Today’s writing prompt was – overabundance or too much.
Trick or Treat
It was early October. Meg and her husband, Wally, better known as Doctor Wally to his dental patients, sat around the breakfast table, having a discussion.
“You know,” Meg started, “Halloween is just around the corner; maybe it’s time to stock up on some Halloween treats for this year.”
“What!” was Wally’s reply. “It’s practically a month away. We never get many kids here. Why would we want to stock up now?”
“Because that’s when all the candy sales are. We should get a couple of bags before it’s too late.”
Wally said, “Why? My toothbrushes and toothpaste treats aren’t enough?”
Meg quickly replied, “Your toothpaste and toothbrushes may be why we don’t get many visitors on Halloween. I say we go with candy this year.”
“But, then we have to contend with peanut allergies and the like. Who knows what to choose?”
“Leave the candy to me. Now, what costumes do you think we should wear this year?”
Wally responded as if he already had planned that part out. “This year, we’ll dress up as pirates. We can take that old trunk we have that is full of old clothes we’ll never wear, empty it, and donate all the clothes to the church. We can put the candy, or whatever we have, in the trunk and have the kids pick out what they want.”
Meg liked that idea. First, she would finally get rid of all the old clothes that he’d been hanging on to, and second, whether he realized it or not, he had agreed to have some candy instead of dental supplies. She told him, “Okay, you empty the trunk, and I’ll get the candy.”
October, as any month will do, moved on. By the time Halloween came around, everything was in place. The old clothes were stacked where the trunk had been. Meg had purchased one bag of Fun Sized Snickers bars and one bag of pretzel packages. There should have been enough for about 15 kids, which would be twice as much as usually was distributed. All was prepared by the front door.
The temperature was a little cool, but the weather was good for trick-or-treating. Meg and Wally dressed in pirate outfits and makeup and awaited their visitors.
The number of children coming to their door for treats varied. The older kids loved the outfits Meg and Wally wore and were okay with the choice of treats. The very young kids were too frightened by the pirate costumes to stay long enough to venture up to the trunk, fearing the pirates might kidnap them and got nothing.
As a whole, Meg and Wally got rid of about one-half of their booty.
Before going to bed, Meg asked, “What should we do with all of the leftover candy?”
“Don’t worry,” Wally answered, “I’ll take care of it.”
After Wally went to work the following day, Meg noticed the leftover candy was gone. “What did he do with it?” she thought. She went into the room where the trunk was stored. The trunk was there, but the clothes weren’t. “Could Wally have put all the old clothes back in the trunk?” She was surprised that the trunk was locked as it had never been before. This wasn’t normal. She went to the basement and found three filled garbage bags that hadn’t been there the day before. Opening each one up, she found them stuffed with the trunk’s old clothes. That eliminated the possibility that Wally had stuffed his old clothes in the trunk.
So, what was so valuable that it had to be locked up? She had to find out.
Grabbing a screwdriver and a claw hammer, she returned to the trunk. The trunk was so old that it took little effort to pry the locked clasp off and open it. What she saw both shocked and amazed her. Wally was in for a big surprise that night.
Meg waited until Wally came home, and it was time for supper. Sitting at the table, he asked, “What’s for supper?”
In a very sweet voice, Meg replied, “Well, since you were so cooperative with the Halloween plans last night, I thought I would serve you your favorite food tonight.” So saying, she placed a covered casserole dish before his place.
With much anticipation, he lifted the cover to see what Meg had made. His eyes opened wide at what he saw. Meg raised her eyes and simply said, “Surprise.”
On the platter were four Twix bars, three full-sized Almond Joys, five full-sized packages of peanut M&Ms, a bag containing packages of Skittles, an assortment of Gummy bears and tootsie roll pops, and the leftover candy from Halloween.
