Each Halloween, I like to play dress up with my characters, throw them in a room together, and see what happens. Here’s a snippet of this year:

The box had arrived outside Zabby’s door a week ago, wrapped in bright orange paper with a black satin ribbon. The card instructed her, as always, to wait until Halloween to open it (though Zabby doubted many people actually followed this rule.)

She set it on her dresser and wondered throughout the week which costume the author had chosen for her this year, but none of her guesses were correct. When she opened it, she found a crisp policewoman uniform, and a note from the author’s alter-ego.

We’re trying something different this year. Each of you is dressing up in the profession of another character. Have fun!

~ Hannah

Zabby was dressing up as Chief Snowiks, then. She was certainly happy enough with that. As she put on the uniform, she found that every layer made her want to stand up straighter, hold her chin higher. By the time she pinned on the badge, she felt stern and confident enough to wonder if she might have pursued this career in another lifetime.

But then again, she supposed that was the point of all this.

She would have been excited for the party if not for the fact that someone would be dressed like her, and she wasn’t exactly sure what that would look like. Would they be in her waitressing apron? A cheerleader uniform? Perhaps just a pink, poofy dress? Whatever it was, she didn’t particularly want to see it.

There was a firm knock on her door, and Hannah entered without waiting for permission. “Okay, sweetie. That’s enough contemplation,” she said, waving Zabby towards the hallway.

Zabby glanced at her watch. “The party only just started. I’m not that late.”

“Yeah, but I’ve got a lot of introverts to pluck out of their holes,” Hannah said with a shrug. “Go on. It’ll be fun. Willow’s already there.” This was sufficient for Zabby to start towards the door. Hannah patted her shoulder as she passed. “You look really good, by the way.”

The party room was, as these Out of Story occasions usually are, decorated to an extensive degree. There were probably a couple hundred strings of orange and purple lights draping the walls, and any surface that might contain a skeleton, witch, or mummy did contain one. A quick scan of the room revealed a pumpkin carving station, snack table, dance floor, and… yes, there was Willow.

Zabby hurried toward him, trying not to make eye contact with the characters from other stories. She found these inter-story socials very stressful. Willow could normally be counted upon to commiserate with her social awkwardness, but at the moment he seemed positively delighted. She’d forgotten that the man loved Halloween.

“Zabby! Hey, Zabby!” He called to her before she reached him. He was dressed in a lab coat with a stethoscope draped around his shoulders. “I guess you’re Snowiks, huh? You’ll never guess who he is…” Willow pointed.

~*~

Whaaat? Olivia, that’s a crappy ending….

Well, it’s not really the ending. Buuuut the full story is only available to my newsletter subscribers. Guess you’ll have to sign up then, eh? *Insert evil mustache twiddling*

But for realsies, I hope you all have an AMAZING Halloween! Be safe, and (just saying) if some pictures of cool costumes ended up on my Twitter feed (@OliviaBerrier) I certainly wouldn’t complain about it.