Page 83 of When Sparks Fly

Maci

Jeeps and rubber ducks are kind of a thing. Over the eighteen months I’ve owned mine, I’ve gotten so many different ducks of all sizes. Sometimes they come with notes, other times a duck waits alone on my handle when I return to my parked car. It seems only fitting that as part of the items I put together for Izzy’s Trunk-or-Treat bash, I would have a thousand costumed duckies. A thousand ducks is an exaggeration. Probably.

Given this event is at the dentist’s office and Izzy is a hygienist, someone is bound to be giving out toothbrushes. Who wants a toothbrush on Halloween? So it’s my duckies and me to the rescue.

I arrive an hour and a half before the start of the event, as instructed. It’s dusk and my Jeep is only the third car in attendance. Izzy’s is, unsurprisingly, the first, and I can’t decide if I’m impressed or pissed that Leah’s is the second. Our cars are butted up to make an Izzy trunk sandwich and my best friends have already popped their trunks and started decorating.

Izzy is dressed as Tooth Fairy, complete with a white bodice, tutu, and sturdy wings. Her ice-blonde hair is styled in fat ringlets down her back and she wears a crown atop her head.

I slide my handmade costume on and stand in the driver’s seat.

“Don’t tell me you don’t have a wand.”

Izzy’s head pops out of the trunk when I yell out to her. Whatever she was going to say dies on her lips and her smile turns into a perfect O as Leah draws out, “Ho-ly shit,” from the other side of her.

Thanks to Sutton’s help with the Jeep top earlier, and entirely too many balloons, my Jeep is about to resemble a full-on bubble bath. I stand, grinning down at my friends, my head and torso above the roof of my seat. Once all is said and done, I’ll be a rubber ducky raining down mini ducks and chocolate on the trunk-or-treaters. I couldn’t hide my cheek-splitting smile if I tried.

“That’s fucking amazing!” Leah cries, finally gathering herself. She’s bouncing up and down, the tail of her leopard costume swaying behind her. Where she found a one-piece bodysuit in leopard print is beyond me, but she’s gone all out on her big-cat makeup and paired it with ears on a headband. Her wild tresses hang down in beautiful chaos as usual and she’s every bit the wild animal she’s portraying.

Izzy’s bright smile hasn’t left her face. “You’ve outdone yourself this time, Maci Grace.”

I bow as much as my ballooned costume will let me and swing my hand around with a flourish. I’m not always one for theatrics, but when I do, I do it right. I spent entirely too long sewing too many half-inflated yellow balloons onto a body suit for this. I may have permanent hearing damage from all of the accidental popping.

I climb down from my seat, opening the driver door so I can attach the last of the cardboard which will give the Jeep its bathtub feel. My bucket of ducks and candy is riding shotgun, waiting to make its debut.

“Where’s Sutton?” Izzy peeks into the passenger seat like he may be hiding there.

“He’s coming. They ended up with two cows calving today so he was sticking around in case there was any trouble. I think it’s just precaution.”

“Look at you, picking up ranch lingo.” Izzy bumps me with her shoulder before attaching the final piece of her car’s costume. Paper teeth larger than my head dangle from her open hatch. The storage area is lined with black trash bags and a red, plastic tablecloth sticks out the back, folded to look like a tongue. Green and purple goody bags line the faux mouth, ready for little hands to grab. “Look! Bacteria.” She cackles.

“This is really cute.” I wrap both arms around her, admiring her hard work.

“Thanks, friend.” A tiny bit of pink colors her cheeks. “I’m glad we’re all together.”

I squeeze her tighter, about to tell her I wouldn’t miss it for the world, but the pressure causes one of the balloons on my costume to pop and we all jolt and scream together, bursting into laughter as one.

“Jesus, Maci. Leave it to you to give us a heart attack,” Leah chides once we’ve calmed ourselves. The three of us lean against the back of Izzy’s car, staring out to Main Street. The sun begins to lower behind the tree line across the street.

I turn to them suddenly. “Ok!” In unison, their eyes widen. “A leopard, a duck, and a tooth fairy walk into a bar.” And with that, we’re a mess of laughter all over again.

Like clockwork, families start strolling in at seven o’clock. Sutton hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m not worried. He’s yet to let me down.

I’m perched in the Jeep, Izzy and Leah at their respective trunks, along with about fifteen other people who agreed to pass out candy and goodies. A plethora of costumed children, and some parents, file through below me. Spider-Man, princesses of all kinds, a toddler dressed as Chucky who totally gives me the creeps, and babies in fluffy lion and pig costumes. Their squeals over the ducks raining from the sky, and a boat-load of candy, fill me with joy.

Everything is going off without a hitch up until a motorcycle revs. Judging by the volume, I assume it pulls into the parking lot next door which is also the home of the only Italian restaurant in town. A few of the kids startle at the loud noise, but the parents are quick to shush them and candy makes everything better at this point, so they’re all happily on their way. Crisis averted.

“What time is it?” Leah calls up to me.

I eye the glow of the dash below me. “Seven-thirty.”

“Still no word from Sutton?”

I shake my head. “It’s fine. I’m sure something came up at the ranch.”

Izzy and Leah exchange a look, but I ignore them.

A low voice comes from the front of my Jeep. “Would’ve pegged you for a princess.” A chill runs down my spine and I drop the ducks in my hand just off the side of the car, whipping around to see who’s there.

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