It was Halloween night, and there was a party in the neighborhood square. Emily wore her blue cape with silver stars, and under her arm she carried Pip. Pip was her stuffed bat: black, soft, with little felt wings.
The square was full of orange lanterns, quiet music and the smell of warm apple cider. There were witches with brooms, ghosts in bedsheets and a pirate with a cloth parrot. Emily looked at everything with shining eyes, holding Mom's hand.
“Look, Pip, so many pumpkins!” she whispered. But then she saw someone walking toward them, very slowly. It was a green monster, with yarn hair and a mask with enormous eyes.
Emily froze and hid behind Mom's coat. “Who's in there?” she asked softly. “I can't see a face.” Mom knelt down and stroked her hair.
“You can stay right here with me as long as you want,” she said. Emily hugged Pip and looked into his button eyes. “Pip, you can see in the dark. What should we do?” she asked.
Pip didn't say a word, of course. But Emily had a wonderful idea.
She stepped out from behind Mom and raised her hand. “Stop!” she said. “This square has a password.” The green monster stopped right where he was.
“Anyone wearing a mask has to say ‘pumpkin’ and wave hello.”
The monster waved and said, in a familiar voice, “Pumpkin.” Then he lifted his mask. It was her cousin Nick, grinning from ear to ear! “Nick!” Emily laughed. “It was you the whole time.”
“May I pass, Guardian of the Square?” Nick asked with a bow. Emily thought about it for a moment, very seriously, and let him through.
Right away, the witch, the ghost and the pirate wanted to try the password. “Pumpkin!” they said, waving, and lifted their masks for a moment. Underneath were neighbors, friends from school, and even the man from the bakery.
Emily laughed so hard she almost dropped Pip.
When they got home, she saw the pumpkin by the front door, still without a face. With Mom, she painted on two round eyes and a great big smile. They put it in the window, with a little battery candle inside.
Its orange smile glowed over the quiet street. Emily put on her pajamas and climbed into bed with Pip. “Tomorrow, you get to say the password,” she whispered, and yawned.
Goodnight, Emily…
