Last autumn, my parents were studying in Canada and brought me with them. Soon after, my birthday passed, and Halloween arrived. I once asked my mother about the origin of Halloween. She told me many stories about ghosts, but I couldn't remember them all. I only recall that on that day, many children dress up in interesting costumes and go from door to door asking for sweets.
"Sweets are like kind words for the dead," my mother explained. "The more, the better. They can help the departed reach a better place."
The day before Halloween, my mother bought me a witch's costume—black, complete with a hat.
The following evening, around 6:30 pm, I went out with my parents. It was dark. A crowd had gathered around one house, asking for sweets. Many children were dressed in various costumes.
I squeezed through the crowd, reached out my hand, and received some sweets.
"Wow! This is easy," I thought.
I was delighted looking at the colorful candies, but there were so few.
Some children had already left that house and begun trick-or-treating door-to-door.
I decided to join them. I wanted more.
At first, I was a little nervous. However, the people at each house were very kind and gave me plenty of sweets.
After a while, having collected enough, I began to observe how Canadians celebrate Halloween.
The house decorations varied greatly! Some were made to look very scary. Lifelike skeletons hung on fences, there were graves in gardens, and bat-like garments fluttered in the wind. Others, however, were not so frightening.
When I returned home that day, I discovered my sweets could fill an entire large box!
"These sweets could last me the whole year!" I thought—and they did.