickers fall into his sack.
Instead of thanking me, with an angry arm,
he sweeps my candle-lit pumpkin from the
porch railing. The pumpkin shatters as it
hits the ground. I yell after the kid who
runs down the sidewalk, knocking everyone
out of the way, and disappears into the street.
A vandal? Someone with a grudge against me?
A former student I didn’t pass? I feel tenderness
toward him, because he’s troubled and probably
has a story to tell that, which, if I heard it,
would trouble me. I continue to appease
trick or treaters, but I’m a bit deflated from
the young man’s violence in the midst of
celebration. The shattered remains of
the pumpkin remind me that some darkness
in the boy, however perplexing,
carries its own quiet sorrow.
- Halloween’s Truth - October 25, 2025
