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 witches¹' (女巫的) clothes. They
            were black, with a hat.

            Dressing² 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 decided³ 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 scary⁴ (可怕的). There
            were life-like skeletons⁵ (骷髅) on the fences⁶. There were graves⁷ (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