Ed and Ellen McAnn lived in a semi-rural area. There were rows of houses on both sides of the street but, once you left the small neighborhood they had lived in for almost ten years, you had to travel over a mile to get to the next populated suburb. Ed and Ellen liked the semi–privacy of being out, but not too far out, from the edge of the town.

They never knew what to expect on Halloween. Some years, they had numerous costumed children come to their door, happily shouting to them, “Trick or Treat! In other years there was only a handful. Ed, a detective with the City Police Department, never could figure out why this was the way it was. But, on this night, he didn’t care. Ellen had agreed to answer the door and pass out treats to the many or few who would visit their home. He had a favorite movie to watch on television.

The evening was crystal clear and beautiful. The moon was shining bright above their home, which sat on the north side of a street which ran east and west. In their neighborhood where there were few trees, there was more than ample lighting for children walking over lawns and across public streets.

Ed and Ellen’s daughter Crystal brought their grandsons over just after dark. She didn’t see Crystal pull her car into the driveway, as it sat to the extreme west of the property and out of view of the front door. They were the first trick or treat customers and Ellen was not only surprised but delighted. This year, she was handing out starlight mints. She knew this wasn’t much but there had been the death of her aged uncle last week and there had been little time to shop and prepare for Halloween. She felt badly but there was nothing she could do about it.