Its Just a Costume

I wrote this as a short film idea. Njoy it.

It’s Just a Costume

            It’s autumn. And the air has just gotten crisp. Styrofoam tombstones have appeared on peoples lawns. And every building has gone orange. People have already bought costumes and have tested them out. Witches, Spidermans, Lokis, and Darth Vaders fill the streets. A boy walks up to a girl and says “If I were a zombie, I’d eat you first.” Along with other teenagers discussing what their plans are for Halloween. Everyone was taking part in the Halloween feel of October. The church put out gargoyles. And that brings us to little Joe. Joe’s favorite holiday was Halloween. The candy, the decorations, everything. But there was one downside. For the past Halloweens of his life he has had to dress up in homemade, hand crafted costumes. Unlike every other kid on the block who got to dress as wolverine, Captain Kirk, or a princess, all he got was a Bedsheet ghost or Toilet paper mummy. One year he made himself a Jason Voorhees costume that consisted of a paper mask and a stained shirt. The list of poor costumes goes on. But this was the year. Joe was sick and tired of always making dumb costumes that earn him circus peanuts. He wanted something a bit more than just a doofy homemade costume. He wanted something store bought. Something that would make people open their mouths and say Wow! He wanted the one of a kind CVS batman costume. THE CVS Batman costume. Made of real leather and real rubber. A plastic molded mask. And a belt. An actual belt. With opening parts to store small items. There was no other costume like it. This was the costume to get if you wanted to be batman.

But IT WOULD COST 50 DOLLARS! Joe was too young and unexperienced to have a job. He had no allowance. His source of disposable income was His parents, although they gleefully spent money on most stuff for him, didn’t have the same opinion on Halloween costumes. But Joe needed that Batman costume. Joe went to his dad and asked “Can you please give me fifty dollars Dad?”

“What do you need fifty dollars for?!” the dad asked

“Well there’s a Halloween costume I want to buy” little Joe explained

“Why do you want to buy one? You can just make them from scratch. And for much less the cost.” The dad replied.

“Yeah, but a store bought costume is more professional” Joe said

The dad sighed knowing his son was set on this. “Okay, tell you what. If you’re willing to do some chores around the house, I will give you some cash for this costume you want”

“Yes!! Chores, I’ll do chores. What chores?”  Joe was not used to doing that many chores around the house. He walked the dog and generally kept most messes he made out of other people’s way. So doing the dishes came as a bit of a handful. He got his hands wet. He dared to touch the grease ridden pans. To have his finger get pruney. He earned five bucks from it. But it wasn’t good enough. Mowing and raking the lawn would get him a good ten. Joe had a big yard. Small house and big yard. So mowing took time. Not only had that but his shoes quickly got stained green from the work. Cleaning his room got him 5 more. It took him about half hour to see his wooden floor again.  And taking out the trash got him ten more. Making dinner, and by making dinner I mean mac & cheese and bacon, also made him 10 dollars. Nothing else was driving him more than the thought of being batman. Before he knew it he had fifty bucks. And he was back at CVS.

As Joe was about to pick the batman costume off the hanger. A child caught the corner of his eye. The child’s shirt had dirt smudges. His shoes had holes. He had mismatching socks. And his hair was neatless. He wanted a Hershey’s chocolate bar but had empty pockets. Joes looked at his own money. And went back home. When Joe got home his dad asked “hey, did you get the costume?” Joe passed by dad without hearing the question and took out his arts and crafts supplies. Joe cut some paper. Colored it black. And tied a rubber band. He took a black blanket. Leather gloves. A grey shirt. But on some boots. And had an extra pair of underpants on him put on the outside of his pants. A couple knots and fitting later He went back to CVS. At CVS Joe bought an entire package of 15 Hershey bars. He walked back over to the child, who’s still dwelling on his lack of money. A shroud came over the child. The child turned his head up to the batman costume wearing man. No, it wasn’t store bought. It wasn’t pretty. That bat symbol on his chest was made of paper and crayon. His mask was no more than cutout piece of paper with a rubber band holding it to his head. But you could still tell it was batman. The pointed ears and boots made Joe appear just a tad taller. He even had a belt made from what appeared to be newspaper and torn up book pages. And the cape. OH the cape. The cape flowed down over the shoulders. He was a shadow of the night. A Dark Knight.  When the blanket cape wooshed. Chocolate bars rained from the sky. The child picked up one of the candies, unraped it, and took a bite. A grin grew on his face. When he looked up Batman was gone. Left CVS fast, quick and unnoticeably. The child’s jaw dropped and the only sound that came out was “Wow!” batman was not seen until Halloween night, during which he was handing candy out to the children.

 

Reviews

[carebear8741]

Elsa, you must have had some fun writing this story :D It made me smile just like it did Celina. Joe was very kind to give what he worked hard for to someone who had less than him, but more, he did not expect anything in return. Joe learned from the experience at CVS, too. Instead of going out & getting candy on halloween he stayed at home & gave candy. This is defiantly what it is like to give of ones self, & if you do this in real life Elsa, you will earn true friends & respect. The moral gets you 100%.

You do need to work on detailed punctuation, capitalization & beware of 'sentence fragments'. Sentence fragments are groups of words that look like sentences, but aren't. To be a sentence, groups of words need to have at least one independent clause. An independent clause is any group of words that contain both a subject and a verb and can stand on its own. For example, "Along with other teenagers discussing what their plans are for Halloween." is a sentence fragment. However, "Many teenagers were also discussing their plans for Halloween." is a complete sentence. This drops you down to a 97%.

Have no fear though! You can work on grammar with your teacher & family, just keep writing & ask others to 'proof read' your work.

All in all I see great things for you if you KEEP WRITING!!! Don't let anyone discourage you! Great going Elsa.

[Celina A. Igwe]

This story made me smile! I love the heart behind it! Your writing has an air of familiarity that allowed me to connect right away to your main character. I definitely wanted more! Towards the end, especially in the CVS I'd love for the story to slow down a bit, and for it took its time till the end. The entire ending is such a beautiful moment, I don't think it should be rushed. Why did Joe feel compelled to do what he did? What about the other kid, besides his appearance, captured his attention? Beautiful story! One I'd love to read to my daughter one day.