DARQ: Trick or Treat!
CATHERINE: I get a choice?
DARQ: Of course you do. Look— I’m dressed for giving out candy to the kids!
CATHERINE: No fancy costume party this year to go to?
DARQ: I decided to forgo that.
CATHERINE: Why?
DARQ: Because the Men In Black were raving about their kids and what the kids’ costumes. I wanted to see for myself. Besides, with all those workshops you were doing last month and this, when would you have found time to sew me a proper costume, worthy of a gala Halloween party?
CATHERINE: You have a point, but then again, I did sew you an outfit. You’re wearing it.
DARQ: Just a simple top and pants. It took you all of a morning to make. Certainly nothing fancy or even scary.
CATHERINE: Well, the apron is fancy— Hey, what’s bulging out of the pocket? 
DARQ (cheeks taking on a deep blush): Hershey’s bars.
CATHERINE: Aren’t you supposed to be giving them to the kids?
DARQ: I like Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with Almond bars. And it isn’t a crime to hold a few back for myself, is it?
CATHERINE: Ah, that’s more than a few in that pocket.
DARQ: If you’ll ignore my pocket full of Hershey’s bars, I’ll give you one.
CATHERINE: One?
DARQ, digging a bar out of her pocket: Okay, how about two— no how about four— and you forget this conversation?
CATHERINE: Yes, TREAT!
DARQ’s jaw drops as realization sinks in: You tricked me into giving you extra candy!
CATHERINE, grabbing the four bars, walks away and rapidly peals the wrapper off one of the bars: It’s not candy, Darq— it’s chocolate! Oh, and hey, here come the kids.
DARQ turns and smiles at the kids approaching: Happy Halloween!
***
NOTE FROM CATHERINE TO CRAFTERS AND SEWERS: It took three times as long to make the backdrop for this Halloween photo shoot than it did for me to sew Darq’s outfit, including the shoes. I scanned in a picture of a door and then had to enlarge the picture, copy and piece several sheets together to get the door tall enough. The “window glass” is actually glue-glitter on top of the photocopies. The doorknob is a button. The stoop in front of the door is a re-purposed gift box, and the “porch” was recycled from the BBQ wall used last month. To get the 3D effect on the door, I covered strips of wood with shoe polish and glued the strips into place. The Trick or Treat rug and the Spooky door decoration are actually 3D stickers, the kind used for greeting cards. Darq’s “Trick or Treat” earrings came from a broken Halloween bracelet’s charms.
***The next post will be Darq celebrating Thanksgiving. To be notified of the update, connect with me
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JEWELS OF THE SKY 