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Because of Vince's rather unconventional upbringing, Howard had the pleasure of introducing him to many things when they became friends. They first spent Halloween together when Howard was just 10 years old. Vince had only just moved in with his uncle down the road and the boys became fast friends. No one was quite sure how old Vince was. He was rather tiny, but very verbal and with excellent fine motor skills. He was put in Howard's class although he was at least a head shorter than all of the other students.
Howard watched Vince carefully as they carved pumpkins the weekend before Halloween. He advised Vince to draw out his design first before starting to carve. Unsure of his friend's knife skills, Howard insisted in making the first cut for Vince. He smiled to himself as Vince scrunched his face up in concentration and stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth as he followed the lines he had drawn onto the pumpkin. After an unfortunate incident the previous Christmas, which had resulted in both of Howard's eyebrows nearly being completely singed off, his mother was wary of letting him near matches. So once Howard and Vince were finished carving their pumpkins and brought them out to the porch, Howard called his mother, who lit the candles and told them dinner would be ready in 10 minutes.
Vince clapped with delight at the sight of the glowing pumpkins. Howard was slightly annoyed that Vince's Ziggy Stardust pumpkin looked amazing, while his attempt at carving Dizzy Gillespie looked more like a monster trying to eat a tree. Vince sat cross-legged on the grass and rested his chin on his hands, just staring at the pumpkins, as pleased as punch.
"It's cold out, Vince. And the grass is damp. You'll catch a chill."
"They're so beautiful, Howard," Vince responded, ignoring Howard's warnings. Howard crouched down next to Vince to have a better look at the pumpkins and Vince shoved him slightly until he sat down.
"I'll help you carry yours home so you can put it on your porch."
"No. I don't want to bring it home."
"But why? Your uncle will be really impressed by it!"
"Because."
"Because what?"
"Cos my pumpkin and your pumpkin are friends and I don't want them to be lonely without each other," Vince stood up before Howard could respond. "I'm awful hungry. I hope your mum's made a chili. Her chili is genius," he continued as he tugged on Howard's hand and made his way back to the house.
After dinner, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was on the telly and Howard was excited to learn that Vince had never seen it before. It was a Moon family tradition to watch it each year and he was happy to be able to share the experience with Vince. Vince laughed loudly at Snoopy's antics and listened carefully as Linus explained about the Great Pumpkin.
"Vince, it's time you were heading home, my lad. It's nearly bedtime," Howard's dad said after the boys finished watching the programme.
"Can I walk Vince home?" Howard asked. He worried about his young friend walking in the dark, even if he only lived a few houses down. Mr. Moon looked to his wife and raised an eyebrow. Mrs. Moon nodded at Howard. Vince bounced off the sofa, giving Mr. Moon, then Mrs. Moon a hug before going to put his coat and shoes on. Mr. Moon chuckled to himself as he went back to his newspaper.
"Such a sweet boy," Mrs. Moon commented. "I'm so glad they've found each other."
"I never knew about the Great Pumpkin before," Vince said as he stood on Howard's porch and zipped up his coat. "Did you already write your letter to him?"
"What?...Oh...Well, no. I don't usually write to him."
"But then what about the presents? Does he still bring them? I didn't write to him either. I didn't know."
"That's okay, Vince. You don't have to write to him. He'll still come around on Halloween."
"Genius," Vince said, taking Howard's hand and staring up at the sky as they walked the rest of the way in companionable silence.
Howard and Vince had decided to keep their costumes a secret from one another until Halloween. Vince rushed home after school to change before returning to Howard's in his costume and with his overnight things in a rucksack. Howard answered the door dressed head to toe in khaki.
"I'm an explorer," he said when he saw the confused look on Vince's face. He grabbed his pith helmet, which was hanging from the bannister and put it on to give Vince the full effect. Vince grinned and handed Howard his bag so he could take his coat off.
"What are you?" Howard asked once Vince's costume was revealed. He wore a pale yellow jumpsuit with sequined details.
"I'm Leather Tuscadero. You know. From Happy Days."
"Oh..but she's a girl."
"Yeah. She's a genius."
Howard's mum insisted the boys wore their coats when went out trick or treating. Even Howard complained - after all, what was the point of wearing a costume if no one could see it? - but she was adamant. No coats, no trick or treating.
"Howard?" Vince said quietly once they reached the end of the road. "Can I at least unzip my coat? I promise I won't get a cold or nothing." Howard didn't think he'd ever seen Vince look sadder.
"How about this? Once we get to where they have the best sweets, we'll take our coats off and just carry them. Then we can put them back on once we're done." Vince grinned and nodded excitedly, skipping ahead and calling after Howard to hurry up before there were no sweets left.
"Well, well. Who's your little girlfriend, Howard?" Mr. Jenkins asked as he dropped a bar of Dairy Milk into each of their bags. Howard knew he gave out full sized candy and chocolate bars, which is why he put up with his teasing each year. Usually he teased Howard about his costumes or the fact that he went trick or treating alone. Howard had saved his house for last and Mr. Jenkins's eyes widened in surprise when he opened the door and found that Howard wasn't alone.
"This is my friend Vince," Howard said, avoiding looking over at Vince. He was nervous that the younger boy would be offended.
"Wow. Thanks, mister! You give out the best treats!" Vince exclaimed, clearly unfazed by the exchange between Howard and Mr. Jenkins.
Howard let out a sigh of relief before muttering a quick "thank you" and following Vince back down the garden path.
"This is the best day ever, Howard!" Vince exclaimed when Howard was back by his side. "Dressing up and getting sweets off everyone! I wish it could be Halloween all the time!"
"It wouldn't be as good if it happened all the time, Vince. You have to wait for it to come round and that's what makes it special."
Vince just shrugged in response. "I'm gonna eat all of my sweets tonight. Imagine that!"
Howard knew his dad would make them show him what they got and that his mum would allow them to have a few pieces before putting the rest in the kitchen to make sure they didn't overdo it. He just smiled at Vince and held his bag while he put his coat back on.
Vince was too exhausted to argue when he found out that Mrs. Moon had no intention of letting him finish all of his sweets. He pouted for a bit, but was yawning too much to keep the scowl on his face.
"You two have had a big night," Mr. Moon said. "Perhaps you should be heading up to bed."
"Dad, can we get the sleeping bags from the hall closet so we can pretend like we're camping out in the wilderness? Please?"
"Tell you what: You two go up, brush your teeth, and put on your pyjamas and I'll dig the sleeping bags out so you two can have your adventure."
The boys scrambled up the stairs and got ready in record time. Howard was never keen on being told to go to bed. He felt he was far too old to have a bedtime. But everything seemed like an adventure with Vince around, even the prospect of sleeping on his bedroom floor.
Howard's ceiling was dotted with glow-in-the-dark stars that he and his father had arranged to replicate a few of Howard's favourite constellations. He told Vince stories about them until the heard the younger boy shift onto his side and his breathing become slow and steady. He turned and smiled at his sleeping friend before turning onto his side as well and shutting his eyes.
Howard woke in the night and craned his neck to try to read the clock on his nightstand. It was too high up, so he sat up for a better look and noticed Vince's sleeping bag was empty. It was still dark out. Surely Vince wouldn't be up already. He checked the clock - it was just after 1. Howard tried to listen for sounds in the house, perhaps Vince needed a wee or had snuck downstairs for more sweets. But Howard heard nothing. He stood and put his slippers and dressing gown on, grabbed his flashlight from his desk and went to investigate.
Stepping out of his bedroom, he didn't see any lights on in the house. He heard his father's snoring coming from his parents' bedroom, but the house was otherwise silent. He went downstairs and found no sign of Vince there either. Howard was becoming frantic, but didn't want to wake his parents. Somehow he felt this was all his fault. He should have been more responsible. He should have looked out for Vince.
He walked to the kitchen to see if Vince was sneaking some of his sweets. The beam of his flashlight illuminated scrunched up bits of a paper and a felt tip pen on the table. He straightened one of the pages out and recognised Vince's writing:
Deer Grate Pug Pom Pumking,
Sorry I never rote you befor. I'm new here and I didn't no about you.
The other crumpled up pages had similar starts. Howard figured Vince had either gone out to mail his finished letter or to find the Great Pumpkin himself. Howard shoved pieces of paper in the pocket of his dressing gown and rushed back upstairs. He put on a pair of jeans and a jumper over his pyjamas and pulled a woolen hat from his dresser, pulling it on before heading back downstairs for his coat and shoes. He noticed Vince's shoes missing from the mat by the door although his coat was still on its hook. He snuck quietly out the front door and considered the best route to go to search for Vince. As he started down the path, he trod on something and shone his flashlight down to take a look at what it was. He knit his brows together when he realised it was a Jelly Tot. He saw a trail of them leading down the path and remembered once telling Vince that leaving a trail of sweets was an effective way of not losing your way in the wilderness.
Howard followed the trail, the space between the sweets becoming greater as Vince clearly began to run out. The trail ended completely just short of the entrance to the park. Howard looked up and down the road and, not seeing any sign of Vince, walked into the park. The swings creaked in the wind and Howard wanted to rush back home and wake his parents, but he felt guilty that he hadn't been truthful with Vince about the Great Pumpkin. Or the use of sweets as a navigational device. He pulled up the collar of his coat and continued looking around. He spotted a tiny figure in the flower beds by the playground. Vince was huddled on his side and fast asleep. Howard ran over to him, shaking him and pulling his shoulders to get him to sit up.
"Vince! Vince!"
"Did he come?"
"What?"
"Did he come, Howard? The Great Pumpkin?" Vince asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Vince, don't be..." Howard stopped himself when he saw the pleading look in Vince's eyes. He felt protective of Vince and like it was his fault for letting him down. He didn't want to hurt his friend. He cleared his throat before continuing, "I mean, yes. Yes, he did. You just missed him. But he asked me to give you the presents he left. He was sorry he couldn't wait until you woke up."
"Genius," Vince said, throwing his arms around Howard.
"Hey! You're freezing, Vince. Come on, let's go home. I mean, to my home...since you're staying the night. So I guess it is like your home for the night."
"You're funny, Howard. I'm glad you're my best mate," Vince said, still not letting go of Howard. Howard pulled Vince up to his feet and took his coat off and wrapped it around the smaller boy. He put his arm around Vince as he led them home.
"You'd better change out of your pyjamas, Vince," Howard said when they were back in his room. "They're all damp from the cold. You can borrow a pair of mine." He pulled a pair of pyjamas from his drawer as well as a pair of socks.
"Do you want some tea or something to warm you up?" Howard asked as he helped Vince fold up the cuffs of the sleeves and the bottoms once he had changed.
""m tired. I just want to go back to sleep."
"Maybe you should sleep in the bed. It'll be warmer."
"Uh uh. We're having an adventure. I want to sleep down here in the wilderness with you."
"Okay. Well, let me get my duvet off the bed and we can put it over ourselves. It's important to stay warm in the forest at night, Vince." Vince smiled and inched his sleeping bag closer to Howard's before crawling in. Howard spread the duvet over both of them and clicked off his flashlight.
"Howard?"
"Yeah?"
"What about my present from the Great Pumpkin?"
"Oh. Well, I'll give it to you in the morning, okay? You need to get some sleep." Howard had seen a fan magazine on Marc Bolan in the shops a few days earlier and had bought it for Vince for Christmas (Howard was not one to leave shopping until the last minute). It was hidden in the back of his wardrobe. He'd need to sneak it out without Vince's noticing once they got up, but he figured a man of action like himself would be more than up to the task.
"Okay. Night, Howard."
"Good night, Vince. And please don't wander off again. At least not without waking me first."
"I promise."