Written for MLMM Monday Wordle;
Di’s prompt words are shown here:
pants, sting, front, backwards, honesty, robust,
metal, thought, drink, surplus, ready, signature
Every Halloween, Abigail’s grandfather set up a folding table at the front of the house and served his signature drink: hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick and one blueberry floating on top. Beside it sat a bowl of candy and a hand-lettered sign: TAKE ONE. HONESTY COUNTS.
By nine o’clock, the street had emptied; they had a surplus of candy, enough to last until Thanksgiving.
“One more before we close up,” her grandfather said.
Right on cue, a small figure came up the walk. A white sheet, two eyeholes, and beneath it a pair of corduroy pants that looked a hundred years old. Abigail giggled. “Your pants are on backwards,” she said.
The child said nothing, just reached into the bowl and took exactly one piece of candy. Then he pressed something cold into Abigail’s hand …. a small metal coin, worn smooth, stamped with a date from 1930.
“Thank you,” the child whispered, in a voice like wind and not at all childlike. “Nobody ever trusted me before.”
Then he turned and walked away, and that was when Abigail saw the pants weren’t on backwards at all …. his legs were! The toes of his shoes pointed toward her, while the child walked steadily away down the street, into the dark, and disappeared.
Abigail shivered in fear and felt the sudden sting of tears in her eyes. She thought perhaps she had imagined what she saw until she heard her grandfather gasp. He had gone ashen.
“My father used to tell a story,” he said, with less than his usual robust confidence. “About a boy on this street who got caught stealing Halloween candy a long time ago. They say every year he walks back to the scene of his crime, still trying to make it right.”
Abigail looked at the coin, then at the bowl, then at her grandfather.
“Well,” she said, “he took only one piece. Maybe he’s finally ready to rest.
“Let’s hope”, her grandfather added. “Ninty-six years is a long time to spend making amends.”
They sat on the porch a little while longer, just in case anyone else needed to be trusted.
NAR©2026
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This is “Trust” by Megadeath
Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicated, and may not be used without permission. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.
