She stood there in the dark staring at the familiar house; the one that wasn't too far from hers. All around her she could see witches and goblins, ghosts and fairy princesses making their way through the neighborhood in search of candy and all sorts of fun things. And for a split second she wished, oh how she wished, that she had gone with her friends. She could just imagine the fun she was missing and she wondered if her big brother missed her.

But when she thought about Linus and the fact that he was sitting at home all by himself instead of trick or treating or going to the Halloween party, she couldn't bring herself to catch up to Charlie Brown and the others. Instead she ran toward the house, quickly forgetting all about the missed Halloween fun.

When she reached the front door, she rang the doorbell and waited. It took a long time but finally the door was answered. Linus was clearly surprised to see her and he opened the door hesitantly.

"Hi Sally. What are you doing here?"

Sally smiled sweetly. "Hello, Linus. What are you doing?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

"Are you sure you don't want to go trick or treating with me? Or to the Halloween party?"

He looked down at his feet. "Nope."

She sighed. Boy he sure was playing hard to get! But she was determined not to let another Halloween pass without trying. After all, a girl didn't give up tricks and treats and the Halloween party for nothing!

"Well, why don't we go to the pumpkin patch and wait for the Great Pumpkin?"

This got his attention and his eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Well, just because he didn't come last year doesn't mean that he won't be here this year. It's worth a try."

"But what about trick or treating and Violet's Halloween party?"

"Who wants to go to some dumb old party and go house to house collecting candy?"

"I thought you wanted restitution for making you miss that stuff last year?"

"I did? Well I'm an older woman now, and I don't care about those things." Her words weren't true, but it made her sound somewhat sophisticated. "So will you go to the pumpkin patch with me, Linus? Please?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I found one that's real sincere, just down the block."

He grinned at her. "You'd really do that? For me?"

She clutched her hands together and sighed. "Of course, Linus! You're my Sweet Baboo!"

"I'M NOT YOUR SWEET-Oh, never mind. Let's go. Come on, Sally."

They walked out of the house and down the sidewalk. Minutes later they came to the pumpkin patch that was the most sincere that she could find. "Linus, here's a good spot right over here!" She called to him as she hurried to the middle of the patch.

They sat down and the bright moon shone overhead as they waited for the Great Pumpkin to fly through the air with his bag of toys for all the good little children. It was the best night of her life.

And she didn't even slug Linus when he tried to hold her hand.

THE END