The Final Smile. Blogtober 31st.

In Australia, today is Halloween.

For those who are unfamiliar with Australian traditions, Halloween, unfortunately, is celebrated by very few people.

I cannot think why.

Halloween is a little piece of childhood wonder, wrapped up in a pumpkin.

It is a chance to see the eyes of a child light up at the sight of a yummy treat or a well rehearsed trick.

It is a chance to relax. To let go of our uptight lives for one night and let all of our cares simply fly off into the stars.

That is why I wish us Australians celebrated Halloween with more gusto. And that is why the magic of Halloween made me smile multiple times today.

So please, sit back, relax, and let me take you on the journey that lead to my very last smile.

Chapter One.

Baby C and I check the letters together, every single day. It’s our thing. Baby C loves to bite chunks out of the envelopes and I love to fish the soggy paper out of his mouth. Oh, no, wait…

Anyhow, today, in the mail, we found a note that went along the lines of this:

I looked at the piece of paper. And then I looked at it a bit longer.

What do I do?

I had no treats. And I certainly had no tricks.

What do I do? I could see this precious little person in my minds eye. His beautiful little puppy dog eyes looking up at his Daddy asking why there were no pumpkins at this house.

I couldn’t have that.

Here was my chance to share one final smile.

And what a smile it would be.

Chapter Two.

I dumped the pile of candy on the counter.

‘Preparing for tonight, are you?’ The Chinese shop keeper winked at me.

‘Yes,’ I said, sheepishly. ‘I’d hate for people to turn up and I had nothing for them. I’ve just realised, you must be very busy today. A lolly shop!’

The man packed the lollies into a paper bag and slowly nodded.

‘Well, actually, like you, we have to prepare. People will come in here to trick or treat, also. We must have enough to give.’

‘For free?’ I said, shaking my head, in awe.

Smile, Miss Cookas.

Smile.

Chapter Three.

House after house looked exactly as it had yesterday.

Except for this one.

Chapter Four.

I got home and I made these.

Chapter Five.

I put it all  together.

Chapter Six.

I stood back and waited for the smiles to come.

Chapter Seven.

Mister C had gone to get our dinner and returned to me typing away, preparing this post: my final smile.

He purposefully stopped right in front of me and said this.

‘You’ll be happy.’

I looked up at him as if to question why.

‘Half the chocolates were gone. And I saw a little boy and his Dad walking along, hand in hand. The little boy was carrying a little pumpkin basket. Oh yeah, and he looked pretty happy.’

And that was my final smile for the month.

My final, beautiful heart smile.

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Dear Readers,

I cannot thank you enough for reading along with my smiles each day.

Some have been heart smiles.

Some have been silly smiles.

Some have been obvious smiles. Others, less so.

But whatever the case, every day this month has been an amazing one. Not only have I found my smile in places that I never even dared to look, but I have also found one more thing.

YOU.

So whether you have been smiling along with me since the very begining, or whether you have caught me on my very last smile, I say to you this.

Thank you for giving me a reason to look for the smile in life.

Oh, and don’t worry. I’ll have plenty more smiles to share in the future.

Just maybe not every day.

xx Miss Cookas