"Let's go, guys!" Thorn called up the stairs to his two kids. "The bewitching hour is about to begin!"

     "Boo!" Leaf yelled, suddenly jumping out from behind her father, dressed in her witch costume.

     "Ahh!" Thorn cried out jokingly, playing along with his daughter. "Please help me! Ahh! It's a scary witch!"

     "Ok... that's enough you two," Árbol laughed, coming down the stairs with Branch following behind her, wearing a jacket and a baseball cap.

     "What about you, Branch?" Thorn asked, looking at his son. "What are you supposed to be?"
"A rap singer..." Branch answered dryly, rolling his eyes at his father.

     "Oh... well then, your hat should be on sideways, shouldn't it?" Thorn suggested, turning Branch's hat sideways.

     "Say 'Halloween'!" Árbol said, holding up a camera.
"Halloween!" Thorn and Leaf shouted out cheerfully, as they smiled for the picture. "Halloween..." Branch grumbled, crossing his arms, as he looked away angrily.

—————

     "Trick or treat!" a group of children yelled out, standing on someone's doorstep, as they held out their bags for candy. Leaf was one of those kids, smiling wide with pure joy, as the lady at the front door handed out delicious treats.

     Branch however... wasn't so happy...

     He was sitting on the porch, waiting for his sister to finish up, so he could get home before anyone he knew saw him.

     "Lighten up, Branch," Leaf sighed, nudging her big brother with her elbow.
"Can we go home now?" Branch grumbled, rising up to his feet.
"No," Leaf refused. "We just started."

     They walked up the driveway, suddenly seeing two teenage boys harassing other children, and stealing their candy.

     Branch gulped, his eyes widening in fear, as he froze in place. He knew those two trolls. In fact... the purple one was currently wearing his sneakers.

     "Let's... uh... let's just go this way," he said, trying to lead his sister through the yard to avoid the two trouble makers, but Leaf just rolled her eyes, pulling away from his grasp to continue forwards.

     "Stop and pay the toll, kid," Creek said, stopping Leaf from walking past.
"Ten chocolate bars. No liquerice," Master Control added.
"Get a life," Leaf sighed, trying to walk past the two older boys, but they just stopped her, glaring at the young girl angrily.

     "Oh god..." Branch muttered silently, turning away to try and pretend he didn't know her. He did not want those two seeing him.

     "Dump the sack, twerp," Creek demanded.
"Drop dead," Leaf said back firmly.

     Suddenly, Creek lunged forwards, grabbing the little girl by the front of her witch costume.

     "How'd you like to be hung off that telephone pole, runt?" Creek threatened.
"Psh..." Leaf scoffed, not seeming scared in the slightest. "I'd just like to see you try! 'Cause it just so happens... I've got my big brother with me!"

     Branch's eyes widened at the sound of that, looking over at his sister in fear.

     'Please don't say my name...' he thought to himself. 'Please don't say my name...'

     "Oh... I'm so scared..." Creek cried out sarcastically, backing away a bit, finally releasing the child as he laughed.

     'Don't do it, Leaf...' Branch thought, glaring at his little sister. 'Just give him the stupid candy!'

     "Branch!" Leaf suddenly called out over her shoulder.

     'And... she did it...'

     His heart racing in terror, the little blue troll slowly approached the two jerks.

     "Hollywood!" Creek laughed, recognizing him from earlier that day.
"Oh, no!" Master control panicked sarcastically. "Don't hurt us!"

     Both boys laughed, as they high-fived each other, thinking their jokes were hysterical.

     The commotion the two boys were making was loud, and attracted more teenagers from the neighborhood, who came around to watch the fight that they knew was about to happen, most of them getting their phones ready to call an ambulance for when Creek murdered Branch.

     "So, you're doing a little trick-or-treating?" Creek mocked, shoving Branch back a bit. "Aren't you a little old for that?"
"Aren't you a little old to be picking on kids half your age!?" Leaf yelled back in response, Branch quickly covering her mouth, so she wouldn't get them in anymore trouble then they were already in.

     "I'm just taking my little sister around," Branch informed nervously, looking at the two trolls in front of him.

     "Mmm. That's nice," Master Control scoffed, rolling his eyes.

     Quickly, Branch grabbed his sister's hand, trying to drag her away from the two bullies, before anything really bad happened to either of them.

     "Wait a minute..." Creek said threateningly, as he grabbed onto Branch, pulling him back. "Everybody pays the toll."
"Stuff it, zitface!" Leaf threatened.
"Why, you little..." Creek grumbled, quickly lunging himself at the young child.

     "Hey!" Branch yelled, jumping in between the two of them, suddenly not worried about his own safety anymore. He only cared that his little sister stayed safe. "Leave her alone!"

     Just then, he shoved his own candy bag into Creek's arms, so that the purple troll would just leave the two of them alone.

     "Here! Pig out," Branch said rudely. "Come on, Leaf. Let's go."

     He grabbed his sister's hand, leading her away.

     "Oh... and Hollywood..." Creek yelled out after him, laughing. "The shoes fit great!"

—————

     "You should've punched him..." Leaf grumbled, as her and her brother walked down the street towards the next house. "He would have killed me!" Branch yelled back at her. "At least you would've died like a man," Leaf shrugged.

     "Hey!" Branch yelled, grabbing onto her arm, so she would stop walking and look at him. "You just humiliated me in front of half the guys at school! So collect your stupid candy and get out of my life!"

     He began to stomp away, Leaf looking at him in shock. He had never yelled at her like that before. She really messed up...

     "I wanna go home!" she cried, beginning to run back towards their house. "Now!"

     Branch's heart sank down into his stomach, as he watched his little sister run past him, tears flowing from her eyes.

     "What have I done..." he muttered to himself, regretting yelling at his little sister. She was just a child. She didn't mean for any of this to happen. He had to fix this...

—————

     Leaf ran down the street, until she suddenly collapsed into a large pile of hay, jack-o-lanterns flickering around her, as she cried.

     "I'm... I'm sorry, Leaf..." Branch said softly, walking over to sit next to her. "It's just that... I hate this place. And... I was taking it out on you... but I shouldn't have. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry..."

     She looked at him, wiping the tears from her eyes, but didn't say a word.

     "I miss all my friends... I miss our old house... I miss everything..." he muttered, looking away from her sadly. "I just wanna go home..."

     "Well, this is your home now," Leaf told him, still crying softly. "So get used to it."

     Branch nodded, looking back at his sister.

     "Give me one more chance?" he asked.
"Why should I?" Leaf said stubbornly, crossing her arms, as she turned away from him. "Because I'm your brother..." he told her, giving her the puppy dog face, trying to get her to forgive him.

     "Ok... ok," Leaf laughed, playfully punching Branch's arm. "Let's go get some more candy, jerkface."

     He helped Leaf stand back up, and then the two of them walked off together, on their way to the next house.