Borden
The evening air was glimmering with light; every homestead in the city brandished blazing jack-o-lanterns and lit porch lights. The streets were only somewhat populated by this point, for the sun had not yet set. This time of Halloween was commandeered by tired mothers with rambunctious children, eager to get their trick-or-treating over and done with before bedtime.
Apart from the busy parents and tots dressed up in store-bought costumes, one figure walked down the streets, booted feet sloshing in the post-rainwater that lined the gutters. The fully grown man received plenty of strange looks for his odd behavior and appearance, but considerably less so than on a normal day.
"Mommy, what's that?" a bumble-bee asked his mother, pointing accusingly at the man in the gutter.
"That's a halloween scary-man," she replied, "he's out early, but they can't get you until after dark! And if we're home by then, we'll be safe."