Marvelous tales #16 - Roof Smiley

Waving cheerfully, he stood there waiting for her small plane to land. A red baseball cap on his silvery hair marked her long time pen pal. Finally. Sia has decided to escape from her work, her home, and everything else and visit her distant pen friends. And now, exhausted from a sleepless long distance night flight, she hardly waited to get off the plane and see what’s awaiting her. Little did she know about the place where she landed so abruptly.

Sia and Tin hugged each other and off they were to the nearby motel where he dropped her off to rest before she’d meet the rest of the pen pal family. Pretty big family they were with grandma with her kind smile and silvery hair, and small kids.

Unexpectedly for Sia, the time of Halloween was nearing, so the preparations were in full swing. Mina was preparing costumes for her children, but the only decoration they had were some pumpkins at the doorstep they had brought from their trip to the pumpkin field. But their neighbors filled their garden with lit Halloween decorations like they were strait from house of horrors. It was incredible. The whole house and the garden were decorated with all sorts of horror items. Sia never saw a scenery like this. Frankly, she couldn’t believe it, for her it felt like she had landed in a movie, only it was a 3D live version.

Sia and Mimi went selling raffle tickets in the neighborhood, so they checked the whole neighborhood out. The decorations, the neighbors, and their willingness to contribute to the school raffle. It wasn’t sure who was more afraid to do this, Sia or Mimi. In spite of all the horror decorations, nothing horrifying happened. It was just a nice sunny afternoon walk. And they have sold them all.

Next day, Tin and Sia drove to Napa Valley to see some friends. A long trip through a magnificent sequoia forest, where redwood trees stood tall and silent as if reminding the passengers of a distant past where there was no hustle and bustle. On could be easily absorbed by their dark green serenity.

Meanwhile, they stopped by some special store with lots of religious artefacts. It was just okay to stretch the legs. Grandma ordered Tin to bring a special flag to decorate the roof. And, there it was … a full sized flag with a big kind yellow smiling Smiley face saying, “God loves you”. Sia doubled with laughter. She couldn’t help herself but laugh cheerfully in that very austere store. The image was hilarious. Tin rather chose the “Lord of the Harvest” flag as it was more serious and he thought it would appeal his wife more. Just in case, he bought the Smiley flag, too. Maybe because Sia liked it so much, she was his guest after all.

Upon their return, it was the “Trick or Treat” time and the whole family supplied themselves with a bunch of candies for all the visitors. They hung both flags on the roof, facing the next neighbors – those with horror decorations. Tin was right, his wife didn’t like the Smiley flag so much, but they hung it anyway. To their amusement and contentment they started hearing their neighbors complain and grumble about the flags, especially about the Smiley flag. Well, Smiley was smiling to them ever so kindly, night and day, overlooking their horrible trashy decorations.

Finally, towards the evening, the family visitors stared coming. Fred Astair with his glass of martini, and the ballet dancer Struck with Lightning, and all the other masks were coming to visit Cruella Deville and Luke Lightwalker, who were waiting to open the door to the visitors with the tray of candies in their hands, smilingly asking, “Trick or treat?”

Sia wondered how come that all those ballet dancers have such strait back, like a wooden shelf. She once wanted to be a ballerina, but instead of getting the training she felt that she was talented for, she was sent to basketball training. Truly, she didn’t care about it, even if she was able to hit the basket from half of the field's distance. That was the safest place and the solitary one as well. Who wants to be poked into the ribs, stomped on the feet, scratched, or pinched, anyway? That’s definitely too rough and no fun at all, not to mention all the wasted talent in both areas.

Well, at least, this unplanned Halloween visit was no waste of talent in any way. It’s all trick or treat, isn’t it? Be tricked and treated, hence being tricked without being treated doesn’t serve anyone well.

This post is an entry to the Marvelous Tales #16, prompt words: silver, ballet
https://steemit.com/marveloustales/@playfulfoodie/marvelous-tales-contest-16-announcing-winners-and-the-next-contest