It always happens to me. In the eleventh hour I think of a Halloween costume.

I usually have two costumes: one to wear downtown, and another for the trick-or-treaters. Last year I wore the dragon head and a long black robe (my college graduation gown, actually) to hand out treats. It was a mixed success. I was repeatedly mistaken for a mouse (a mouse?!), which rather upset me. But there was one boy who walked away from my door asking his father, "Can I be a dragon next year?" That was cool.

There was also a young boy who was terrified of me. I tried to coax him closer, but that didn't work out. I suggested that I take off the mask, and his mother thought that would be a good idea. But imagine that you are a young child, confronted by this horrible white monster. Just when you start working up the nerve to take a tasty morsel from this creature's hand, the monster takes off its head and pretends to be a human!

The ensuing hysterics were amusing in retrospect, but it was rather embarrassing to have a terrified child standing in front of me, staring at my face and screaming.

This year I'm wearing a Wal-Mart costume. I'm sure your local 'mart has one: a black and purple robe, with a cover in the hood that I can draw across my face so that it's invisible. I'm sure that a few kids will be Not Happy about this costume, and that there will be more doorstep screaming, but I gotta wear something for those kids. grin

But this year I was stuck for a downtown costume. There are several things to keep in mind when coming up with a costume for the Big Huge Party. First, it must be comfortable, since the bars are packed and I'll be walking around outside all night. Secondly, it must not be very expensive, since it will probably be destroyed through the evening. Simple is good. I also aim for clever.

Thirdly, and most importantly, it must not have anything on it (either attached to the costume or anything that I carry) that may be used as a weapon against me. The downtown scene can get very crazy on Halloween, and I want to minimize injury as much as possible. I do own a real sword (it's not sharpened though), so I could do Xena or something like that. But a) I would hate for anything to happen to the sword, and b) if some drunk grabbed the sword from me in the mass of people, I would have no way to defend myself against them. It's a very real danger and a very important consideration.

So this year I've decided on just clever. I'll be wearing black jeans, a black shirt, black elbow-length gloves and black socks. I'll also have a black cat's tail and black cat ears. On the back of my shirt, I have the number "13" written in white masking tape. And around my neck is a piece of a broken mirror. (This is a cheap kiddy mirror, one of those pieces of plastic with a shiny adhesive material on it.)

Any guesses? Do you know what I'm going downtown as? I'll post the answer (and any additions/changes I make to the costume) tomorrow or Sunday.