Jim Peterson woke up to the incessant buzzing of his doorbell. Today was  Halloween, the one night of the year that he dreaded the most. He tried to avoid it by leaving the lights off outside of his house...

I thought my only purpose was to bask in the October sun, and drink in the chilly fall rain. Growing steady, plumping above green leaves that tickled the ridges on my side made me proud. I was the largest...