Franki Is Not Dressed Up

15 pages · 12 min · ages 5+

Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Down the stairs came Franki, in his big black boots. It was Halloween at last! Franki was a little Frankenstein, a real one. He had green skin, a tall flat head and two little bolts on his neck. All year long, Franki and his mom stayed home, because of the old Frankenstein rule: real Frankensteins only go out on Halloween night. Real Frankensteins had always been a secret, and nobody could remember why. But on Halloween night, everybody dresses up. So a real Frankenstein can walk right down the street, and everybody thinks he's dressed up too! Staying home meant the big squishy couch. Going out meant candy. Tonight, Franki was going trick-or-treating, and he was going to find a friend to go with. Every day, he had practiced on the coat rack, and now he asked it one more time. “Will you be my friend?” Then he gave a big clomp, and the coat rack wobbled. Franki took that as a yes.

“Coat,” said Mom. “But I'm a Frankenstein,” said Franki. “Frankensteins don't mind the cold!” “I know,” said Mom. “So am I. Coat.” Mom was a Frankenstein too. They had this talk every Halloween. Franki put on his coat. At the very first house, a lady with a big bowl of candy bent down for a good look. “Oh, look at you!” she said. “Great makeup!” Franki always told the truth, even on Halloween. “It's not makeup,” he said. “It's my face.” “Of course it is,” said the lady. She didn't believe a word of it. She gave him an extra piece of candy, for the makeup.

On the corner, under a streetlight, stood two more Frankensteins! Well, two kids dressed up as Frankensteins. They had green faces, black paper hats and bottle caps taped to their necks for bolts. Their names were Tess and Max. “Hello!” said Franki. “I'm a Frankenstein too!” Max looked him up and down. “You're walking wrong,” he said. “Frankensteins walk like this,” said Tess. Arms out straight. Knees stiff. “Urrrgh,” they said. Franki had only ever seen one Frankenstein walk like that before. It was Mom, tiptoeing out of his room at bedtime, when she thought he was asleep. “Come back when you've practiced,” said Tess. And off went Tess and Max to the next corner, as stiff as two sticks. “Urrrgh.”

Franki had an idea. If he could walk like Tess and Max, maybe they would let him come along. So he practiced, right there on the sidewalk. Arms out straight. Knees stiff. Stiff knees are no good at corners. Franki walked straight into a hedge. Then he walked straight out again, backward, with a leaf on each bolt. “That was pretty good,” said Mom, “for a first try.”

But by then, Tess and Max were gone. And Franki didn't think a hedge counted as practice. He sat down on a low stone wall, and Mom sat down beside him and put her arm around him. Across the street, a porch light went out. That house was all out of candy. Then another light went out. Halloween doesn't last very long, and Franki still hadn't found a friend. Then, out of the dark at the end of the street, something came toward them. Something small and round, rocking from side to side.

Waddle. Waddle. Waddle. Up the sidewalk came a penguin. It was a little girl in a fluffy penguin suit, and her dad was right behind her. “Maisie,” said her dad, “hold my hand.” Maisie held his finger with the end of her flipper. “I'm a penguin,” she said. “Penguins don't have hands.” So her dad carried everything: her bucket, a juice box, an apple and a pack of tissues. Then Maisie saw Franki. She looked at his bolts. She looked at his flat head. She looked at his big black boots. The boots gave a little clomp, to help. “Are you a real Frankenstein?” asked Maisie. “Yes,” said Franki. “Of course you are,” said Maisie. And she meant it. Then Franki asked the question he had practiced all year. “Will you be my friend?” “Yes,” said Maisie. Even faster than the coat rack.

Maisie's dad turned to Franki. “Have you seen two more Frankensteins?” he asked. “Paper hats? They're Maisie's big sister and brother. They're allowed to run ahead, but only as far as the next corner.” “That way,” said Franki, and he pointed. So off they all went. Clomp, waddle. Clomp, waddle. At every door, the grown-ups said, “What great costumes!” “It's my face,” said Franki. “It's my beak,” said Maisie. “Of course it is,” said the grown-ups.

At the next corner, under a streetlight, there were Tess and Max, waiting. “This is Franki,” said Maisie. “He's a real Frankenstein.” “No, he's not,” said Max. “That's just a really good costume.” Just then, a cold wind came whistling down the street. Every jack-o'-lantern flickered. The sky went very, very dark. And something cold and wet landed on the tip of Franki's nose.

Whoosh! Down came the rain, all at once. Tess's paper hat flopped over her eyes. Max's bottle caps went plop, plop, off his neck and into a puddle. Green paint ran down their cheeks in long, drippy stripes. Rain dripped off the end of Franki's nose. “Our costumes!” wailed Max. “Halloween is ruined,” said Tess. The grown-ups were still a few steps behind, and Maisie's dad had his arms full. If everybody went home now, Halloween would be over, and Franki would have to wait a whole year. Then Franki had an idea. Real Frankensteins don't mind the rain either, so he didn't need his coat at all. He pulled it off and held it up high, like a little red roof. “Everybody under!” said Franki. “Penguin huddle!” shouted Maisie. When the weather is bad, penguins squeeze up close. So everybody squeezed. Tess grabbed the candy buckets. Max pointed. “Look! A porch with its light on!” So the little red roof hurried up the path, with eight feet underneath it. The grown-ups hurried after.

Under the porch roof, it was dry and bright, and the grown-ups were right behind them. The front door opened, and out came a man with a big bowl of candy and a pile of fluffy towels. “Soggy trick-or-treaters!” he said. He was very busy, finding a towel for everybody. Tess dried her face, and her towel came away green. Max dried his face, and his towel came away green. Now they were just Tess and Max, with droopy hats and wet hair. Then they looked at Franki. Franki looked exactly the same as before. Flat head. Little bolts. Big black boots. “How come you still look like a Frankenstein?” asked Max. “Because I'm not dressed up,” said Franki. “It's my face.” For a second, nobody said anything at all. “A REAL one?” whispered Tess. “Yes,” said Franki. “Mom too.” “I knew it,” said Maisie. Tess's eyes went very wide. “That,” she said, “is the best thing ever!”

The rain stopped as fast as it had started. Tess and Max looked at each other. “Sorry we said you were walking wrong,” said Max. “Can we trick-or-treat with you?” “Of course,” said Franki. Tess and Max stuck their arms out straight, ready for the Frankenstein walk. “You can put your arms down,” said Franki. “Frankensteins walk like this.” Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Tess and Max put their arms down. Their knees were very glad. So off they went, four friends in a row. Maisie kept her flippers out. Penguins don't have hands.

At every door, the grown-ups said, “What great costumes!” “It's my face,” said Franki. “It really is his face,” said Tess. “Of course it is,” said the grown-ups. Franki just smiled. Now he had three friends who knew. His coat was still soaking wet, but he put it right back on, all by himself. Mom didn't say a word about the coat. She didn't have to.

At the very last corner, Maisie's dad stopped. Maisie was holding Franki's hand. Not with her flipper. With her very own hand, poking out of the end of her sleeve. Her dad dropped everything. The bucket. The juice box. The apple. The tissues. Even his mouth dropped open. “So you DO have hands!” said her dad. “Only for friends,” said Maisie.

One by one, the porch lights went out. Halloween was over. They all walked home, and it turned out that Maisie lived just three houses down the street from Franki. At Franki's front steps, Maisie said, “See you tomorrow?” “I can't,” said Franki. “Frankensteins only go out on Halloween.” “Why?” asked Maisie. Franki scratched his flat head. “Nobody remembers,” he said. Maisie thought about that very hard. So did Mom.

The next morning, the doorbell rang. On the front step stood a penguin. Maisie had even slept in her penguin suit. Behind her stood Tess and Max, with a little green paint still behind their ears. And down on the sidewalk, Maisie's dad waved. “Can you come out and play?” asked Maisie. “It's not Halloween,” said Franki. “We know,” said Maisie. “You don't need Halloween. You've got us.” Mom looked at the three friends on the step. They all knew Franki was real, and here they were, on a day that wasn't Halloween at all, ready to play. Then Mom looked out at the sunny street. It was a long look. At last, she looked at the coat rack. “What do you think?” she asked it. Franki gave a big clomp, to help, and the coat rack wobbled. Mom took that as a yes. “Frankensteins can go out and play any day they like,” she said. Then she smiled. “New Frankenstein rule,” said Mom. “Coat.”