FLASH FICTION
“Trick or treat!” A trio of children called from outside the cabin door. “Trick or
treat!”
Rae grinned at Zack. “Our first customers of the night are here.”
He stood, weary but game, from where he’d been flopped on the couch. “You get
the door, I’ll get the goodies.”
Rae pulled the front door to their cozy home wide to another chorus of “Trick or
Treat!”
Tana and Holly, the daughters of the Twin Moon pack alphas, led the charge, ea-
gerly holding out pumpkin buckets for treats. Their mothers stood beside them, carrying
the younger siblings: Lana holding little Tyler, and Heather with Sammie.
“Wow!” Rae clapped and called back into the cabin. “Zack, look at what we have
here!”
“Bears? Lions? Wolves?”
“I’m a knight!” Tana cried, brandishing a toy sword.
“I’m a butterfly!” Holly jumped and flapped her arms, making the pipe cleaner an-
tennae on her head flutter about.
“Wow!” Zack exclaimed when he reached the doorway. “And what about you,
Sammie?” He tickled the little girl’s cheek.
“Princess,” she whispered, smiling shyly.
Rae started distributing candy. “One for the pirate, one for the butterfly, one for
the princess, and one for…oh my gosh! A dragon?”
Tyler blushed and hid his face in his mother’s shoulder. Lana patted the toddler’s
back and sighed. “A very shy dragon.”
“An amazing dragon. All of you, amazing!” Rae made a show of admiring each of
the costumes.
You know how long it took me to make that? Lana commented, pushing the private
thought into Rae’s mind.
Rae nearly said something like, Make sure you keep that costume for when I have
kids, but she stopped short. With every passing Halloween, that blessing seemed less
and less likely to be heading her way.
Zack rubbed her back as if he’d just read her mind.
She fought back the somber mood that always accompanied such thoughts and
concentrated on the good instead. She had the world’s best mate, a great pack, and the