Lincoln sat across from his nephew, Barry, while they took a break from shopping. He'd brought the boy out to prepare for Halloween, but instead of finding the perfect costume and decorations, he'd spent the entire day distant and uninterested. It hurt to see his fellow Halloween enthusiast so down. Finally, he got up the courage to ask "Is something wrong? You're usually so ecstatic about Halloween. Where's your spirit huh?".
Barry scoffed at his uncle's joke and mumbled "I'unnoft, I just don't wanna do it this year. I'm getting too old for that stuff"
"Too old!?" Lincoln almost shouted. "You're barely twelve! That's not too old for trick-or-treating"
"Yuh-huh, it's for babies! Besides, none of my friends are going. I'd be the weird loner who couldn't take a hint"
"You wouldn't be alone, I'll be there remember? It's, like, our thing!"
"Ugh, that's worse. I'm almost a teenager, I can go door to door by myself now. You know, if I wanted to. And I don't. Because it's dumb. Jason's holding a scary movie marathon anyway"
"B-but I've taken you trick-or-treating every year since your first Halloween. I never had the chance to do it when I was your age you know."
"I know, you literally tell me every year. Face it, if I'm too old for trick-or-treating, then you're ancient! You have to outgrow these things at some point"
Lincoln sat dumbstruck as his nephew turned his attention to his phone. He couldn't believe Barry didn't want to go trick-or-treating any more. No more costumes, no more free candy, no more uncle-nephew bonding... Sure he could start doing a movie night instead, but he couldn't stand those gory horror flicks, and Barry would rather want to be with friends instead of him... Lincoln just wasn't ready to give up up Halloween. His prudish parents never let him celebrate as a kid as they believed it to be a wicked holiday. Plus it was the only time he and Barry really had the chance to bond together in the year. If only he could get one more year out of it...
