Bent over a table, Mr. Tibly was wiping up a sticky orange puddle. The principal looked up when he heard the custodian's squeaky cart wheels.
"So, Mary. What s the good word?" Eyes alight, the custodian whispered, "Well, Mr. Principal, how about 'Trick or...""Treat?" he finished for her, kissing her right on the nose.
"Well! Happy Halloween, Mr. Tibly!"
"And a Happy Halloween to you too, Mrs. Tibly!"
by Ric Hardson, USAI was as sweaty-hot as Mary was. She didn't give me a paper towel, so I wiped my forehead with my hand.
Mary, Gramma's next door neighbor, made the world's best lemonade. She walked with a cane and she never went outside.
Sipping and nodding, I gulped down my icy lemonade. "I'll go to the store for you, Mary."
"Okay, Sugar Britches."
Faster than a frog's tongue, her arm snaked out, grabbing me by one suspender as I headed toward the kitchen door. "Okay in a few YEARS, Sugar Britches. You seem to forget you're not allowed past Gramma's house because you're still four years old."
by Daphne Rice, Portland, OR"Don't worry. It'll be all right!"
"Don't worry? I have to worry. These bugs are on the loose!"
"Oh, they're just bugs that are going around. I'd stay out of their way then they can't catch you. And to tell you the truth, it's better that you don't catch any more bugs this winter!"
by Carolyn Ann Aish, Inglewood, New Zealand"Maybe now you'll come to the marches and the sit-ins with me." Her brother Joe said for the third time this week.
"I just want to be left alone. I want my privacy." Though she had to admit that she was more and more interested in joining him every day. She couldn't just sit back anymore and let others fight for her rights.
by AR Colton, Pacific North West, North America