<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a brisk Halloween night, and Alejandro handed out candy at his front door to an endless parade of trick-or-treaters dressed as ghosts, witches, zombies, clowns, princesses, superheroes, and horror movie characters. But the most popular costume this year appeared to be children and adults dressed as I.C.E. agents, replete with tactical gear, badges, toy guns, and handcuffs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the evening wore on, the stream of visitors thinned to a trickle. Good thing, Alejandro thought, as he peered at his nearly empty candy bucket. Just enough for a few more trick-or-treaters, then lights out for the night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A pint-sized pair dressed as Freddy Krueger and Pennywise the clown walked up to the porch, their mother in tow. \u201cTrick or treat!\u201d they chimed in unison, and they held out their orange jack-o’-lantern pails. \u201cOoh, my, you are very scary,\u201d Alejandro exclaimed, as he dropped the last fun-sized candy bars into their pails. They giggled and thanked him; their mother nodded a weary smile and guided them down the sidewalk towards the next house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looked into his empty bucket and sighed, disappointed that the candy was gone. Time to shut the door and turn out the porch light so people would know not to knock. As he turned to go inside, a couple of grown-ups dressed in the familiar I.C.E. agent costumes walked up to his porch holding their pails. \u201cTrick or treat,\u201d they chorused. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alejandro inwardly groaned, because he had no more candy to give. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, but I\u2019m all out,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope you understand.\u201d They stood there waiting expectantly. \u201cTry Mr. Smith next door,\u201d he suggested. \u201cIt looks like he\u2019s still giving out treats. By the way, cool costumes, guys \u2014 they look so real. Happy Halloween.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo problem,\u201d said one, \u201cwe\u2019ll go next door.\u201d They exchanged glances. \u201cI have a question,\u201d he continued. \u201cAre you Alejandro Garcis?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alejandro felt a chill that had nothing to do with the night air. \u201cI am,\u201d he answered. \u201cDo I know you? Are you my new neighbors?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo,\u201d the man said. \u201cJust making sure.\u201d He lunged suddenly and tackled Alejandro to the ground, pinned his arms behind his back, and zip-tied his wrists. Hey, hey, what’s going on?\u201d he protested. \u201cLet me go! I didn\u2019t do anything wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man jerked Alejandro roughly to his feet and frisked him. \u201cYes, you did,\u201d he laughed. \u201cYou\u2019re under arrest for running out of candy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second man snickered. \u201cNo, he\u2019s kidding. We\u2019re not here for candy. But we are here to trick or treat, and the trick’s on you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alejandro shook his head, perplexed. \u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d Is this a prank? If it is, it’s not very funny. Please untie me; it hurts,\u201d he pleaded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo way, Jose\u2026I mean Alejandro,\u201d the first man scoffed. \u201cIn case you haven\u2019t guessed, we\u2019re not wearing Halloween costumes. These are the real deal, and we\u2019re real agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Your visa has been revoked, and you will be deported immediately. Adios, Amigo!\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was a brisk Halloween night, and Alejandro handed out candy at his front door to an endless parade of trick-or-treaters dressed as ghosts, witches, zombies, clowns, princesses, superheroes, and horror movie characters. But the most popular costume this year appeared to be children and adults dressed as I.C.E. agents, replete with tactical gear, badges, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19,26],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-2652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama-literary","category-satire","tag-flash-fiction"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":7}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Icy_Halloween.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2652"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3948,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652\/revisions\/3948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}