A Halloween Parable

It was his favorite costume. His parents gave it to him just when Halloween was becoming fun and he wore it every year after that . . . and whenever he could get away with it in between. Because he became obsessed with the costume and wore it so often, his father decided to take it away.

“Why?” he cried.

“Because you’re wearing it too often,” his father replied. “It’s starting to get in the way.”

“In the way of what?”

“In the way of you.”  

The child didn’t understand and stomped all the way up the stairs to his room. He sulked for the next few months, remembering how much fun he had wearing the costume and the way everyone responded whenever he wore it. He missed it all.

Eventually, he learned to live without the costume, but a few years later he found it hidden in his father’s closet and decided to try it on for old time’s sake. It looked and felt like he remembered, but when he held the mask to his face, he realized it no longer fit. He had grown, or it had shrunk, he thought. Even the robe was tight.

He put the costume back and never tried to put it on again. He was no longer angry at his father. Maybe he was right after all, the son thought.