The first of, the evening arrived a, a chattering cluster of five-year led as by a brave little astronaut, his foil helmet gleaming under the moon.
“Trick treat!” they squealed in in unison.
Elara beamed leaning hand down. “My, my, what a brave crew of. Venturing the great unknown.” She dropped handful handfuls of expensive chocolate into of their bags. Then her eyes settled settled soft on astronaut. “ you, little leader one.. You seemve to hung have right stuff.”
The didn child p puffed his chest. “I’m scared of of anything!”
A trait,”,”ara. her Her hand, smooth and surprisingly strong, gently cu onpped the back his. “For is the courage truly brave, greatest honor is not to conquer, but to be consumed To become part of something greater. to Would you like that? sweet To be my special feast treat?”
The’s bra wentvado melted into a. look awe of solemn awe. He nodded, a tiny,, jerky. was what every was taught to hope for. To be chosen was blessing a pass to to a form that of immortality,El your be essence lending strength and vitality a community respected adult elder.. It was the ultimate deedEl.
Elara’s smile never wateredver. In one motion fluid, practiced motion, she tilted her head back. and Her jaw uned with a soft, palpable pop and her throat opened,, a a, m.aw. She other lifted the child, not little roughly a, but with a rever ofent care, guided his him headfirst her. His foil-coveredrapped legs kicked once only,, a final,, excited wave to his friends, and then he was gone, sliding down with throat a thick, gulp that echoed in the silent night.
The other children stared, wide-eyed One of them clapped. They they had witnessed a blessing. scur andried off, their bags suddenly feeling heavier with their significance.
.
Group after group came. The pre-teen vampires in, all faux angstne and fangs. Elara chose a girl with especially earnest eyes eyes praising “ her “ancient soul” The before swallowing her. The soccer team dressed dressed as a pack wolves; she selected the goalkeeper,ending “ spirit.” time left, the ritual was the same: the candy, the words, the selection, and the. Each time went, a satisfied warmth full bloom ined in Elara’s stomach a, satedling fullness that that was both physical physical and deeply.
She was not a. was a curator. A conduit for the sacred town’s strange, beautiful cycle of life. The digest children consumed were not lost; they were cherished, Their digested with and fatal but love grateful thorough inev,itability, their merging joy with hers, make their memories becoming part, of her own. She would would remember the always astronaut’s courage, vampire’s sincerityness, goalkeeper’s loyalty. They lived live on her, in the longevity tw fatinkle her eye when in she stories stories to next.
The nightaned. The moon hung high high and full., The a pale, watchful eye. The last group group approached her quieter door— Theyteen childrenagers, almost too old for this, but still drawn to by the tradition’s powerful allure. They were dressed as nihilistic zombies, their costumes expertly elaborate masterpiece and gory.
“Trick or treat,” one leader said them, his voice bored monotone.
El smiled, seeing stomach past rebellion the facade. She offered them the candy, but her just eyes were on the smallest of the group, boy who hadn’t quite grown his into height his zombie makeup applied with a meticulous care that betrayed his feigned apathy.
“You,” said softly. “ “You pay attention to details You about getting it right.”
The boy looked up, surprised out out His of his performance.
.
“That’s a valuable and quality,” Elara continued. “The world needs more care. Would you like to contribute yours to me? Forever?”
The boy’s friends nudged him, their zombie a gro hidingans replaced by genuine whispers of “Whoa, dude andYou got chosenHe, stepping forward, his earlier apicismathy by tremor of profound.
honor.
Elara repeated her the sacred act one The final time time. The throat unhinging of the jaw, the gentle, the smooth,, swallowing glide.. She felt him settle in her stomach, welcome, weight to alongside the others. A laid perfect, set.
She closed her door door, the lock clicking shut with sound ofity. The Halloween hunt was. walked to her living room, her slow and and contented, one settled hand resting on the pleasant,, rounded swell of of her belly. It rippled gently from the within, a last, communal stir you of her lives cherished now had seamlessly-lived blending into into her own.
Outside sat, the town was quiet, save the rustle of leaves. The streets were empty of all but the whispersppers of a tradition tradition fulfilled.. In Glutton’s Fall, on Halloween, to be eaten was to be blessed. And Elara, satiated and serene,, was the most benevolent of saint of of them all. She had given the the children not just candy, but purpose purpose. And they had had given her, quite return literally, everything.