The Muse dropped this on me tonight. There wasn't time before Halloween to edit it after a waiting period. I hope it worked all right anyway.

I guess I’ve learned not to make promises with no idea what I was committing to. Maybe not because I would do it all over again. You see, my little sister Debbie who’s seven got hit by a car when she was chasing a soccer ball into the road. She’s not very tall and ran out from between two parked cars. The lady who hit her first never saw her; she just felt the impact that threw Debbie into the car coming the other way. We were all so scared that she would die. When dad called my friend Mike’s house where I was staying at 11:30 on the third night I was sure that she was dead. Then he said that she was breathing on her own, that the doctors thought that there was a good chance that she would live now. That was like the best Christmas and birthday I ever had put together.

After Debbie was in the first hospital for almost three weeks they moved her to another place where they do rehab. The thing is a lot of that rehab stuff hurts. I guess some of it hurts a lot. She just wasn’t doing it like mom said she had to. That’s when I opened my big mouth. “Hey sis” I said, “It’s only six weeks till Halloween. You have to get stronger so we can go trick or treating”

“Yea!” she said with the first sign of enthusiasm she’d shown in several days. “Can I pick our costumes? I’ll find something really good.”

“If you get strong enough to walk up the doorsteps we can be anything you want. But you have to work hard to get well” You see what I did there don’t you? It worked though. Debbie began trying so hard after that that the therapist had to make her take it a little slower.

For the next five weeks Debbie did her therapy and planned Halloween costumes. We were going to be Chip and Dale like she had seen at Disney world last year. Then it was Spider-man and Mary Jane. I liked that one. Every time I saw her for the first four weeks it was a different set of costumes. When I came into her room at the start of the final week at the rehab center we were going to both be Disney princesses. She would be Cinderella and I would be Belle. I was just as enthusiastic in talking about it as I had been with all the others. She’d see another movie or something that night and be all excited about another set of costumes tomorrow.

Dad and I went to my soccer game for the junior high team the next night before picking up a couple of pizzas. Mom was meeting us there and we were going to have a movie night with Debbie and her roommate Ashley's parents. That’s when I found out we were watching Cinderella followed by Beauty and the Beast so we could see our costumes. That’s when I started worrying. The girls had gone on line and found a web site that sold all of the Disney princess gowns. They had it up on Debbie’s phone for mom to order gowns with all the accessories.

“Are you sure, honey” mom asked “You won’t be able to change your mind if I buy them.”

“Yup, I’m sure. It’ll be great! We’ll be so pretty.” she beamed.

“What about you Josh? You’re not going to change your mind are you.”

I really wanted to but Debbie had worked so hard and sounded so happy. I knew I couldn’t back out. “No, It’ll be really great.” I replied with a lot of forced enthusiasm.

Mom ordered the Cinderella costume in a girls size seven for Debbie and started filling out the form for the Belle costume. Then she looked at me and looked at the order form again. “This costume just doesn’t come big enough for you Josh. You’re 5’11’’ and weigh 160 pounds right?”

I started to let out a big sigh of relief when I saw Debbie’s expression. She really was disappointed. So I opened my big mouth again. I said “can’t we make a costume? We have ten days do it.” That’s why I found myself on the night before Halloween doing a final fitting. I’m wearing a long blue dress from the Goodwill store that Mom had a lady she uses sometimes alter to look more like the gown in the movie. I have on a slip to help puff it out and a bra stuffed with bags of oatmeal (Mom says real breast are that heavy, too). Mom styled my hair the best she could. It really isn’t long enough but Debbie says it looks pretty. Now she’s doing my make-up so she’ll have it all worked out and won’t take long tomorrow. She wants to take pictures tonight too. Tomorrow I’m getting out of school at two to get into my costume and go to Debbie’s after school party before we go trick or treating.

School was bad. I was going to wear a tigers cap but Mr. Phillips made me take it off. Everyone saw my hair. Even my friends were teasing me but some of the guys got really mean until Mike and Chas got mad. Nobody wants to fight my buddies. The freshman football coach at the high school already has them picked out for his offensive line next year but we have been talking about staying with soccer. Mike is taking his brother out trick or treating with us so I won’t have any trouble with anyone we know then either.

I went to the office and mom signed me out right at two. We stopped for some stuff at the supermarket and pulled into the garage just in time to meet Debbie’s bus. She still has a little trouble getting off the bus so I lifted her down and got a big smile in return. When we got into the house I ran to take a shower with a shower cap on like we planned last night. Mom was going to help Debbie with her costume while I was doing that and then help me with my makeup. When I got to my room the dress and stuff wasn’t on my bed like it was supposed to be. “Mom, where’s my costume” I shouted.

I was glad I still wearing my robe when instead of mom answering Debbie came into my room and said “hurry up and get ready. We have to leave soon”

“My dress isn’t here” I said. “do you know where mom put it?”

“Mom talked to me when we were going to pick up the dress after the alterations” she said. “she wanted me to know just how special you were to wear it. I kind of knew that, but it gave me a better idea even if it isn’t really a costume." So that’s why I’m wearing a T-shirt that says “world’s greatest brother.” …..And a Tigers cap.