This year, Liam really wanted to win his neighbor’s Halloween costume contest. 

But he didn’t know what to be. He looked into a dusty box of Halloween supplies to make a costume. He found buttons, tape, and a penny.

“Maybe this is a lucky penny,” he said. “I wish for a costume idea!”

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Noises started coming from the bathroom.

When Liam opened the bathroom door, a roll of toilet paper tumbled out. 

“What in the world—?” Liam shouted. 

“Yes, I want to see the world!” the roll said. 

“Hi!” the boy said. “I’m Liam. Who are you?”

“You can call me TP, short for toilet paper. But I want to do something more with my life. I’m out of here!”

“Wait!” Liam said, racing after him.

TP laughed. “You can run, but I can roll! I won’t end up in a toilet bowl!” 

TP tumbled out the screen door and onto the sidewalk. He bumped into a fence. 

A woman who was jogging came over. “Hey! I can use you to blow my nose!”

TP laughed. “I escaped from a boy, and I’ll escape from you! You can run, but I can roll! I won’t end up in a toilet bowl!”

TP rolled and rolled until he bumped into a fire hydrant.

A teenager walking his dog came over. “Dude, I can use you to wipe the gunk off my sneaker!”

TP laughed. “I escaped from a boy and a woman, and I’ll escape from you! You can run, but I can roll! I won’t end up in a toilet bowl!”

TP rolled and rolled until he bumped into a jack-o’-lantern near a porch.

Almost out of breath, Liam caught up to TP. “There you are!”

“I won’t be used and then flushed away,” TP said. 

“Wait!” Liam said, racing after him. “I don’t want to flush you away.”

TP slowed and turned around. “Really?”

“We can work together on a costume!” Liam said.

“Only if you promise not to get me into a mess,” TP said. “I have dreams.”

Liam nodded. “I promise that there won’t be a mess.”

TP laughed. “You can run, but I can roll! I can help you with your goal!”

“Great!” Liam said. “I want to be a mummy for Halloween.”

TP’s eyes sparkled like a witch’s wand. “I have a better idea.”

That evening, Liam carried TP to the costume contest at his neighbor’s house. Once they entered, the crowd shrieked like a bunch of goblins.

“Liam’s costume is cool!” a girl said.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” a boy said.

“I wonder if his mother helped him,” a woman whispered.

During the contest, Liam won a bag teeming with candy for the best homemade costume. 

 “TP, everyone loves how I look like you,” Liam said. “Thank you for the idea!”

“I was happy to help,” TP said. “But you did most of the work.”

“We make a spooktacular team!” Liam said.

“We do!” TP said. “I have ideas for other things we can do together!”

Liam’s smile was like the moon on Halloween night — full of magic and joy. “By the way, what did you mean when you said you have dreams?”

“I want to explore the world,” TP said. “But that’s for another day.”

“Yeah, let’s go home with this candy!” Liam said. 

“Let’s roll!” TP said.