by Sarah Earlene Shere, ©2024
(Nov. 1, 2024) — Once upon a time, The Guardian of the woods heard concerning reports that the poor children of the village were being neglected. In order to test if these rumors were true, The Guardian sent out her sisters disguised as street urchins. They went from door to door, seeking a kind soul who would give them something to eat. Those who gladly obliged turned back into their homes to find a gift upon the table or a need provided for by the fairies. Those who closed their doors in the face of the disguised fae turned to find their home in disarray and objects missing.
The next year, the fae told the children to disguise themselves as fairies (or anything they so pleased), then instructed them to go from house to house seeking something to eat by using one simple phrase: Trick-or-treat. The adults (unsure if those disguised were children or fairies) would understand this phrase as a kind of promise from the fae that how they responded to the children would result in either a trick or a treat for themselves.
That is why, to this day, children still disguise themselves and go from door to door proclaiming “Trick-or-treat.”
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Having finished telling her stories, Antene dismissed the children, telling them it was near time for them to don their own disguises and set out trick-or-treating. As the children ran away with shouts and laughter, I watched Antene pick her black cat up into her arms and rise from her seat. Suddenly, she turned and made eye contact with me. Sheepishly, I stepped out from my hiding spot in the shadow of a tree and stepped toward her. She said nothing, but seemed to be waiting for me to speak. I recalled the gossip I had heard about this mysterious lady who lived alone in the woods. After seeing her kindness to the children and hearing her tales of wonder and meaning, I felt ashamed that I had believed the worst of her. All I found to say was, “I’m sorry.”
Antene smiled knowingly as she questioned, “Then you no longer believe the things you have heard about me?”
I felt the twinkle come into my eyes as I replied, “On the contrary, I believe you wield the greatest power of enchantment!”