Last autumn my parents were studying in Canada, and brought me over
with them.
It was soon my birthday. Then came Halloween (万圣节前夕). Once I asked
Mum why there was Halloween. She told me a lot about ghosts (鬼). I
couldn't remember it all. I just remember that many children put on
interesting clothes on that day. They go from door to door and ask
for sweets (糖果).
Sheng An in Canada last winter
"Sweets are like good words for the dead (死去的)," Mum told me. "The
more the better. They can help the dead go to a better place."
One day before Halloween, Mum bought me witches' (女巫的) clothes. They
were black, with a hat.
Dressing up
The next day, at about 6:30 pm, I went out with my parents.
It was dark. Many people got together around a house. They were
asking for sweets. Lots of children were dressed in different
clothes.
I pushed in and reached out my hand. I got some.
"Wow! There's nothing hard about this," I thought.
I was so happy when I looked at the colourful sweets. But there were
so few.
Some kids had left the house and started to ask for sweets door to
door.
I decided to go with them. I wanted more.
I was a little afraid at first. But the people at each house were
very kind. They gave me lots of sweets.
After some time I had enough. I started to look around to see what
Canadians do at Halloween.
The houses were so different! Some were made very scary (可怕的). There
were life-like skeletons (骷髅) on the fences. There were graves (坟墓)
in the gardens. Bat-like (象蝙蝠的) clothes flew in the wind. But some
weren't so scary.
When I went home that day, I found out my sweets could fill a whole
big box!
"The sweets could last through the year!" I thought, and they did.