Page 12 - Publishing Inspiration Christmas Card 2023

Halloween Help
(Part 1)
l
It was Halloween, and my friends had invited me to join them for some
“surprise fun.” I didn’t know what they had planned but hoped to go. But I
needed to make my usual treating rounds first. That is what my parents called
it. They didn’t believe in their children begging for candy, so my mother made
homemade divinity candy and sent us to visit the elderly.
I was a high school senior and had been doing it since I was young. I
really enjoyed it. I didn’t visit too many homes because they all wanted to visit
for a while, but I always left better, both with homemade treats and with
uplifted spirits.
The rounds took me most of the evening, but I saved a particular house for
last. Mrs. Levi was a widow, and I often visited her to help with things she needed
to have done. As I approached the door, I looked at my watch. If I didn’t stay too
long, I could probably catch the last of the evening with my friends.
It took her a little while to get to the door after I knocked, but when she
opened it and saw me, she smiled. “Oh, Mr. Daris, I wondered if you were
coming.”
I laughed. “I couldn’t miss my favorite Halloween stop.”
I held out the plate of candy, and she licked her lips. “I do love your
mother’s divinity.”
She took the plate as she waved me in. “I am hoping you can help me with
a few things,” she said.
“Of course,” I replied.
“My children usually help me harvest my garden and my apples, but they
have been too busy and live so far away. I’m afraid the apples and potatoes won’t
be any good if I don't get them in soon.”
She told me there were some boxes and a shovel in her shed. While I got
them, she put on a coat and fired up her old coal oil lamp. We went out to her
garden, and I started digging the potatoes. We visited while I worked. I was used
to battery-operated lights, not shadowy coal oil ones, but there was a bright moon,
and I felt I found most of the potatoes.
After filling a few boxes, it was time to pick apples. I picked what I could
reach, then climbed the tree and shook the branches. I cleaned up the fallen

9