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A fact, he informed me, that Grace disagreed with wholeheartedly.

The moment the tall evergreen trees opened up, I lost my breath.

A fifteen-minute drive from town, the Halloween festival is nestled in a massive field surrounded by the thick forest of towering trees. Booths stretch back from the entrance as far as the eye can see.

A tall hat, with swings decorated to look like tassels, rises into the sky before it begins to spin. Nearby, a small rollercoaster zips down a sharp curve, while a ferris wheel spins to the right.

Minna’s tail thumps so hard in the back seat it sounds like a drum.

“Whoa,” I breathe out in equal parts awe and anxiety.

A voice in the back of my mind whispers, So many unknowns.

A louder voice says, Auggie will keep you safe.

Auggie smiles as he unbuckles. “Crazy, right?”

“More like amazing!” I say, swallowing down my nerves.

Auggie opens my door for me and helps me out before getting Minna from the backseat.

We walk toward the festival entrance, one of Auggie’s hands holding mine, the other holding Minna’s leash. The pennant banner over the entrance has Halloween Festival written out in festive font, bats and spiderweb decorations adorning each side. As we pass under, I make note of the booths nearest the entrance, paying attention to unique landmarks that would lead me to the main exit…just in case.

As we walk, my senses go into overdrive. Sweet and salty collide with earthy and citrusy. Every way I look, there are townspeople dressed in costumes shopping at the vendor booths or buying delicious treats from the many food stations.

Minna darts in every direction, nose sniffing a mile a minute as we walk the main thoroughfare.

“Where would you like to start, Moonlight?”

My head practically spins. “There’s so much.”

Auggie rubs his thumb along the back of my hand.

“Why don’t we just do a leisurely walk? If you see something, we can stop; otherwise, you can just take it all in.”

“That sounds good.”

For the next several hours, Auggie, Minna, and I walk through the festival grounds. We stop at many vendor booths and have three overflowing goodie bags to show for it. We stop at Grace’s booth for Bite Me Baby catering to say hi, and we leave with half a dozen of her signature frosted cookies and a few dog biscuits she wants Minna to try.

By late afternoon, our arms are stuffed with goodies, and Minna is most definitely ready for a nap. We pile into Auggie's car and head back to my apartment.

As he unloads one of the bags, he asks, “Are you good to go back to the festival? I thought since Minna won’t be with us, we could go on some rides and play some games.”

“For sure. I think I saw skee-ball when we were walking. I love skee-ball.”

“Really?”

I nod enthusiastically as I give Minna one of Grace’s tester dog biscuits, which she devours instantly.

“When I was little, we always went to this one place for my birthday. They had food and drinks, nothing fancy, just pizza and chicken nuggets. But I was in it for the games. There was air hockey and claw machines. And a game with a mallet that you had to bop these little pop-up balloons with. But most importantly, they had skee ball. I’d spend all my tokens on skee ball and then go beg for more.”

I shake my head with a laugh as I remember my many birthdays running around with my friends. When I look up, I find Auggie looking at me with a soft smile.

“What?”

“I’ve never heard you talk about your life before you got here. Except when you mentioned being an interior designer.”

Sadness and a flicker of panic rush through me.