Halloween Taps A Special Imagination

Choosing the right Halloween costume takes time.

Chris knew this. And his mother was learning.

They had arrived at the Display House in the Spokane Valley not long after the store opened Sunday afternoon. Chris’ mom, a seemingly pleasant woman with curly brown hair wearing a tan jacket and gray-green corduroy pants, still had the car keys in her hand. As if.

But her son was in no rush.

Chris looked to be about 9. He was working on a sucker. He had on a dark sweater, jeans and sneakers, one of which trailed undone laces. “I’m looking for something I want to be,” he explained to his mom.

The store was full of choices. Bins and racks full of choices.

“Are you going to be an Indian?” Chris’ mom asked as the boy seemed to fix his gaze on a costume.

He didn’t answer.

Picking up a foam spiked mace, he admired the heft of it. But his mom shook her head. “That’s a weapon,” she said. “We’re buying a costume, not a weapon.”

Chris seemed content to slowly wander the aisles, awaiting a signal from some inner voice.

His mom was on a different schedule. “You want to be a cowboy? How about a pirate?”

Chris didn’t answer.

“Did you look at the doctor costume?” his mom asked. “How about Star Trek?”

Chris didn’t answer.

“Chris, I think you’re not listening,” she said. “You need to put your ears on.”

Oblivious to the prodding, the boy adjusted the position of the sucker.

“Oh, Chris - c’mere, look!” his mother said. “A skeleton costume.”

She was excited. Chris was not.

His mom kept pitching. “Spiderman? How about a Ninja?”

The kid tried to clarify the situation. “I want to scare the pants off people,” he said evenly.

Chris eventually settled on a grotesque hairless vampire mask complete with battery-operated flashing eyes. His mom took his sucker and stuck it in her mouth while the boy tried on this rubbery number called “The Count.”

“Pretty ugly,” said his mom.

After trying it on herself, Chris’ mom expressed misgivings about how well he would be able to see. But he assured her it wouldn’t be a problem. So they got that and a plastic Skull Warriors sickle.

Up at the cash register, a woman on the phone called out “Do we still have Ross Perot?”

After forking over $20.05, Chris and his mom headed out to a green minivan. They buckled up and drove off in the direction of Halloween.

, DataTimes MEMO: Being There is a weekly feature that visits Inland Northwest gatherings.