The Vampire Who Needed an Invitation

18 pages · 13 min · ages 5+

On Halloween night, at the very end of a quiet street, the front door of a tall purple house opened, just a crack. Creeeak. Whoosh! Out shot a little vampire named Violet, down the front walk to the gate. There she stopped. But her cape didn't. It flew on over the gate without her.

All year long, vampires and zombies hide at home with the curtains shut, doing jigsaw puzzles. But Halloween is the one night when vampires and zombies don't have to hide. They can come out at last! And this year, Violet was old enough. She was two hundred today, which is quite young, for a vampire.

But vampires can't go anywhere new until somebody invites them. Their feet just won't go. And nobody had ever invited Violet past the gate. So she put her toes on the line where the yard ended and leaned out over the gate, until only her toes were still at home. Up in a window, Violet's grandma pulled back the curtain to watch. Grandma had never been past the gate either.

Back inside the house, somebody was still putting on his first slipper, very carefully. It was Basil the zombie, Violet's best friend from the apartment downstairs. Zombies walk with their arms straight out, as if they are carrying a very wide, invisible cake. So when Basil got to the front door, his arms got there first. Clunk. The door shut again. Basil just smiled and tried again. Getting a zombie out of the house takes about as long as getting a family out of the house. Basil had started at lunchtime.

When Basil reached the gate, he held it wide open. “After you,” said Basil. That's a polite way of saying, “You go first.” But Violet didn't move. An open gate is not an invitation. Zombies don't need invitations, but Basil waited with her, because a zombie never goes anywhere without his best friend. And nobody in the purple house knew the magic words.

Just then, along the sidewalk came a little girl dressed as a bumblebee, swinging a pumpkin bucket, and her dad with a flashlight. “Evening!” said Dad. He said “Evening!” to everybody, even to the jack-o'-lanterns. “I'm Nora,” said the bumblebee. “I've done Halloween six times, and I remember three of them. You can both come with us!” Nobody had ever said that to Violet. “Is that an invitation?” she asked. “Yes?” said Nora. Then she said it properly, to make sure. “You're invited!”

Whoosh! There was Violet, right beside her on the sidewalk. So those were the magic words! “I'm two hundred today,” Violet told Dad. “Happy birthday,” said Dad. From the upstairs window, Violet's grandma called down, “Have fun! Home by sunrise!” “Home by bedtime,” Dad called back, and waved. “We'll walk them home.” “Is that late, for a human?” asked Violet. “No,” said Nora.

The first house belonged to Mrs. Higgins. Her porch light was on. “That means candy,” said Nora. “But never go to the house next door to mine. Mr. Pemberton gives out raisins.” Basil's sleepy eyes lit up. Zombies love raisins. Nora went straight up the walk, but Violet stopped at the gate. Toes on the line. Basil stopped too, of course. “Happy Halloween!” called Mrs. Higgins. That wasn't an invitation. “Don't be shy!” she called. That wasn't one either. “Only the person who lives here can invite me into her yard,” Violet whispered to Nora, as loudly as a whisper can go. “Sidewalks and parks belong to everybody, so anybody can invite me there.” So Nora hurried up to Mrs. Higgins and whispered, “She's a vampire, so you have to invite her.” “Oh!” said Mrs. Higgins. “You're invited!”

Whoosh! Violet was on the top step so fast that Mrs. Higgins's witch hat spun around twice. Mrs. Higgins gave her a piece of candy, but Violet didn't eat it. She tucked it into her pocket. “For my grandma,” she said.

At the other end of the street was a little park, full of children in costumes: a knight, three pumpkins and a very small lion. Violet stopped at the park gate. Toes on the line. A park belongs to everybody, so everybody got to say it. “Everybody, invite her!” Nora called. “You're invited!” shouted every child in the park. Whoosh! In went Violet.

Dad sat down on a bench with the other moms and dads to watch, and the children played Red Light, Green Light. The very small lion stood with his back turned. “Green light!” he called, and everybody crept toward him. Then he took a big, deep breath. “Red light!” he called, and spun around. Anybody still moving had to go back to the start. Violet had not kept still for two hundred years. She went back to the start eleven times. But when a zombie stops, he stops like a statue. Every time the very small lion spun around, he giggled, because there was Basil, smiling, as still as ever. Only a little bit closer.

Basil won, of course. Violet looked back at the tall purple house. Every curtain was still shut, and its porch light was off. “Grandma has never been trick-or-treating,” she said. “She's never even had any candy. Nobody ever invites her, because nobody has ever met her.” Then Violet had an idea. “I can invite her myself!” So back they all went.

Nora and Dad waited at the gate, and Violet ran up the front walk. Creeeak went the front door. “Grandma!” Violet called into the house. “Come out! I know the magic words!” The hall was full of shadows, and nothing moved. Then, from somewhere on the stairs, came a long, low “Uuurgh.” Violet jumped, and Nora held Dad's hand very tight. But it was only Basil's grandpa, getting up off the bottom stair. He had been waiting there for Violet's grandma, because a zombie never goes anywhere without his best friend. And there she was, by the door, with her coat already on. She had put it on at dinnertime, just hoping for an invitation.

Getting everybody out of the purple house took a very long time. Grandma was ready, of course. But Violet's uncle, the tallest uncle in the world, had to fold himself in half to get through the door. “Hello down there,” he said to Nora. “Well,” said Dad, “the more the merrier!” Last of all came the baby zombie in a stroller. Basil held the front door wide open for his grandpa and the stroller. And this time, the door stayed open. At the gate, Grandma stopped. Toes on the line. The tallest uncle stopped too. Then Violet stood on the sidewalk, right where Nora had stood, and said the magic words. “You're all invited!” Whoosh! Whoosh! For the very first time, Grandma was past the gate, and the tallest uncle too.

But by the time everybody was out on the sidewalk, Halloween was nearly over. Click. Across the street, a porch light went out. Click. Then another. Click, click, click, all the way down the street, until almost nothing was left but the moon and the streetlights. All the neighbors had gone inside. Violet knew the magic words now. But only the person who lives in a house can say them for that house, and there was nobody left at any gate. “Never mind, dear,” said Grandma softly. “We've seen the jack-o'-lanterns.” Violet's lip wobbled. Nora took her hand, and Basil stood close beside her. “Uuurgh,” said the baby, just like Grandpa.

But Basil was pointing down the street. When a zombie points, he points with both arms. Two porch lights were still on. One was Nora's, because Dad had left it on for the walk home. The other was next door, at Mr. Pemberton's, because nobody had come for his raisins all night. So they all hurried down the street to Nora's house, and Nora ran up her own front walk and turned around. It was her house, so the magic words would work. She looked at Dad, and Dad smiled and nodded, because Nora had thought of it first. “Everybody!” she called. “You're invited!” Whoosh! Whoosh! Up went Grandma and the tallest uncle. Basil held the gate wide open for his family. “After you, Grandpa,” said Basil. And Violet whooshed up and down the sidewalk, right where Dad could see her, calling over every gate, “Trick or treat! It's my grandma's very first Halloween!”

Click. Across the street, a porch light came back on. Click. Then another. One by one, the whole street lit up again. Out came Mrs. Higgins with a plate of her very best cookies. Out came Mr. Pemberton, with his whole big box of raisins. Out came all the neighbors. So everybody from the purple house went trick-or-treating together, for the very first time. At every new gate, the vampires stopped, toes on the line. And at every gate, the person who lived there called, “You're invited!” When Grandma whooshed up Mrs. Higgins's steps, the witch hat only spun around once. Mrs. Higgins was getting used to vampires. At Mr. Pemberton's, it was Violet who held the gate open, from the sidewalk. “After you,” said Violet. Basil and his grandpa looked into the big box. “Raisins,” they whispered, both at once. “Grapes that have had a very long day,” said Mr. Pemberton proudly. He was so happy that he gave them the whole box.

Afterward, everybody traded candy on Nora's front steps. Basil got even more raisins, Grandma got all the dark chocolate, Violet got all the candy corn, and Nora got everything else. Then Violet gave Grandma the candy from her pocket, the one she had saved all night. At bedtime, everybody said good night at Nora's gate. “Come over any time,” said Dad. Violet looked up at him. “Is that an invitation?” Dad looked at all the vampires and all the zombies, and at Nora, holding Violet's hand. “Yes,” said Dad. “It is.” Then he said it properly, to make sure. “You're invited.” “Then next Halloween,” said Violet, “our porch light will be on too.” Nora tugged at Dad's coat. “Can I stay up until sunrise, like Violet?” “When you're two hundred,” said Dad.