Dr. eeL
Farmer
MIDDLEWALK-77
The end of fall was rapidly approaching, and Lewis had left a note in the valley mailboxes to save the date of Fall 27 for the Spirit's Eve festival. This year, there was a small addendum attached, noting that the tradition of Trick or Treating was returning to Stardew Valley, and for the villagers to expect a small party of costumed eager kids the next night on the 28th. This last note was our doing, as Cassie was now old enough to participate, and for the big adventure we had invited the other children in the village to join us.
As darkness approached, we dressed Cassie up in a hand-made bright yellow, round Junimo outfit. She also had black shoes, socks, and gloves and a small yellow mask over her eyes. From a distance, except for the hair, you might easily mistake her for a Junimo. She also carried a freshly harvested plastic pumpkin. I was going as a scarecrow. I put on some long underwear, and over top of that I wore some worn out oversized jeans and shirt, all tied at the ankles and wrists. Out in the barn, Haley made a variety of cutouts into my clothes and stuffed me with straw. By the time she was done, I had a lot more muscle than the average scarecrow. The straw also stuck out so much that I was likely more dangerous to crows as a porcupine than as something scary. I had a full-face mask and a battered straw hat. Cassie took one look at me and started laughing, saying, "Daddy looks funny." Earlier this week, I had taken some cloth, a light jacket with a hood, and an emerald to Emily's, who dyed the cloth emerald-green (what else) and had made a form fitting outfit for Haley. She was going as a sunflower. Emily also sewed on some large cut-out cloth leaves onto Haley's suit at the knees, hips and elbows, along with a pair of green opera gloves. Into the jacket's hood, I had inserted a light metal band as a support for all the petals and using a piece of plastic stiff enough to hold its shape, had cut out twenty petals, each about a foot and a half long and six inches wide at their widest. Using poster paint, I painted them white, while adding a little yellow along the edges to give them some dimension. These were fastened to the metal, to make a beautiful lightweight vertical crown, that I thought looked spectacular. Haley also wore a round full-face mask covered with brown and black dots that closely resembled sunflower seeds. Our toddler gave out her unbiased opinion that her flower mommy looked, "Ooh, pretty." Once our little team was ready, Haley used her camera stand to take our picture. Then, it was off to the mine carts for a quick trip to the mines to pick up Leo, who was waiting by the mine entrance with Linus. Linus didn't have a costume for Leo to wear, but earlier we had suggested that his Ginger Island parrot outfit would be perfect, and so it was. In the same way that Haley had purchased a pumpkin for Cassie, she had thoughtfully also picked up a plastic coconut for Leo, so he was armed and ready to collect some goodies.
The four of us continued on the mine carts into town, where we next picked up Vincent. He was dressed as a pirate, complete with an oversized, plastic, silver battle sword. He also carried a pillowcase to carry any ill-begotten gains, loot, and treasures back to his lair. Our party now enlarged to five, we continued on the way to Marnie's to pick up Jas. Seeing us coming, the door popped open and out emerged the cutest little sheep. She wore an outfit covered with cotton balls, a bonnet with cotton balls, black shoes and gloves, pink ribbons tied to her ankles and wrists, and a tinkly bell around her neck. Since this was Cassie and Leo's first Halloween, I asked Jas and Vincent to show them how to go up to the doors and yell out, "Trick or Treat!"
Our first stop was at Leah's. Haley and I stood by and watched as the unleashed gang of four attacked her door, blowing out breaths of steam in the cold night air. Leah placed something in all four containers, and then spoke to each, asking them to sound out who they were (as if it was not overly obvious). Cassie didn't know what a Junimo was, so she simply answered, "I'm pretty, like my Momma." But Leo gave out his best parrot call, Vincent a fierce, "Aarrggh," and Jas a convincing, "Baaaa." Waving goodbye, we set off to hit up all the houses in town. Everyone was home, and none of the four kids went away empty handed. Going down the walkway, I looked behind me and noticed that I was bleeding a little straw and leaving a trail. Approaching the graveyard, I also noticed a slight movement, and detected Abigale who had caught sight of our group. She hid behind a bush and was obviously preparing to jump out and scare our troupe. At the last minute, she stayed hidden, likely their overwhelming cuteness had caused her to have a change of heart (who wants to scare a tiny little Junimo?). I softly said, "Hi Abigale," as we passed in front of her bush.
After stopping at Gus's (for a pretzel), and at Pierre and Caroline's, Jas and Vincent decided that they didn't want to walk all the way to the mountain house of Robin and Demetrius (and back). So, we decided to split up. I took Jas and Vincent back home, while Haley took Cassie and Leo to Robin's before dropping Leo off at Linus's tent. They then made it home a little before me, as I came up the back way. By now, everyone's goal was to get out of our costumes. Evelyn's gift for all (including the sunflower and scarecrow) was a small bag of cookies. After getting Cassie ready for bed, the three of us enjoyed our own little private party of cookies and milk.
A few minutes later, as Haley and I stood together in Cassie's bedroom looking at the zonked out former Junimo, Haley said, "Thank you for protecting me from all the crows tonight." I replied that, "It was an honor and a privilege. I'm tough on crows, especially around a beautiful flower." Haley then nodded her head in the direction of the next room and observed, "Perhaps I could interest you in a few Tricks or Treats you might have missed?" "Lead on. Your wish is my command."
The end of fall was rapidly approaching, and Lewis had left a note in the valley mailboxes to save the date of Fall 27 for the Spirit's Eve festival. This year, there was a small addendum attached, noting that the tradition of Trick or Treating was returning to Stardew Valley, and for the villagers to expect a small party of costumed eager kids the next night on the 28th. This last note was our doing, as Cassie was now old enough to participate, and for the big adventure we had invited the other children in the village to join us.
As darkness approached, we dressed Cassie up in a hand-made bright yellow, round Junimo outfit. She also had black shoes, socks, and gloves and a small yellow mask over her eyes. From a distance, except for the hair, you might easily mistake her for a Junimo. She also carried a freshly harvested plastic pumpkin. I was going as a scarecrow. I put on some long underwear, and over top of that I wore some worn out oversized jeans and shirt, all tied at the ankles and wrists. Out in the barn, Haley made a variety of cutouts into my clothes and stuffed me with straw. By the time she was done, I had a lot more muscle than the average scarecrow. The straw also stuck out so much that I was likely more dangerous to crows as a porcupine than as something scary. I had a full-face mask and a battered straw hat. Cassie took one look at me and started laughing, saying, "Daddy looks funny." Earlier this week, I had taken some cloth, a light jacket with a hood, and an emerald to Emily's, who dyed the cloth emerald-green (what else) and had made a form fitting outfit for Haley. She was going as a sunflower. Emily also sewed on some large cut-out cloth leaves onto Haley's suit at the knees, hips and elbows, along with a pair of green opera gloves. Into the jacket's hood, I had inserted a light metal band as a support for all the petals and using a piece of plastic stiff enough to hold its shape, had cut out twenty petals, each about a foot and a half long and six inches wide at their widest. Using poster paint, I painted them white, while adding a little yellow along the edges to give them some dimension. These were fastened to the metal, to make a beautiful lightweight vertical crown, that I thought looked spectacular. Haley also wore a round full-face mask covered with brown and black dots that closely resembled sunflower seeds. Our toddler gave out her unbiased opinion that her flower mommy looked, "Ooh, pretty." Once our little team was ready, Haley used her camera stand to take our picture. Then, it was off to the mine carts for a quick trip to the mines to pick up Leo, who was waiting by the mine entrance with Linus. Linus didn't have a costume for Leo to wear, but earlier we had suggested that his Ginger Island parrot outfit would be perfect, and so it was. In the same way that Haley had purchased a pumpkin for Cassie, she had thoughtfully also picked up a plastic coconut for Leo, so he was armed and ready to collect some goodies.
The four of us continued on the mine carts into town, where we next picked up Vincent. He was dressed as a pirate, complete with an oversized, plastic, silver battle sword. He also carried a pillowcase to carry any ill-begotten gains, loot, and treasures back to his lair. Our party now enlarged to five, we continued on the way to Marnie's to pick up Jas. Seeing us coming, the door popped open and out emerged the cutest little sheep. She wore an outfit covered with cotton balls, a bonnet with cotton balls, black shoes and gloves, pink ribbons tied to her ankles and wrists, and a tinkly bell around her neck. Since this was Cassie and Leo's first Halloween, I asked Jas and Vincent to show them how to go up to the doors and yell out, "Trick or Treat!"
Our first stop was at Leah's. Haley and I stood by and watched as the unleashed gang of four attacked her door, blowing out breaths of steam in the cold night air. Leah placed something in all four containers, and then spoke to each, asking them to sound out who they were (as if it was not overly obvious). Cassie didn't know what a Junimo was, so she simply answered, "I'm pretty, like my Momma." But Leo gave out his best parrot call, Vincent a fierce, "Aarrggh," and Jas a convincing, "Baaaa." Waving goodbye, we set off to hit up all the houses in town. Everyone was home, and none of the four kids went away empty handed. Going down the walkway, I looked behind me and noticed that I was bleeding a little straw and leaving a trail. Approaching the graveyard, I also noticed a slight movement, and detected Abigale who had caught sight of our group. She hid behind a bush and was obviously preparing to jump out and scare our troupe. At the last minute, she stayed hidden, likely their overwhelming cuteness had caused her to have a change of heart (who wants to scare a tiny little Junimo?). I softly said, "Hi Abigale," as we passed in front of her bush.
After stopping at Gus's (for a pretzel), and at Pierre and Caroline's, Jas and Vincent decided that they didn't want to walk all the way to the mountain house of Robin and Demetrius (and back). So, we decided to split up. I took Jas and Vincent back home, while Haley took Cassie and Leo to Robin's before dropping Leo off at Linus's tent. They then made it home a little before me, as I came up the back way. By now, everyone's goal was to get out of our costumes. Evelyn's gift for all (including the sunflower and scarecrow) was a small bag of cookies. After getting Cassie ready for bed, the three of us enjoyed our own little private party of cookies and milk.
A few minutes later, as Haley and I stood together in Cassie's bedroom looking at the zonked out former Junimo, Haley said, "Thank you for protecting me from all the crows tonight." I replied that, "It was an honor and a privilege. I'm tough on crows, especially around a beautiful flower." Haley then nodded her head in the direction of the next room and observed, "Perhaps I could interest you in a few Tricks or Treats you might have missed?" "Lead on. Your wish is my command."
"I see the fire in your eyes, but a frog's gotta make his way..."
