"Come on, it'll be fun. Haven't you ever wondered what it'd be like?" Death looked at the frown on his best friend's face and tried again. "Do this as a favor to me. I've always wanted to experience Halloween the way mortals do and go trick or treating."
"I don't know—it seems awfully risky to me. What's the point?" Chronos fiddled with his hourglass as if it might disappear at Death's suggestion.
"No point, other than the novelty. We've been working too hard lately. This is our chance to play. It'll be fun."
Chronos snorted at that but relented, twisting the hourglass a full turn. "Okay, but when we get into trouble, don't say I didn't warn you."
They rode Death's chopper down the city streets until they came upon a party spilling out into the night. Death pulled over and parked, anxious to join the costumed revelers as they marched down the block.
"Whoa, dude. Nice costume. You look like Death," one inebriated mortal dressed like Darth Vader said as he passed by.
"Isn't this great?" Death said and practiced catching peanuts in his eye socket while walking with the crowd. "I wonder when we get to knock on people's doors."
Chronos merely nodded, his attention snagged by a scantily dressed slave girl who winked at him.
Glass broke behind them and the noise of the crowd became a shriek of chanting. A rock whizzed by Chronos on its way to an unknown target.
"I don't think we're going to see any trick or treating with this group."
Sirens rose to a high pitch as the night flashed red and blue. People scattered in different directions, leaving Death and Chronos wondering which way to go. A voice through a bullhorn commanded their attention while police handcuffed their arms behind their backs.
"Are we having fun yet?" Chronos asked Death.
"Oh, yes. What an experience."
Chronos shook his head at the enthusiastic answer. "I was being facetious."
Death dropped his jaw in a laugh. "Once we get to the police station, we can call the bar and have Lucien bail us out. It's perfect."
After Lucien ranted into the phone and hung up on him, Chronos studied the other inmates sharing their cell. They all scrunched into one corner, as far away from Death as possible.
"Do they recognize you?" Chronos leaned over and whispered to his friend.
"Oh, yes. Didn't I tell you? On Halloween many will perceive who we really are, although the constables don't seem to."
A commotion started down the hallway, drawing their attention. Death and Chronos watched in fascination as two officers prodded a furious Lucien into a cell across from them. Smoke boiled out of his ears and his face appeared as red as the horns on his head.
"Are you here to bail us out?" Death called over to him.
"Does it look that way to you? What did you do to my powers, you infernal timepiece. Give them back so I can get out of here!"
Chronos fingered the hourglass on his belt. "Have you had enough fun yet?"
Death shrugged, his metacarpus still wrapped around the bars.
"We can go home now, I guess." He leaned in close. "What about Lucien?"
Chronos smiled. "He's such a hothead. Maybe it'd be better to leave him here overnight."
"I'll get you for this, you rusty clock," Lucien yelled as they flicked out of sight.
"He looked really angry," Death said as they climbed on the motorcycle.
"Just playing a little trick on him." Chronos tapped his hourglass. "He's back in his bar now. Happy Halloween, my friend."
©2010 Laura Eno
