Poppy had moved into the house next door with her mother just two weeks before Halloween.
She was six, had a collection of stuffed animals that seemed to follow her everywhere, and could talk about Paw Patrol for hours without getting tired.
Most of the children in our neighborhood were older than her, so somehow, I’d become her favorite person to bother.
Almost every afternoon, she’d appear on our porch while I was playing video games.
“Brady, do you know who Skye is?”
“Isn’t that the pink dog you told me about yesterday?”
“She’s not just a dog! She flies a helicopter!”
“Right. Sorry. Very important distinction.”
Poppy would roll her eyes and spend another twenty minutes explaining why Skye was the best character in the show.
I didn’t mind her company, although I’d never admit that to my friends.
Her mother, Colleen, worked long shifts as a nurse at the hospital. She was raising Poppy on her own after separating from her husband several months earlier.
Sometimes, when Colleen came home exhausted, my mother invited them over for dinner.
Poppy usually ended up sitting beside me, showing me drawings or asking questions I didn’t know how to answer.
Then Halloween arrived.
I’d been looking forward to it for weeks. My best friend, Zane, was throwing a party, and practically everyone from our grade was going.
I was getting ready when someone knocked on our front door.
Colleen stood outside, looking worried.
“Brady, I’m terribly sorry to ask this at the last minute, but Poppy’s babysitter just canceled. Would you mind taking her trick-or-treating for a little while?”
I glanced at my phone.
“Sorry, Mrs. Colleen. I’m supposed to meet my friends.”
“I understand. I’ll figure something out.”
Before she could leave, my mother appeared behind me.
“Brady can take her.”
I turned around.
“Mom, I have plans!”
“You can go to your party afterward. Poppy shouldn’t have to miss Halloween because an adult canceled on her.”
“But—”
“Or you can stay home for the entire evening.”
I stared at her.
“You’re serious?”
“Completely.”
Colleen looked embarrassed, but my mother assured her it was no trouble.
Then Poppy appeared from behind her mother’s legs.
She was wearing a bright pink Skye costume, complete with little wings.
In her arms was another costume, this one blue.
She held it toward me.
“This one’s yours!”
I unfolded it and nearly laughed.
It was Chase, the police dog from Paw Patrol, complete with a floppy-eared hood.
“Absolutely not.”
Poppy’s smile disappeared.
“But Skye needs Chase.”
“Poppy, I’m sixteen. I’m not walking around dressed like a cartoon dog.”
She considered that for a moment.
Then she folded her arms.
“If you don’t wear it, I’m not going. And your mom said you’ll have to stay home.”
My mother suddenly became very interested in the flowers beside our front door.
I looked between them.
“Did you two plan this?”
Poppy giggled.
Ten minutes later, I was standing in front of the hallway mirror wearing blue pants, a matching jacket, and a ridiculous pair of floppy ears.
My mother took a picture before I could stop her.
“Please don’t send that to anyone.”
“You look adorable.”
“Mom!”
Poppy appeared beside me, practically bouncing with excitement.
“Come on, Chase! We’re going to be late!”
I pulled the hood over my face.
“If anyone from school sees me, I’m changing my name and moving away.”
Poppy laughed and grabbed my hand.
We started down the street with our candy buckets.
At first, I was counting the minutes until I could take her home.
But Poppy was having the time of her life.
She thanked every neighbor, admired every pumpkin, and insisted that I perform Chase’s salute whenever someone complimented our costumes.
At one house, an elderly woman gave us homemade cookies.
At another, a man pretending to be a vampire nearly scared me into dropping my bucket.
Poppy laughed so hard she had to sit on the sidewalk.
Unfortunately, we also ran into Zane.
He was walking to the party with two other guys when he spotted me.
He stopped dead.
“Brady? Is that seriously you?”
“Keep walking.”
Zane burst out laughing.
“Oh, man. I need a picture of this.”
“Touch your phone, and we’re no longer friends.”
Poppy stepped in front of me.
“He’s Chase! And I’m Skye!”
Zane grinned at her.
“Well, you two look great.”
He winked at me before heading off.
I pulled my hood lower.
“This is officially the worst Halloween of my life.”
Poppy squeezed my hand.
“You’re doing a good job, Chase.”
Despite myself, I smiled.
But as we continued walking, I began noticing something strange.
Poppy seemed more interested in the houses than the candy.
She kept looking at street signs and stopping to examine the numbers beside people’s doors.
At one house, a woman offered her a full-size chocolate bar.
Poppy barely glanced at it.
“Can we keep going?”
I stared at her.
“Are you kidding? That’s the best candy we’ve seen all night!”
“We can get it later.”
A few minutes afterward, she stopped at another intersection.
“Brady, can we go down that street?”
I checked the route my mother had approved.
“That’s pretty far. Why?”
She shrugged.
“I just want to.”
“Are you looking for somebody?”
“No.”
She answered so quickly that I became suspicious.
Still, I figured she had heard about a house with better decorations or bigger candy bars.
We kept walking.
Eventually, my phone buzzed.
It was Zane.
“Dude, where are you? Everyone’s already here.”
“Still babysitting.”
“Seriously? How long does it take a six-year-old to get candy?”
I glanced at Poppy, who was studying another mailbox.
“Apparently, forever.”
“Just hurry up.”
I promised I’d be there soon and put my phone away.
“Okay, Poppy. Time to head back.”
She immediately shook her head.
“We’re not finished!”
“Your bucket is almost full.”
“Just one more street. Please?”
I sighed.
“Poppy, I’ve got somewhere to be.”
Her face fell.
“I’m sorry, Brady.”
Something about the way she said it made me feel awful.
I crouched in front of her.
“Hey, I’m not mad. But can you tell me where we’re going?”
She pointed toward the end of the block.
“Just one more house.”
I checked the time.
“Fine. One more, and then we’re going home.”
She smiled with obvious relief.
We walked past several decorated houses until we reached a small white home with a blue porch railing.
There were no Halloween decorations.
The porch was dark, and the curtains were mostly closed.
“Well, this is disappointing,” I said. “They’re obviously not giving out candy.”
Poppy didn’t move.
Instead, she stared at the front door.
“Come on,” I said gently. “Let’s try somewhere else.”
She tightened her grip on my hand.
Then she looked up at my costume.
“This is why I asked you to wear it.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Before she could answer, the porch light came on.
The door opened.
A man stood there holding a plate of cupcakes.
Behind him, I could see several adults gathered around a dining table.
A little girl dressed as a princess ran into the hallway.
“Can I have another cupcake?”
The man smiled at her.
Then he looked toward us.
His smile disappeared.
“Poppy?”
She took one step forward.
“Daddy?”
I froze.
I recognized him immediately from the family photograph Colleen kept on their living room shelf.
His name was Travis.
He was Poppy’s father.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Travis glanced at me.
“What’s going on? Why are you here?”
Poppy looked past him into the brightly lit house.
“Daddy, you said you had to work tonight.”
Travis shifted uncomfortably.
“Sweetheart, I… my plans changed.”
The little girl in the princess costume returned and took his hand.
“Travis, are we going to cut the cake?”
Poppy stared at her.
“Who is she?”
Before Travis answered, a woman appeared behind him.
“Is everything okay?”
She looked down at Poppy and seemed to recognize her.
“Oh. You must be Poppy.”
Poppy turned toward her father.
“Who’s that lady?”
Travis rubbed his forehead.
“This is Melanie. And that’s her daughter, Harper.”
Poppy looked between them.
“Are they your new family?”
The question was so quiet that I almost didn’t hear it.
Travis crouched in front of her.
“No, honey. It’s not like that.”
“Then why are you spending Halloween with them?”
He hesitated.
“We’re just having a little party.”
“But you told me you were working.”
“I was supposed to work. Things changed.”
Poppy’s eyes began filling with tears.
“Then why didn’t you come get me?”
Travis looked confused.
“What do you mean?”
Poppy touched the pink wings on her costume.
“You promised.”
He went still.
I looked down at her.
“Poppy, what promise?”
She stared at her father.
“On Sunday, Daddy brought me this costume. He bought Chase, too.”
My stomach tightened.
“He said we’d go trick-or-treating together. He was going to dress up as Chase.”
Travis looked away.
Poppy continued.
“Then yesterday, he called Mommy and said he had to work. I waited because I thought maybe he’d finish early.”
I suddenly understood.
She hadn’t asked me to wear Chase because she wanted matching costumes.
She’d wanted her father to see the costume he’d promised to wear.
Poppy looked up at me.
“I thought if Daddy saw Chase, he’d remember he was supposed to come with me.”
I couldn’t think of anything to say.
Travis reached for her hand.
“Poppy, sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
She stepped away.
“Did you forget?”
“No. I didn’t forget.”
“Then why didn’t you come?”
The front door remained open behind him.
Inside, people were laughing, and music played softly.
Travis glanced toward the house.
“Look, it’s complicated. Your mother and I have been going through some things.”
I felt my face getting hot.
“She’s six,” I said. “She doesn’t need to hear about your problems with her mom.”
Travis looked at me sharply.
“And who exactly are you?”
“Brady. I live next door.”
“Then you need to stay out of this. It’s a family matter.”
I would normally have apologized and stepped back.
But Poppy was standing beside me, clutching her candy bucket so tightly that her fingers had turned white.
“She spent the whole night trying to find your house,” I said. “She thought you might still be waiting for her.”
Travis stood.
“You don’t understand the situation.”
“Maybe not. But I understand that you told her you were working when you were actually here.”
His face hardened.
“Watch your tone, young man.”
Melanie stepped onto the porch.
“Travis, you told me she’d be with her mother tonight.”
“She was supposed to be.”
“Did you tell her you weren’t coming?”
Travis didn’t answer.
Melanie looked at Poppy, then at the matching costumes.
Her expression changed.
“I didn’t realize you had made plans with her.”
Travis sighed.
“Can we please discuss this later?”
Poppy suddenly spoke.
“Did you have more fun with Harper?”
Nobody moved.
Travis bent toward her again.
“Of course not. I love you, sweetheart.”
“Then why did you come here instead?”
He opened his mouth, but no answer came.
After a moment, he gestured toward the doorway.
“Why don’t you come inside? There are cupcakes, and you can meet everyone.”
Poppy glanced at the living room.
Harper was standing near the table, watching us.
For a second, I thought Poppy might agree.
Then she reached for my hand.
“I want to go home.”
Travis frowned.
“Poppy, don’t be like that.”
“She said she wants to go home,” I replied.
“She’s my daughter.”
“I know. But her mom asked me to look after her tonight, and my mom is waiting for us.”
Travis lowered his voice.
“Just don’t go back and tell Colleen some ridiculous story about this.”
I stared at him.
“I’m not going to make anything up.”
“Good.”
“But I’m not going to lie to her either.”
He looked furious.
Poppy tugged on my sleeve.
“Brady, please.”
I turned toward her.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Before we left, Travis called after us.
“Poppy, I love you.”
She stopped.
“Will you tell Mommy why you didn’t come?”
He hesitated.
“Your mom and I will talk.”
Poppy nodded without looking back.
We walked away from the house.
Neither of us spoke until we reached the next corner.
Then Poppy stopped beside a mailbox.
“Brady?”
“Yeah?”
“Is Daddy mad at me?”
I crouched beside her.
“No, sweetheart. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But he looked mad.”
“He was upset about what happened. That doesn’t mean it’s your fault.”
She looked down at her costume.
“I thought he’d be happy to see Chase.”
My chest tightened.
I wanted to explain why adults sometimes disappointed people they loved, but I didn’t have a good answer.
Instead, I called my mother.
I told her where we were and what had happened.
She listened quietly.
“Bring Poppy home, honey. I’ll call Colleen and explain everything. And I’ll meet you near our street.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Is Poppy all right?”
I glanced at her.
“She’s pretty upset.”
“Just stay with her.”
After I hung up, my phone rang again.
Zane.
“Where are you, man? You’re missing the party!”
“I’m heading home.”
“Wait, what? You’re not coming?”
I looked at Poppy.
She was walking slowly, her candy bucket dragging against her leg.
“Not tonight.”
Zane’s voice changed.
“Everything okay?”
“Something happened. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
“All right. Call me if you need anything.”
I put my phone away.
Poppy looked up.
“Are you missing your party because of me?”
“No. I just don’t feel like going anymore.”
She was quiet for a moment.
Then she asked, “Are you still mad about wearing Chase?”
I looked at the blue sleeves and ridiculous floppy ears.
“Honestly? I wasn’t thrilled about it.”
Her face fell.
“But I think I’m getting used to it.”
She gave me a tiny smile.
We were almost home when I remembered the house with the giant pumpkins.
“Hey, Poppy. You know what we forgot?”
“What?”
“That enormous chocolate bar.”
She looked up.
“The one with the lady dressed as a witch?”
“That’s the one. Want to go back?”
She nodded.
We walked to the house together, and the woman greeted us warmly.
“Well, if it isn’t Skye and Chase!”
Poppy held up her bucket.
“Trick or treat!”
The woman offered her a chocolate bar.
Poppy took one, then pointed at me.
“Chase needs one, too.”
The woman laughed and gave me another.
By the time we reached our street, my mother was waiting outside with a jacket for Poppy.
She wrapped it around her shoulders and gently took her hand.
“Your mommy knows you’re with us, sweetheart. You can stay at our house until she gets home.”
Poppy nodded.
Then she turned and hugged me around the waist.
“Thank you for coming with me.”
I hugged her back.
“You’re welcome, Poppy.”
She stepped away, then looked at my costume.
“Can you keep being Chase for a little longer?”
I glanced at my mother.
She smiled.
“Of course he can.”
So I walked home beside them with the floppy ears still hanging from my hood.
Colleen arrived a little after midnight.
My mother had already explained what happened, but Colleen still sat beside Poppy on the couch and let her tell the story in her own words.
I stayed in the kitchen, pretending to look for something to eat.
Through the doorway, I heard Poppy ask whether her daddy liked Harper more than her.
Colleen pulled her close.
“Oh, honey. You never have to compete with anybody to be loved.”
Poppy buried her face against her mother’s shoulder.
I looked away.
Later, after Colleen took her home, my mother found me sitting at the kitchen table.
“That was a difficult thing to witness,” she said.
I nodded.
“I didn’t know what to tell her.”
“You didn’t have to fix it, Brady. You brought her home safely, and you told me what happened. That was enough.”
“But she thought he was going to be there.”
“I know.”
My mother sat beside me.
“Sometimes adults make promises they shouldn’t make. That doesn’t make it the child’s responsibility to understand why.”
I thought about Poppy standing outside that house, wearing the costume she’d been so excited about.
The next afternoon, Colleen knocked on our door.
She thanked me again and told me Travis had called that morning.
He’d admitted he should never have lied to Poppy. Colleen had told him that if he wanted to spend time with their daughter, he needed to make arrangements he could actually keep.
“He wants to apologize to her,” Colleen said. “But I’m going to let Poppy decide when she’s ready to talk.”
I was relieved to hear that.
A few days later, Poppy appeared on our porch carrying a piece of paper.
“Brady, I made you something.”
It was a drawing of Skye and Chase standing beside a house covered in pumpkins.
Above Chase, she’d written my name in large, uneven letters.
I smiled.
“Hey, that looks pretty good.”
“That’s you,” she explained, pointing at Chase. “And that’s me.”
“I figured that part out.”
She giggled.
Then she noticed the costume hanging beside our coat rack.
“Are you going to wear it again?”
I glanced at the floppy ears.
“Maybe next Halloween. If you don’t make me wear it to school first.”
Poppy burst out laughing.
She stayed on our porch for another half hour, telling me about a new Paw Patrol episode.
I listened while she explained every detail, occasionally stopping to ask whether I was paying attention.
The drawing stayed on our refrigerator beside the photograph my mother had taken on Halloween.
I still looked ridiculous in that picture.
But whenever Poppy came over, she’d point at it and smile before sitting down beside me.
And I never asked my mother to delete it again.
