I was completely worn out from taking care of my twin babies, Lily and Lucas. Even though Halloween was coming up, I didn’t have the energy to prepare or join in with the fun in the suburbs. I met Brad at that time. He called himself the “Halloween King,” and he took his holiday shows very seriously.
Everyone in the neighborhood talked about how crazy Brad’s preparations were, but I didn’t like how he acted. I put my car in front of his house, and he smashed it because he said it blocked his TV screen. I was very angry, but I was too tired to argue.
The last straw was when Brad copped to egging my car and didn’t feel bad about it. I promised to teach him a lesson because he was so cocky. But how could I beat the Halloween King when I’m a mom who doesn’t get enough sleep?
When I realized Brad’s flaw—his pride—it gave me ideas. I knew how to use the fact that he wanted his spooky house to be the best against him. I casually told him that he should get some high-tech gadgets to improve his show because I knew he would fall for it.
Brad didn’t know this, but I had been looking into awful machines with one-star reviews that were known to break down often. He took my idea to heart from the start, and I calmly waited for Halloween night.
As more people came to see Brad’s show, his machines started to break down. The water from the fog machine sprayed like a yard hose, the ghost projector made a shaky ghost, and his inflatables popped. People in the crowd gasped, kids laughed, and Brad went crazy.
Teenagers stepping on his house with eggs was the final blow. His spooky house of horrors became a joke. The next morning, Brad said sorry, feeling down and ashamed. I let him say sorry because I knew that karma has a way of making things right.
After that day, Brad was a different person, and his ugly Halloween decorations were no longer in our area. I had shown that even a mom who hasn’t slept in days can beat the Halloween King and make our town safe again.
