Where to start with my acknowledgements? Who to include? I will have to mention my MYP personal project coordinator / teacher. And no, the teacher you will read about in this book was not modelled after her. In fact, all characters, in any of the stories are fictitious.
Thanks Dad for reading my stories, giving feedback, making comments and discussing the story line with me. It was greatly appreciated.
Thanks Ms. Eifler for guiding me through the challenging MYP requirements, while allowing me to pursue my literary goals.
There is one special person that I wanted to add, Dr. Clarice Hong. I know you believed I was going to do something special. Well here it is!
Trick or Treat?
It is Halloween. Leon sat on the couch with his headphones on, listening to loud music. He hated Halloween because his mother never let him go ‘trick or treat’.
“Leon! Leon can you hear me? We are going to have lots of people coming by our house, so get ready to give out candies!” Leon’s mother said while tapping him on the shoulder. “And how many times do I have to tell you not to listen to loud music?! You can go deaf!”
“Huh? Okay fine stop tapping me like that!” ‘Jeez…’ Leon thought, he walked mid-way up the stairs and stopped. “Do we have to give out candies? I want to go trick or treating like my friend. Sitting around here is just boring.” He complained.
“Excuse me? Just because your friends are doing that doesn’t mean you should!” Leon’s mother stamped her foot and put her hands on her hips. “You’re older now so stop thinking of doing these childish things!”
“It’s not childish, mom. It’s called having fun, ever heard that term before?” Just before his mother could rush up and yank him down the stairs he ran up to his room and locked the door. Leon’s mother is strict; she pays way to much attention to what other people think. ‘Ugh! Having fun is not childish! In fact, it is not a bad thing; embarrassment just lives in people’s thoughts. Mom is a victim…’ He thought and picked up his phone. He dialed the number of his best friend, Raphael. It took a long time before he picked up.
“Hi Leon, what’s up? Want me to stop by your house for ca--”
“Raphael! I’m going to be so bored just sitting outside and giving candies! Help!” Leon cut him off by screaming into the phone.
Raphael winced. “Ahh! What? How can I help you with that?”
“Can you help convince my mom? I really want to collect candies instead of giving them.”
“I doubt she will listen to me.”
“Try!”
“Your mom’s scary, she’s going to be even scarier if I talk about this.”
Leon grunted. “That’s it! I’m sneaking out! Let’s go somewhere far, far away.”
“And what are you going to tell your mom when you get back home?”
“I will think about that later. I’m changing into my costume now, can you wait for me outside my house?”
“Okay then, just don’t blame me for anything. Don’t even mention my name.”
“I won’t! I’m going to get ready now.”
“Okay see ya later.”
“Bye.” Leon tossed the phone on his bed. “Alright let’s get started!” He opened his closet and found three Halloween costumes. A vampire. “Hmm..” An evil scientist. “Not too shabby.” A zombie. “This will do perfectly.” He ran to the bathroom and slipped the costume on. He looked at his face in the mirror, took some makeup and added fake blood all over his cheeks, neck and arms. Then ran to his mother’s bathroom and took an eyeliner pen and drew a dark line under his eyes and smudged it.
“Leon! People are coming in five minutes! Get yourself in the kitchen and help me take the table out to the porch!”
‘Oh no!’ Leon forgot he had to go past his mother in order to get outside. ‘There is no way I’m going to get past her like this!’
“Are you listening?” Leon’s mother came running up the stairs. He quietly sneaked back to his room and locked the door. He could tell by his mother’s footsteps that she was getting closer.
“I’m coming, mom! Just wait for me in the kitchen!” He heard his mother stop.
“Alright but you better not make me wait much longer.” She stomped down the stairs and he could hear her enter the kitchen. Leon grabbed his candy bag and opened his door quietly.
“All clear.” He whispered and tiptoed out of his room and down the stairs. Leon gasped and quickly hid behind a couch when he saw his mother come out of the kitchen and storming up the stairs again.
“That’s it you’re coming out of that room!” She cried loudly and burst into his bedroom to find it was empty, Leon took his chance and opened the front door. He did it as quietly as he could but it still produced a loud creak that filled the house. “There you are!” His mother ran down the stairs. Leon didn’t care about being quiet anymore; he slammed the door and ran out of the front yard. He looked around. Raphael was not there yet. He took out his phone and was about to call his friend when he heard a voice behind him.
“Boo! I have arrived.” Raphael said and laughed when Leon jumped. “Gotcha!” Just then Leon’s mother came out of the house.
“Leon! I’m not letting you go anywhere!”
“So you brought your mom out—“ Leon interrupted his friend by grabbing his arm and dragging him across the street.
“Run!” They both ran until they were sure no one was following.
“Woah…you look scary. You’re dressing up as a zombie too, huh?” Leon looked at Raphael’s costume, which certainly looked scary. He imagined how many people he could scare.
“Which house first?” Raphael snapped Leon out of his thoughts.
“Oh umm…just look for ones that have Halloween decorations. Like that one.” He said and slowly walked towards it. “You’re coming?”
Raphael sighed and followed. “By the look of it, your mom was very angry. What are you going to say once you get back?”
“I’ll figure that out later. Let’s go see that house.” Said Leon.
“Okay.” Raphael followed him and watched Leon knock on the door. The door swung open. There was a boy; he looked a year younger than them.
“Helllloooo! Are you my neighbors? That’s so cool!” The boy paused to see Leon and Raphael just staring at him with surprise. “Oh, umm, my name is Ted, nice to meet you all.
“Hi.” Leon said awkwardly. Ted was dressed up as a zombie too, much scarier though, and very real. “Trick or treat?”
“Oh! No more candy! I’m just heading to the big mansion. They give boxes of the best candies in the world!” Said Ted.
“Well you seem excited about it. Mind if we tag along?” Leon asked.
“Well I don’t know…you are a member I suppose?”
“We need to be members? Don’t be silly. We’ll all go. This will be fun!”
“Hey! Just because I’m small doesn’t mean you can boss me around!” Ted grabbed Leon’s shoulder.
“Ow!” He slapped Ted’s hand off. He looked at his shoulder. There was a mark. ‘Wow he has a strong grip. He looks so small though…’
?s just…I don’t think you should be hanging around where I’m going to. It’s danger—um, I mean, not a place for you.” Leon and Raphael just ignored him.
“Just lead the way.”
“Fine. But don’t blame me for what you become.” Said Ted and pointed straight ahead. “We’ll walk through the woods until we get to the cemetery. There is a path next to it, leading to the mansion.” Ted made sure he was behind those two.
“I crossed these woods many times but never saw a mansion.” Leon said but kept on walking. Suddenly something stung into the back of his neck. Everything became blurry and he blacked out.
“Leon! Leon! Are you okay? Ah!” Raphael felt something sting his arm and collapsed too.
Leon slowly opened his eyes. He stood up. No pain. He felt the back of his neck with his hands; still no pain but there was blood. He couldn’t tell if it was real or fake blood. He looked up and saw Ted standing in front of him.
“What just happened? I felt something sting me. It was horrible. Where’s Raphael?”