Trick-or-Treat by May Archer

Alain was pretty sure he’d elevated pacing to an art form. March ten feet to the left, stop at the shadowy mountain that was a stack of moving boxes in brighter light, then pivot. Ten feet back to the base of the stairs, then pivot again. Take a quick peek out the window to confirm that the driveway remained empty… Check. Not a car in sight, although the streets were thronged with trick-or-treaters, and the neighbors across the street were partying under strobe lights to the Monster Mash.
It seemed he’d managed to find himself a house on one of those streets where homeowners tried to outdo one another for most over-the-top decorations. Lucky him. But the beauty of being the new neighbor on the block was that no one expected him to have all his decorative gourds in a row or to even pass out candy. At least not this year.