A Surprising Halloween 

By Shreya, 7

A December 2025 Monthly Story Challenge Winner 

One day, Gleamer was going to trick or treat. He really liked trick or treating! He readily got dressed as a skeleton. When he was done, he looked creepy and scary! His mom, Glossy, got ready as he requested.

They got into the car and drove to the most interesting and decorated house in his neighborhood. The house he saw was so cool and very crowded. He and his mom tried to get a closer look. When he went closer, he first felt very scared. The decoration theme was aliens and people were dressed up as aliens, looking very creepy. They were moving around reaching at people and scaring them. Some aliens were giving high fives, some were working on other regular humans. He was excitedly looking at all of this when a person behind him was crying and calling out a name, “Smoky... Smoky...” He asked the stranger what had happened, and the stranger explained that his dog got scared and ran away into the crowd and he was trying to find him. 

When he was still talking, he heard a loud sound and suddenly, colorful smoke came out of nowhere in the alien house! Gleamer and Glossy were scared and surprised at the same time, they had never seen such a Halloween house. Gleamer was very curious to find out where the smoke came from and stepped inside that area. He was excited and scared to see an alien ship just like he had seen on TV. He automatically walked closer to the alien ship and saw an alien set off something that looked like a firecracker and again produced the loud sound and colorful smoke. When the smoke was gone, Gleamer noticed something small peeking out of a bush with a tail hidden behind his legs. He remembered the stranger looking for his dog. He called smoky and the dog came running to him. He scooped the dog up, showed it to his mom Glossy and together they carried him to the stranger, who was still searching for his dog. The stranger thanked Gleamer by hugging him tightly, and gave him a surprise gift for his help. The gift was a Halloween drawing kit that Gleamer loved. When Glossy tucked Gleamer into the bed that day, he told her it was the best Halloween ever and he was very happy he found the dog! Glossy told him she was proud that he did a kind act today and was brave and they slept happily!

Photo: Road Ahead on Unsplash