The Halloween Mouse by Richard Laymon Page B

sidewalk and into the grass.
    Though the grass was tall, the horrible creatures were even taller. They were the size of people . . . almost. As they came closer and closer, Timothy crawled under a large, crisp leaf.
    "I'll be safe here," he thought.

    But he shook with fear as he heard their footsteps and voices and laughter coming closer and closer.
    "Oh, don't let them see me! Please don't let them see me! Oh, I should have stayed in the library! What was I thinking!"
    Though Timothy had read about such creatures, he'd been pretty sure they were only make-believe. He had never expected to meet them in a nice little town like Elmwood.
    "Well," he thought, "it just goes to show that books don't tell everything ."
    The creatures walked on by and approached a house in the distance. There came the sound of a ringing doorbell. Voices called out, "Trick or treat!"
    "Of course!" thought Timothy. "This must be Halloween!"
    He'd read books about Halloween. It came once a year, on the last day of October. Each Halloween, children put on costumes and went from door to door, calling "Trick or treat!"
    Those horrible creatures hadn't been real. They'd been children dressed for Halloween. Human children, not monsters and ghosts and vampires and witches and mummies and snakes!
    "How silly of me to be frightened of them."
    And how wonderful that of all the many days and nights of the year Timothy had set out for his great adventure on Halloween!
    He suddenly remembered the taste of the candy corn.
    "I should go trick-or-treating!" he thought, crawling out from under the leaf.
    At the edge of the sidewalk, he looked both ways. Nobody was nearby, so he hopped up and saw that he was not very far from a house. It looked old, dark and a bit creepy. The sight of it gave him mouse-bumps. Then he realized it was silly to be afraid. "I'm a mouse after all---not a chicken."
    But then he saw lights glowing in the windows of the next house. Its big picture window was full of Halloween decorations: cardboard witches and black cats and ghosts. Best of all, a Jack-o'-lantern smiled down at Timothy from the porch.

    "This is just the house for me," thought Timothy.
    On his way to the porch, however, he heard voices and laughter. He glanced over his shoulder.
    Here came the trick-or-treaters!
    He leaped off the walkway. Hiding in the grass, he watched them.
    Timothy got mouse-bumps all over again.
    "I hope they are trick-or-treaters," he thought. "Oh, they must be. They have bags for their candy."
    He hoped the bags were for candy.
    The trick-or-treaters climbed the porch stairs. One lurched past the bright, smiling Jack-o'-lantern and rang the doorbell. Then all of them yelled, "Trick or treat!"
    "I knew they were only children," Timothy thought. "I knew it all along."
    The door was answered by a woman. Smiling, she said, "Oh, look at your cool costumes. How original!" Then came sounds that sounded very much like candy bumping into other candy . . . candy already at the bottoms of paper bags.
    "Cool costumes? ---Oh, dear," thought Timothy.
    The children said "Thank you." After that, everyone seemed to be saying, "Happy Halloween," and "Thank you" and "Bye!"
    Timothy stayed hidden in the grass until the trick-or-treaters were gone. Then he climbed onto the walkway and looked down at himself. All he saw was Timothy Maywood Usher Mouse.
    "Oh, what shall I do? I can't go trick-or-treating without a costume! It just isn't done!"
    But Timothy was a very smart mouse. He was also well-read and had a good imagination. So instead of giving up, he went to the porch and sat on the bottom stair. "I'll sit here," he decided, "and use my head. That's what it's for, after all. It's not just a hat-rack."
    Scratching his head, he thought, "If only I had a hat!"
    Any sort of hat would do nicely.
    In a baseball cap, he could be a pitcher for the majors.

    In a police hat, he could be a cop.

    In a beret, an artist.

    In a top hat, a magician.

    In a fedora, a private eye.

    In