There was a time when Halloween night felt endless — when the air was crisp, the streets were full of laughing kids, and every porch light meant another handful of candy. We didn’t carry those tiny plastic pumpkins; we had pillowcases, and by the end of the night they were so full we could barely drag them home. The costumes were simple — ghosts made from old sheets, cowboys, witches, superheroes — but they felt real. Parents didn’t worry; we roamed for hours, running from house to house until our legs gave out. And there was always that one neighbor who handed out an orange or a box of raisins (and no, we never traded for those!).