Under the willows the trap has been set. With mask on and gun drawn the Trick or Treater isn’t waiting for the end of the month. Halloween is now. Soon a victim will appear and it will be “your candy or your life”! Sugar can do that to a fella…even one made from Styrofoam.
Waiting requires patience and so the Trick or Treater stays hidden. Insects are plentiful today. Fresh Question Mark butterflies flit through the zone demarcated by shade and sunshine. Can you see the small question mark sign on the hind wing that gives this butterfly its name? Small tiger beetles chase each other across the sand and a hundred small grasshoppers are making lace from the wild grapevines. Sooner or later, someone is sure to come by and then the trap will be sprung.
Today is warmer than it has been for a few weeks. The bear mask starts to get hot and with that a change in tactics is required. Rising from his hiding place, the Trick or Treater begins to stalk the margins along the willow habitat. Do you hear voices or is it just imagination playing tricks? Carefully, he follows a line of driftwood towards the sound in the woods.
The ambush is set and everything is ready. The trusty squirt gun is armed and the Frankenstein-head candy bucket is eager to find fulfillment. The prey has been spotted next to a pile of Styrofoam and sticks that look vaguely familiar. Inching closer, the Trick or Treater is aided by the noise his potential victims are making and the crunch of sticks and leaves is unheeded until total surprise is achieved!
The idea for this figure came from a destroyed teddy bear I found at the Falls last March. Either some child or dog came across it first and knocked the stuffing out of it. The bear was still damp having been carried by the river to the spot where it was discovered. The empty bear’s head would make a perfect mask and I waited until now to put it together. There is a face I made with acorn eyes and pink plastic mouth under the disguise. Every now and then, I find Halloween related items and I decided to put a few together to create this figure. I’ll probably use it for a decoration this year where it will greet fellow tricksters in their quest for candy.
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 