Growing up, Halloween was my favorite holiday. Every year, my mom would hand sew my costume, which included everything from an ice skater to a princess to the Yellow Power Ranger (I'll never forget this year - it snowed and I was so upset my little yellow shoe covers got all wet). Each year, the neighborhood kids and I would meet up, and one brave parent would take us out Trick-or-Treating, while the rest of the parents stayed back to drink warm apple cider with rum. Sometimes the (un)lucky parent would even take a mug outside with them (I'll probably be doing this, too, when I have kids). One year when I got home from collecting candy in my pillowcase, I laid out my collection on the living room floor like I did every year. M&Ms in one pile, Twix in the other and boring candy in the trash. But when I woke up the next morning to pick which candy I wanted to pack with my lunch, there was nothing left. Wrappers were strewn across the floor, no candy in sight. Not even a popcorn ball was left. "Dad!" I yelled. "How could you eat all my candy?"
It definitely wasn't my dad, but a rabid raccoon that had found its way into our house, ransacked my candy and was now hiding in the basement. Frightened but determined, my dad proceeded to set up cardboard boxes to make a maze to the door for the raccoon to get out of the basement. As he chased it out the back door, it hissed, I screamed. Years later, my dad told me just how scared he was. But it still remains my favorite Halloween story. Although I don't hope for a raccoon to eat all of your candy and hide out in your house, I do wish you a Happy Halloween weekend full of memories.
Sneaky little candy stealer!
P.S. For more spooky photos, visit
the thinking tank.
(Photos by
Alison Scarpula and via
We Heart It)
