Hanna struggled to keep up with her older brother, John. It was difficult to see in her costume, much less walk in it. But she had to wear it. She just loved the old Godzilla movies, so she made her own kaiju costume. It had taken hours of blood, sweat, and tears to make it - not to mention several months allowance required to purchase the supplies - but she was proud of her final product. Sure it was a little baggy and the spines looked a little fake. In her mind, it was perfect and that was all that mattered. Tonight she could be one of the giant lizard monsters she loved watching on TV.
Hanna tripped and fell on her face. A few kids laughed, but a nice teenage girl helped her up.
"Are you okay, little girl?" she asked.
"I'm fine, " said Hannah gruffly, brushing some of the fall leaves off her felt costume. She knew the older girl was only trying to be helpful, but it still hurt her pride.
She grabbed her bag and tried to keep pace with her brother. Her costume wasn't the only thing making it hard for her to keep up. It also didn't help that Hanna was short. Not just a little short, but a lot. Hanna was almost a foot shorter than most of the girls in her class. Everyone - doctors, parents, teachers - all assured her that she was normal, but she just hadn't hit her growth spurt yet. But that didn't ease the many times she was mistaken for a much younger child. Or the teasing and taunting at school.
That was why tonight was so important to her. For one night she could pretend that she was the big one, and everyone else was small. But as she struggled to move in her bulky costume she was beginning to regret making it so large and baggy.
She finally caught up to her brother as he walked away from the latest stop.
Her brother, John, was wearing a pirate costume. He looked down at her.
"Don't bother. All they had were these lousy cough drops, " he said.
"But I hardly have any candy, " whined Hannah, holding her nearly empty bag.
"Well maybe if you hadn't chosen such a stupid costume maybe you could keep up, runt, " said Beth, her brother's current girlfriend.
Hanna didn't like her. Beth was meaner than the other girls he had previously dated. But she also understood why he liked her. She was also prettier, shining in her fairy costume.
"What are you supposed to be anyway? Some kind of lizard or something?" asked Beth with a sneer.
"I am a mighty kaiju! Rawr!" she said, trying to growl fiercely.
"What the hell is a kaiju?" asked Beth smugly. "Sounds like the noise you make when you sneeze or something."
"She means Godzilla," said John.
"No, not Godzilla!" said Hanna angrily. "Godzilla is male. I am a female kaiju. This is my own special design."
"'Whatever. Still looks like stupid little kid's stuff to me. Let's go," said Beth, dropping her cough drop to the ground.
Hanna looked sadly at the ground. Her brother gently lifted her chin.
"Hey, I think you make a great kaiju. Really scary, " he said with a smile. He knew how sensitive Hanna was about being called a little kid, and how much she desperately wanted to be treated like an adult. "Even scared me a little."
"C'mon, John. We haven't got all night. Let's get this over with so we can go to the party," said Beth.
Hanna glared at her. She was trying to look mean but John couldn't help but giggle at how cute she looked in her makeshift costume.
"Don't worry about her. Take your time and go to all the houses you want. We'll wait for you at the end of the block until whenever you are finished. But you can take this to get started, " said John, dropping the cough drop into her hand.
She thanked John with a smile. To show her appreciation she unwrapped the cough drop and popped it into her mouth, happily sucking on the candy.
"See you later, kid, " said John, ruffling the head of her costume.
Hanna happily bounded over to the next stop, hardly noticing that her costume didn't feel as large and baggy as before.
In fact, it felt a little tight.