名稱：a clean-teeth halloween
內容簡介：
Dear Arizona,
　 Halloween is coming up, and I should be excited. Instead, I’m wishing it would be over already. I got braces this week, and I’m not allowed to eat candy. How do I keep from having the worst Halloween of my life?
　 — Can't Eat Candy in Canton

Dear Can’t Eat Candy,
　　First, let me just say that a bunch of my friends have recently gotten braces, and hearing them talk about it kind of makes me wish I had braces, too. I know that sounds strange, but it’s true!

Anyway, even though I’ve never had braces, I have had the notallowed- to-eat-candy experience! My little brother, Tex, hadn’t been brushing and f lossing his teeth well enough, and he ended up getting two gigantic cavities. Because my parents were so upset, they made a “no candy” rule for all three of us kids!

“That is so unfair,” said my little sister, Indi. “That means we can’t even go trick-or-treating on Halloween!”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” said my mom. “There are many other fun Halloween things to do besides trick-or-treating.”

“Like what?” asked Tex.

“Yeah, like what?” I said sadly.

My mom thought for a bit. “What if we had a party?”

“What good is a Halloween party without candy?” Indi whined.

“We need candy!” said Tex.

“Oh, don’t be so grumpy,” said my mom. “This will be the best Halloween ever!”

One thing you should know about my mom: when she gets excited, there’s pretty much no stopping her. She took out a notebook and wrote Halloween-Party Planning List.

“Okey-dokey, let’s see,” she said. “What do we need for the bestever Halloween party? I’m sure that if we put on our thinking caps, we can come up with lots of great ideas.”

“Thinking caps?” I said. “Hold on. I’ll be right back!”

I went to where we store our holiday stuff. “Hmm,” I said. “Valentine-card supplies—no; Fourth of July—nope; Christmas ornaments—not yet. Aha! There you are, Halloween!”

I carried the box back to the kitchen and opened it up.

“OK,” I said, putting on a Viking helmet. “You said to put on our thinking caps, right, Mom?”

“Now that’s the spirit!” Mom laughed as she put on a wacky wig.

“I can think better now!” said Indi, adjusting her bat ears.

“I can, too!” said Tex, placing a giant rubber tarantula on his head.

“Good one, Tex!” I laughed. “Maybe a party will be OK.”

“We can have great costumes,” said Tex, pretending that the spider on his head was doing the talking.

“And the creepiest haunted house on the block!” I said.

“And freaky food!” said Mom.

“And fun games!” added Indi.

When my dad came home and heard the plan, he got into it, too. He started hanging ghost lights and spider webs all over the place.

I know that part of the reason my parents were acting so enthusiastic was because they were trying to distract us from obsessing about the “no candy” rule, but I have to admit, it kind of worked. That whole week, all of us spent every spare minute preparing for the big night. And when it finally came, we were so excited that we weren’t even thinking about candy.

“Velcom to my cave!” my vampire dad said as he greeted guests.

“Please have some delicious swamp slime,” my monster mom said.

“And if you get hungry,” said my skeleton brother, “there are slippery banana slugs to munch on!”

In case you’re wondering, the swamp slime was a green smoothie, and the banana slugs were actually banana chunks with raisins for eyes.

Indi and I were in charge of the games. We came up with a guessthe- creepy-thing-you’re-touching box and Pin the Nose on the Jack-o’-Lantern. Then we played musical chairs with this howling haunted-house music. The only trouble was that we’d dressed as a Tyrannosaurus rex mama and her baby, and we both kept tripping on our tails!

To make us a little less sad about not getting candy, Mom surprised us with a delicious carrot cake covered in creamcheese frosting (she’d written BOO! on top using carrot slivers). And can you guess what she put in the party-favor bags? Stickers, glow bracelets, monster rings, toothbrushes, and dental floss!

So, dear Can’t Eat Candy, although I don’t exactly love the idea of Halloween without a single piece of candy, I’m living proof that it’s possible to have a fairly fantastic time celebrating it in other ways: dressing up, decorating, playing games, and hanging out with friends and family. Rather than wishing the day away, try to enjoy it!

Oh, and PS: If your costume has a tail, make sure it’s short enough that you don’t trip on it!

Ciao for now (and Happy Halloween!),

Arizona