Tricketh or Mayhaps a Treat?
A case of temporal culture shock
“Trick-or-Treat!” the neighborhood kids said in anxious expectation.
“Gadzooks! Tiny accursed fiends from beyond the grave threatening me with malicious tomfoolery! On All Hallow’s Eve no less!” cried Sir Gregory, a medieval knight somehow transported to the present day. He drew his sword, “Away foul hellion! I shall not fall prey to your devious subterfuge!”
The children scattered as Sir Gregory swung madly.
“No, Sir Gregory!” Timothy ran to the door. “They’re just kids. You give them candy.”
Sir Gregory pondered, “So this ‘candy’ as you call it has exorcistical properties to drive the demons from the youth they possess? Quite marvelous inovations of the future!”
Timothy sighed.
A version of this story was originally published as “Trick-or-Treat” on my now-defunct blog Brief Conceits in October 2009, and included in my 2011 flash fiction collection Momentary Lapses into Sanity. The full collection of stories and illustrations is available in print at Amazon.
