“The Spirit,” by Becca Bywater: October 2025 1st Place

Tonight I am magical.

My hair lies in ringlets around my neck, just like Mom’s did. My wings sparkle in the dim streetlamps.

And my dress is a gown of pink silk and lace, Mom’s old favorite. Dad cried when he saw me in it–said I looked so much like her. I know Dad wishes I wouldn’t have worn it–but after all those years of trying to forget, hide the pain, he needs to remember for one night. Lush makeup completes my image as a fairy, and in the surreal surroundings, tonight I feel like a dream.

As I walk towards the next house, preparing to make my heavy candy bag even fuller, I feel my shoes pinching my feet.

These shoes are too tight.

But I freeze as I realize what that means.

They’d been too loose an hour ago.

My feet…were they changing?

Now that I think about it, I feel the features of my face shifting and changing. Is this some sort of an evil spirit?

I remember something my teacher said earlier that day.

“Halloween is a night of spirits, and a night of costumes. Be careful a spirit doesn’t steal your costume!”

He’d fallen over laughing afterwards, and I’d dismissed it as his usual odd behavior. But what if he was right?

I throw my dress off, revealing normal clothes underneath, then pull my shoes off my feet and toss them aside. My features stop shifting, and I sigh in relief. Just to be safe, I wipe my makeup off and throw the cloth aside.

The red goop lifts off the cloth and into the air.

It flies right above where my dress is floating, and I gasp. My costume hovers in the air, as if someone invisible wears it.

A woman, flickering like a mirage, appears inside my dress. “Hi,” she says, giving me a smile. My eyes widen as I take in her all-too-familiar face.

I gasp as emotions war inside me. Surprise, happiness, love…even a bit of anger.

I take a deep breath, and the emotions twist into a word.

“Mom?”