SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

Chapter Ninety Three

Alan sat on the bed waiting for his girls to get finished with their costumes. Eventually the suspense became too much and he wandered in to have a look. He grinned. Rose’s hair was in pigtails and there were little black freckle marks all over her face. She had on the overalls and red flannel shirt and poking out beneath it was the balloon breasts. He frowned as he pointed to them.

“I thought you were gonna make those bigger,” he said.

“I can’t. My outfit wouldn’t fit around them. Trust me, Alan. You can tell I have bigger breasts. I don’t need to have em a mile long in front of me,” she said as he giggled.

Alan looked at Awinita. She had on jet black pants with a white shirt. A blood red sash was tied around her waist and she had a black bandanna tied around the top of her head. An eye patch was over her right eye and the sword was tucked through the sash completing the look. Alan looked down at her tennis shoes.

“Bit anachronistic,” he said, pointing to them. “I don’t think pirates wore trainers.”

“I wouldn’t talk, Mister Maroon Converses,” she said.

He glanced down at his feet.

“I’m a fashionable cow,” he said, raising his right leg. “I like to paint up my hooves and look pretty.”

He noticed Rose’s teeth.

“You aren’t blackening your teeth?”

“I haven’t done it yet, I was just about to do it when you walked in,” she said.

“Can I do it?”

Rose raised her eyebrow.

“Are ya gonna go ballistic with it?”

“No, I was thinking about blackening three fourths of your teeth though. I’m a very cranky cow that’s prone to violent outbursts of mooing and kicking.”

“No, you will do a few and that’s it.”

He shrugged and took the tiny bottle of blackener from her. He read the directions, unscrewed the top and looked at the tiny brush applicator. He got a generous amount on the tip and studied Rose’s teeth for a moment before he applied the liquid to a molar on the top left of her mouth and two teeth down below.

“There, have a look,” he said when he finished.

Rose stood in front of the mirror, bared her teeth and nodded.

“Perfect,” she said.

He looked at Awinita.

“How ‘bout you, Captain Hookette? You been in a few fistfights over the course of your pirating career?”

“Yeah, do a couple of mine,” she said, walking over to him.

Alan studied her teeth and blackened one on the top right and another on the bottom diagonally from it. Awinita checked her mouth.

“Thanks.”

“No problemo,” he said, setting the bottle down beside the sink.

“Well, I guess we’re ready now. Except I want us to bring along our regular clothes because I’ll be damned if I’m gonna go to the haunted houses dressed like this.”

“Oh, come on, Rose. It’s Halloween night; you won’t be the only one in costume. Trust me, if anyone makes any sarky remarks, I’ll kick em in the teeth for real.”

“I know, I know, who cares what people think,” Rose said.

“Exactly. Let em laugh. They’ll probably be laughing at me anyway.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Rose said, nodding.

He smiled and winked.

“You know what we forgot to get for him?” Awinita said.

“What?” Rose said.

“A little bell to tie around his neck so he’d have a cowbell.”

Rose laughed.

“Yeah, you’re right. Damn, wish we would have thought of that sooner. Ah well, can’t be helped now. I’m sure he’ll win first place with this getup anyway. And on that note, I guess it’s time for us to head out, yeah?”

“Oh God…” Rose said as they stepped out of the elevator into the lobby.

She had forgotten about the people manning the front desk. She could hear their soft laughter as they passed by.

“You guys look good,” a woman said. “You going to a party?”

“Yes, we are,” Alan said, smiling.

“Well, have fun then!”

They waved at them and the three friends waved back as they headed out towards their car.

“I think this is the place,” Rose said, pulling into a parking lot.

She parked the car and all of them climbed out. In front of them was a large grey stone building. All the windows had been covered on the inside with black sheets and there was one door that had been covered in black crepe paper and decorated with a plastic gargoyle. Underneath it was a small sign welcoming people to the Halloween party. When they got within a few feet of it, the gargoyle came to life. Its eyes glowed red and it laughed in a deep booming voice. They stopped in front of the door.

“Do we just go inside?” Rose said, looking at them.

“Is the door locked?” Awinita asked.

Rose tested the door. It opened and she peeked inside while they listened to Monster Mash playing in the room.

“There’s a bunch of people inside but there’s nobody at the door,” she said. “I guess we just go in.”

She opened the door wider and they all walked inside. The room was dimly lit overhead and there were twenty tables arranged around the room with tiny jack-o-lantern candles burning on each one and little plastic jack-o-lanterns filled with candy at every chair. Halloween decorations were hanging on all the walls and black and orange crepe streamers crisscrossed the room above their heads. Music blared from speakers mounted on each corner.

“I hope to God this isn’t a private party,” Rose said to them as they sat down at a table near the front.

“If it is, no one’s said anything so far,” Alan said, looking around.

They ate the candy and looked at the decorations. People were still coming to the party in groups of twos and threes. Alan smiled looking at all the different costumes people had on. He was even more thrilled to see small children were also present. There were a group of them dressed as a ghost, a pink Power Ranger and Spider-Man running around near the back of the room.

“Ah, crap, his makeup’s coming off his lips,” Awinita said.

Alan turned his attention to her.

“You’re eating and the black is coming off your lips,” she said, pointing to his face.

“It’s okay, I figured that would happen. I have the makeup kit in my purse,” Rose said. “I figured there’d be stuff to eat and I didn’t want Alan to just sit there and starve so he could keep his makeup looking neat.”

“Well, thank you for thinking of me, Starlight,” he said.

They watched as an interior door opened and several people came out carrying a punch bowl, a platter of bologna sandwiches and several colorful bowls filled with chips and pretzels and snacks. Behind that were a couple more people carrying paper plates and plastic cups. They arranged everything on a long table near the back of the room.

“Snacks are here everyone! Help yourselves!” a man yelled over the music.

The three of them waited until the crowd of people thinned out before they went up. As Alan walked to the table, he heard people commenting on his costume and children giggling at it. He smiled and nodded hello when he caught people’s eyes. At the head of the table were the plates and cups. Alan grabbed one of each and walked down the table with Rose and Awinita following him. He grinned when he saw that someone had used a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter on the sandwiches.

“How cute,” he marveled.

He grabbed a couple, a handful of chips and pretzels and a handful of candy corn and put them all on his plate. At the end was the punchbowl filled with fruit punch. He filled his glass and carried it all back to his seat. Rose sat down a minute later and he held up one of the sandwiches.

“I love this. It’s another example of human imagination at work,” he said.

“Yeah, it is a good idea especially since there are kids here,” she said as Awinita sat down beside her.

She nudged her friend.

“Think they spiked the punch?” she said to Rose.

She giggled.

“I hope not since children are here,” she said.

“Angie, get back here!”

Alan looked around when he heard a lady’s voice. He smiled when a four year old girl dressed as Cinderella wandered over and stared at his cow costume in silent awe.

“Mooooo,” he said and grinned when she giggled.

“Angie, get back here this instant!” the mother said. “Let the man eat his food.”

Angie didn’t move and the woman sighed as she got up and took her by the hand.

“Sorry, “she said to Alan.

“Nothing to be sorry about, she’s not bothering me,” he said. “Her costume’s cute.”

“Thanks, she’s into Cinderella, she loves the movie,” she said. “I like your costume.”

“Thanks.”

The woman smiled and led Angie back to their table. Alan turned his attention back to his food and took a bite of his sandwich. He examined the bite mark and made a face when he saw traces of his black makeup on the bread.

“Hope this stuff is non-toxic,” he said, showing it to Rose.

“I bet it is. I’m sure a lot of kids have the same thing happen to them. Not to mention they probably touch their face and put their fingers in their mouth. Don’t worry, if you get violently ill, I’ll take you to hospital,” she said.

He picked up a pretzel and popped it in her mouth. Rose did the same to him with a piece of candy corn.

“Hard to believe it’s November tomorrow,” Alan said.

“I know,” Rose said. “We started in June and summer’s already come and gone. I’m glad we’re going back down, at least for awhile. I’m not looking forward to driving through ice and snow.”

“Least we’ll be down south for Christmas,” Alan said.

“Um…I hate to tell you guys this, but it gets cold in Asheville in the winter. Just as cold as it does in the north. So, sorry, I hate to burst your bubble there. You want warmth for Christmas, you’ll have to go back down to Florida and I’m talking about going all the way down to south Florida like Key West.”

“Bollocks. Ah well, we can handle it. We can handle anything life throws our way,” he said.

He looked over when the man who had made the announcement earlier came out and stood between the tables. The music was turned down so he would be able to speak in a normal tone of voice.

“Okay everyone, I want to welcome everyone to the party. I’m glad there was a huge turnout and I hope you’re enjoying the food. There are gonna be games and a costume contest with huge prizes and also dancing for the adults and the kids who want to do it too.”

The three of them laughed when a bunch of the kids groaned at that.

“Okay, to start off the night, I’m gonna tell all of you something that’s truly shocking. You see, this is no ordinary building. This is a slaughterhouse. People have been lured here for years, murdered and disassembled and we have the gory evidence to back it up.”

Several people emerged from the back room carrying little orange bowls. A lady walked up and stood beside the man.

“Okay, we were cleaning out the fridge for the party and we found a bunch of eyeballs!”

The three of them snickered when the kids all said, “Eeeeew!”

“Yes, it’s true. Would you like to feel them?”

“Yes!” the kids yelled.

“Okay, we’ll pass the bowl around, but you can’t look inside. It’s too horrifying, you just have to put your hand in and feel it!”

The woman walked over to a nearby table and held the bowl up just high enough so no one could look in. While she was doing that, a man walked up carrying another bowl.

“This one right here is brains! So we’re gonna pass that around too.”

The man walked to another table and did the same thing the woman was doing. Another woman walked up carrying a bowl.

“This one is different. This one is filled with dead worms! Pass it around, Monica, and let everyone feel.”

Monica walked to another table.

“Now while they’re passing around the grisly evidence, we’re gonna have a game for anyone, old and young, who wants to join in. It’s called Pin The Tail On The Black Cat and there’s a prize for the one who comes closest to pinning the tail on to the cat’s rear end.”

“You guys wanna do that?” Alan asked.

Rose and Awinita glanced at each other.

“Yeah, sounds fun,” Rose said.

“Might as well, it’s a party, after all,” she said.

“After we get done with that. We’re gonna have the costume contest and that’ll be divided into kids and adults and once that is done we’ll have bobbing for apples and dancing,” the man said.

Alan looked over when one of the women walked up.

“Would you like to feel the eyeballs?” she said in a sinister voice.

“I would indeed.”

The woman held the bowl up and Alan put his hand in. He grinned when he felt something wet and slimy in his hand. He took his hand away and the woman held it out to Rose. She did the same and so did Awinita before she moved on to the next table.

“You know what that was, don’t you?” Awinita asked him.

“No, what?”

“Peeled grapes.”

Alan chuckled.

Rose looked at Awinita.

“Insert glowing praise about human imagination here,” she said gesturing to him as Alan nodded in agreement.

“The next bowl came by and Alan put his hand in and felt the “brains.” The man paused and let Rose and Awinita feel inside and went on.

“You know what that was?” Awinita asked him.

“Something squishy,” he said. “Cooked broccoli?”

“Close, it’s cauliflower,” she replied.

“How do you know?”

She shrugged.

“Been to a ton of Halloween parties where they did this, they all do the same thing,” she said.

The last bowl came by and Alan felt inside.

“I know what that is,” he said when Monica got through with their table. “Cold spaghetti.”

“Yup,” Awinita said.

He smiled.

“You wonder why the Doctor loves this planet so much? That’s a good reason right there. You never got stuff like this at Gallifreyan festivals.”

“Because of the whole we have more imagination than they did?” Awinita said.

He nodded.

“Mind you, they had ghost stories. I told Rose one before we met you but they would have never thought of visual aids to go with that.”

“Well, there’s a whole bunch of different stuff they use to simulate flesh and body parts and things like that,” Awinita said. “But nine times out of ten they will always have the eyeballs and usually the worms. I guess because those are easy to prepare. At least they’ve always had them when I’ve gone to friend’s parties.”

“We never really did that,” Rose said. “We usually would just go to haunted houses or watch scary movies at the cinema or at home.”

“Did you throw eggs or smash pumpkins?”

“Nah, we weren’t into that. You?”

“I didn’t, but my cousins and their friends did. Actually, when I was about…eight, I think, they talked me into going with them in my cousin’s pickup truck so they could pitch rotten eggs at cars. I was sitting in the back with one cousin and their friends and my other cousin drove while they went down the road throwing the eggs. We hit one guy’s windshield and he made a U-turn and started tailgating us and it scared the crap outta me. He followed us for about three or four miles before he finally turned off onto another road. We could see his face and he was pissed off. God, I thought the guy was gonna catch up to us and kill us. That’s the last time I went with them.”

“You’re lucky he didn’t kill ya,” Rose said.

She nodded.

“They did all sorts of things like that. Pumpkin smashing, throwing eggs, TPing yards, soaping windows and windshields. That was thrilling for them. They also loved to put bottle rockets in beer bottles during the forth of July and hold the bottles while the rockets launched into the air. They weren’t all there, still aren’t.”

“And we’re gonna get to meet them for Christmas,” Alan said.

“Yup, don’tcha feel privileged?” she said as he laughed.

“Okay everyone, we’re done passing around the body parts so it’s time to play Pin The Tail On The Black Cat!” the man announced as the men and women headed towards the door with the bowls. “So, everyone who wants to play go to the back wall and make a line!”

They stood up and walked over to the queue by the back wall. On the wall in front of them was a large drawing of a black cat. The man waited until they were lined up and then stepped in front of them.

“Okay, everyone here gets one try,” he said. “We’re gonna blindfold you, spin you around a couple of times and then you have to walk over and try to put the tail on the cat, but don’t peek or you get disqualified. Okay, little lady, you’re first.”

An eight year old blonde haired girl in a ballerina costume stepped forward. They tied a black and white bandana on her eyes and spun her around twice before they gently pushed her towards the target. The three friends, who were near the back of the line, watched while she slowly walked towards the drawing. Her little hand was out, feeling around and when she felt the wall, she hesitated a moment and then pinned the black paper tail up near the cat’s head. The man walked forward and took off the blindfold allowing her to see her tail.

“Nice try, sweetie,” he said. “Now you have to wait and see if anyone gets closer than you. Go stand over here now.”

He led her to a table on the left and made her stand beside it. A black woman dressed as a zombie stepped forward and they blindfolded her, spun around and let her walk towards the picture. She pinned the tail near the middle of the cat and groaned when they took the blindfold off. She went and stood beside the girl and the line got shorter and shorter until it was Alan’s turn. So far no one had hit the mark.

“Go, Alan,” Awinita said. “Get that tail pinned correctly!”

Alan grinned and nodded. The man blindfolded him and spun him around. Both girls giggled as he slowly walked towards the picture with arm outstretched. He felt the wall and both of them held their breath when his hand hovered over the back end of the cat.

“Come on, Alan,” Rose murmured.

They groaned softly when he stuck the pin in just to the left of it. The man took off the blindfold and he groaned.

“Bollocks,” he muttered as he walked towards the table. “I was so close.”

It was Rose’s turn. She was blindfolded and spun. Alan held his breath when she reached the wall and felt around the picture.

“Come on, Amo’tiri,” he murmured. “You can do this.”

He pumped his fist in the air when she hit the mark. The man took the blindfold off.

“Congratulations, hon,” he said.

“Yes!” Rose said.

Filled with pride, she went to join Alan.

“I knew you could do it,” he said to her.

They watched while Awinita was blindfolded and spun. She walked towards the picture, felt around and her friends groaned when she stuck it in just above the cat’s back.

“Nuts!” she said when they took the blindfold off.

She went and stood beside the others while they waited for the rest of them to finish.

“Okay, looks like we have a tie!” the man said when they finished. “The winners are the woman dressed up like a farm girl and the little girl in the witch costume.”

“Yes!” Alan and Awinita said in unison.

They smiled as Rose and a Hispanic girl walked up to collect their prizes. The man gave each of them a CD and congratulated them. Rose walked back to them.

“What is it?” Alan said.

“Spooky Songs,” she said, shrugging. “The same stuff they’ve been playing all night.”

“Cool, now we can listen to it in the car and sing at the top of our lungs while you drive,” Awinita said.

“I don’t think so,” she said as they laughed.

“Okay, now we’re gonna have the costume contest. Kids are up first so anyone who wants to be in it, go up to the front of the room.”

“Come on, Alan, I need to reapply your makeup so you’ll be ready when the time comes,” Rose said.

Rose finished reapplying the makeup with an applicator. She managed to fix the damage done by the blindfold and give Alan his black lips back.

“Perfect, “she said, nodding. “You’re all ready to win first prize.”

“We’re ready, we’re a team, remember,” he said.

They finished watching the judging for the little kids. There were several of them standing up front in an orderly line while they faced the audience. The pink Power Ranger was first in the line followed by the ballerina, Angie, a werewolf, a vampire, Spider-Man, the ghost, the witch and a hobo. The man and two other women went down the line examining them. Once they were finished, they stepped away from the group and conferred with each other in private while the kids fidgeted and talked to each other. After two minutes, the man stepped in front of the kids while the other two went to get the prizes.

“Okay, we’re gonna go backwards from third place to first,” he said. “In third place, we have…Spider-Man!”

Everyone applauded as one of the women walked over and handed him a large plastic bag decorated with ghosts and pumpkins.

“Second place is…the little princess!”

Alan applauded enthusiastically when a woman walked up to Angie and handed her a bag.

“And first place goes to…”

There was a long, dramatic pause.

“The werewolf!” he said as everyone applauded. “Let’s give all the kids a big round of applause!”

Everyone clapped enthusiastically. The kids were sent back to their seats.

“And now will the adults who want their costumes judged please come up to the front?”

The three of them glanced at one another, got up and walked to the front with several others. They stood together at the end of the line as the man and two women walked up to Alan.

“We’re together,” he said, gesturing to Rose beside him.

“Sorry, we have to judge each one separately,” the man said.

“Bollocks,” he said.

They took a long look at him and moved on to Rose. They did the same with her and moved on to Awinita.

“Well, good luck then,” Alan said.

“Yeah, you too.”

“And you, Awinita,” Alan said to her.

“You too, sucks that they aren’t letting you enter together. That was the point of the costumes,” she said.

“Eh, we can still both win prizes,” Alan said.

“And even if I don’t, I still won the CD,” she said.

The three judges went down the line studying each entrant in turn. There was a witch, Darth Vader, Catwoman, a French maid, two zombies, a Ghostbuster and a gypsy. They finished their judging and went off to confer among themselves. Two minutes later, the man went up to the front.

“Okay, as before, we’re going backwards from third to first. In third place….the pirate woman!”

Alan and Rose whooped while Awinita stood there with a stunned look on her face. They handed her an envelope and a plastic bag.

“In second place…we have…the gypsy!”

They smiled when the woman let out a cheer and several of her friends cheered with her. She received an envelope and a bag.

“And now…we come to first place. And the first place winner is…THE COW!”

Rose and Awinita yelled and pumped their fists in the air while Alan stood there with a grin a mile wide. The man came up to him with an envelope and a bag.

“Congratulations!” he said.

“Thanks,” Alan replied, taking the prizes from him.

He and Awinita hugged one another. Rose laughed as they both hopped up and down and chanted, “Yes, yes, yes!”

“That’s it for the costume contest. We’re gonna take a short break and do the apple bobbin’ next!” he said.

The three of them went back to their seats.

“Oh God, I knew you would win that thing,” Rose said. “I would kiss you but you have black lips and white cheeks.”

She put her arm around his shoulder and pressed her face against his arm.

“So, what’d you guys get?” Rose asked.

Alan looked at Awinita.

“You first,” he said.

Awinita opened the envelope. Her eyes widened when she pulled out twenty five dollars.

“Oh yeah, this’ll definitely come in handy,” she said.

She set it down and opened the bag wide.

“Oh, there are several things in here,” she said.

She laughed and pulled out another Spooky Songs CD.

“Here’s a backup copy in case yours gets damaged,” she said to Rose as Alan laughed.

She reached in and pulled out a tiny stuffed ghost.

“Awwww,” she said, setting it on the table.

She reached in and pulled out another envelope. She opened it.

“Ooo, ten dollar gift certificate to Applebees,” she said. “This’ll come in handy too.”

Last but not least, she pulled out a tiny mesh bag filled with candy corn.

“All and all, not a bad haul,” she said. “Okay, Timelord, your turn.”

Alan opened the envelope. His eyes bulged from their sockets when he pulled out a hundred dollars.

“Whoa!” Awinita said. “You’re rich, Alan.”

Rose laughed at the stunned look on his face.

“Most money you’ve ever had in your life,” she said. “Just don’t blow it all in one place, yeah?”

He set the envelope aside and opened the bag. He sniggered when he pulled out the exact same CD.

“Well, I guess we know what we’ll be listening to day in and day out for the rest of the trip,” Awinita said.

He set it down on the table, reached in and brought out a little stuffed cat wearing a purple witch’s hat and cloak. He stared at it for a moment then sat it down in front of Rose. He patted her on the head while Rose picked it up and held it to her chest. He reached in again and brought out a pumpkin candle. He set down in front of Rose and patted her head.

“Alan, don’t give me all your prizes.”

“Dear, I don’t want a cat and a candle. Take them,” he said. “I have a hundred dollars. I don’t think I’m depriving myself if I give you these two things.”

“And you have a CD,” Awinita pointed out.

“Yes, I almost forgot the CD that apparently they bought in bulk somewhere,” he said as Rose laughed. “I have the hundred dollars and the CD; you can have the cat and the candle.”

He reached in and pulled out an envelope. He opened it and Rose’s eyes widened.

“Thirty dollar gift certificate to Applebees,” she said. “At long last, you can buy me dinner!”

“Gladly.”

She smiled.

“I’m kidding, Alan, you don’t have to spend that on us.”

“No, I want to. I wanna treat you both to dinner with this.”

She smiled.

“Thanks, Alan,” she said.

“Yeah, thanks Alan,” Awinita added.

He smiled and nodded. He reached in and brought out a mesh bag of candy corn. He checked and smiled when he reached his hand in again.

“Wow, how much stuff did they give you?” Awinita said.

His grin widened when he pulled out an inexpensive digital watch.

“Whoa, cool,” Awinita said.

“Yeah, now you have a watch,” Rose said.

He looked in the bag.

“That’s it,” he said, putting everything back.

“Put my cat and candle in there too,” she said, “I’ll get them later. Do you want me to hold on to your money and gift certificate so they don’t get lost or stolen?”

He nodded and handed her the envelopes. She put them in her purse.

“Could you do the same for me, Rose? I don’t have any pockets in this getup.”

She nodded, opened her purse and put Awinita’s prizes inside. She closed it and looked over at the men and women who were slowly carrying a large metal tub filled with water into the center of the room. Alan munched on a pretzel while he watched them set it down. Then another man brought over a bag of apples, opened it and dumped the contents into the water.

“Okay, anyone who wants to do this, line up,” he said. “You get two chances to get an apple!”

“You guys wanna do it?” Alan said.

“Are you?”

“Yes, indeedy.”

“I’ll do it,” Awinita said.

“Okay, I will but you better take your hood thing off and leave it here since you’ll be putting your head in the water.”

Alan untied the hood and set it beside his bag. Rose grinned and ruffled his hair.

“There’s the tousle I know and love,” she said.

Awinita snickered when Alan rolled his eyes. They got up and joined the queue forming directly behind the tub. The three of them were in the middle of the crowd. Rose was first followed by Alan and then Awinita. They watched while the adults and kids in front of them stuck their heads in the water trying to grab the apples. One man was successful and pulled an apple out by the stem, but he was the only one. None of the kids managed to do it but the man fished around in the water and gave them each one. Slowly the three of them got closer to the front. Finally, it was Rose’s turn.

“Come on, Rose, you can do it!” Awinita said.

Rose got down on her knees and put her hands on the rim of the tub. She took a deep breath and plunged her face into the water, rooting around for an apple. After thirty seconds she came up for air.

“You got one more try,” the man said.

“Come on, Rose,” Alan said, “get that apple!”

Rose plunged her face back in the water. Twenty seconds later she came back up for air without an apple.

“Nice try,” the man said as she stood up and a woman handed her a towel. “Okay, Mister Cow, you’re next!”

Alan got down on his knees and plunged his face into the water. He rooted around and came back up, apple stem firmly between his teeth. Everyone applauded as he stood up, opened his mouth and let the apple drop into his hand.

“Little show off,” Rose said as he gave her a smug grin and took the towel from the woman’s hands.

As he wiped his face, he turned and watched Awinita. Awinita tried twice but was unable to get an apple. She stood up and took the towel from Alan.

“You’re gonna be bragging about this for the rest of the trip, aren’t ya?” she asked him.

Alan shook his head vigorously and lobbed the apple up in the air catching it with one hand. Awinita grinned.

“You know that all of your makeup is gone now except for a few tiny splotches,” she said.

Alan felt his face and looked at his gloved hand. There was no makeup on it. He shrugged.

“Eh, makeup served its purpose,” he said.

He looked at Rose.

“All of Rose’s freckles are gone too,” he noted.

He gave her left cheek an affectionate pinch.

“Do you wanna stay for dancing?” Alan asked.

“I don’t think so if we want to go to the haunted houses,” Rose said.

“Yeah, we can skip the dancing,” Awinita said.

“Easy for you to say, you don’t have anyone to dance with,” he teased.

“I’ll dance with you then and make your fiancée jealous,” she said, patting him on the back.

They went and collected their things from the table. Alan took a bite of his apple and shared it with Rose as the three of them headed for the front door.

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