Leonardo and Hugo walked through the crowded hall, scanning for Jeremy as they went. However, there were people everywhere, and finding one specific person wasn't so easy.Eventually, Leonardo had to give up, and he and Hugo went to the restroom, where they indeed found a box full of toilet paper in the corner by the door.Toilet paper is an absolutely essential part of Halloween pranks, and the party organizers had prepared it well in advance.This was Hugo's first time participating in a Halloween toilet paper prank. He didn't know how many rolls were appropriate, or whether he should calculate based on the size of the trees in front of the houses, but he didn't hesitate too much. He excitedly grabbed two bags of toilet paper, which totaled twenty rolls—enough to cause some serious trouble.Leonardo, standing nearby, was clearly a veteran. He glanced at Hugo and said with a chuckle, "Someone's going to have a rough day today."Leonardo then picked up two bags of toilet paper and started to head outside, but before his first step even landed, Hugo grabbed him, causing Leonardo to stumble twice and crash into the wall. He blurted out, "What the f*ck are you doing?"Hugo, however, wasn't in any rush. He looked outside and said, "You plan on just walking out like that and telling everyone you're about to do something bad?"Obviously, when it comes to pranking, more people isn't necessarily better. On the contrary, too many people make it easy to alert the target. Plus, there were quite a few parents present, so walking out so blatantly wasn't wise.Leonardo realized his recklessness and struggled to stand up straight. "I only remembered to be vigilant when leaving after doing something bad, but I forgot that a good start is also very important."He walked over to Hugo and poked his head out to look. Sure enough, he immediately saw Alan Thicke, who played the father, Jason, in the show. He quickly pulled his head back. "Looks like you're quite experienced too."Although Hugo hadn't experienced Halloween pranks before, it didn't mean he was clueless. Hugo chuckled, "I'm not very familiar with the roads around here. Do you know of any back exits?"As someone with no sense of direction, Hugo was self-aware enough not to plan on leading the way."Of course, follow me." Leonardo's bright blue eyes looked at Hugo, shimmering with excitement and joy.The Leonardo before him was completely different from the brooding "Leo" of the 21st century. His youthful vitality was full of sunny, mischievous energy. There was no gloom, no sorrow, no inner conflict, and none of the increasingly heavy forehead wrinkles or the "river"-shaped furrowed brows that Leonardo would later develop. A fresh, youthful vigor danced lightly at the corners of his mouth.Hugo followed behind Leonardo, opened the side door of the auditorium, and quietly left the noisy crowd behind. Each of them dragging two large bags of toilet paper, they stepped onto the damp grass and left Burbank High School.Looking back, in the pitch-black night, the noisy and colorful halo of light formed an oval sphere, much like a bizarre, otherworldly realm from a science fiction novel, possessing an indescribable peace and quiet.It only took walking one street to see the residential area decorated with pumpkin lanterns. However, there were no people to be seen on the street at this moment. Hugo couldn't help but frown, "Is no one coming for candy?"By all accounts, the street should be very lively, with children from every household coming out to trick-or-treat, little kids in ghost costumes drifting under the glow of the pumpkin lanterns—that was the Halloween scene in Hugo's mind.Leonardo couldn't help but chuckle. "Do you not know what time it is? The kids should be home by now."Leonardo pointed to the porch of a house nearby. "Look, you can still see scattered candy there."Hugo paused, carefully recalling how long he had stayed at the party. It must be at least past eleven o'clock now, perhaps even later. So, just as Leonardo said, most of the children had gone home, and the few remaining ones outside were likely planning their own pranks."Which house should we choose?" Leonardo pointed to the two rows of houses in front of them, letting Hugo make the decision.Hugo didn't give it much thought and just said, "Where are we standing right now?" Pranks were supposed to be random; if you deliberately picked a target, you'd lose the essence of the prank.Leonardo looked at the lawn they were standing on, with a tall sycamore tree in the back. He and Hugo exchanged a glance, then he chuckled and said, "Bad luck," referring to the family they had chosen.Hugo shrugged. "You never know what will happen on Halloween." Then, without further ado, he tore open the two bags and dumped out all the toilet paper inside.Leonardo followed suit. Meanwhile, Hugo didn't forget to look around, whispering, "It would be terrible to let our guard down now." No one would want their lawn ruined by a pile of toilet paper; such pranks were unwelcome.Hearing this, Leonardo couldn't help but look around, though his hands didn't slow down. "Then we need to be even faster." The longer they delayed, the greater the chance of getting caught.Soon, the entire lawn was piled with toilet paper. The contrast between the dark green grass and the white paper was striking. Thinking about the prank about to begin gave Hugo an inexplicable excitement. He picked up a roll of paper, tore the edge, and tossed it toward the branches overhead. But predictably, the toilet paper couldn't catch on the branches, so it undoubtedly fell straight back down, its long tail damp with the moisture in the air, slowly tracing a graceful arc.Seeing Hugo's silly move, Leonardo couldn't help it and almost burst out laughing, but he quickly covered his mouth to avoid alerting the owner of the house. "Hugo! You're obviously not going to succeed doing it like that." Leonardo whispered, but even so, the intense amusement in his voice overflowed through his words.Hugo really had no experience in this, so he looked at Leonardo. He saw Leonardo tear open the edge, then place his left index and middle fingers inside the roll, using his right hand to pull out more paper. He didn't stop until he had pulled out over a dozen feet.Leonardo held the roll of toilet paper, signaled to Hugo, and then tossed it over the branch. Then, he could see the pulled-out paper rising slowly like a comet's tail. When the roll passed over the branch and fell back down, the "tail" got caught on the branch, and as the roll fell quickly, it outlined a white curtain.So that's how it worked. Without leaving enough length, even if you threw the toilet paper over the branch, there was no way to get the "tail" to hang on it.This time, Hugo pulled the tail very long, leaving over twenty feet, fearing that if he left too little, it wouldn't hang again. Then he tossed the roll up. But as a result, the roll got stuck between the branches and wouldn't fall down. This... the expectant look on Hugo's face instantly froze.Seeing this scene, Leonardo finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. Fortunately, he remembered what he was doing, so his laughter echoed muffled in his chest, the wheezing sound quite comical. "At least... at least it's hanging up there." Leonardo consoled Hugo, but the consolation was clearly ineffective, as Leonardo himself found it increasingly funny after saying it.Hugo's mouth twitched. He picked up another roll of paper and repeated the action. However, before throwing, he took two steps forward, looked around, and after making sure he had found a branch with fewer obstructions, he weighed the roll in his hand and threw it upward with force. Then he watched as the toilet paper, with its white tail, traced an arc through the night, gracefully crossing the branch, and finally falling beautifully, dragging a long tail, as the roll, succumbing to the call of gravity, smashed heavily onto the lawn."Yeah!" Hugo jumped up with joy like a child, as if he had just accomplished something remarkable, causing Leonardo next to him to laugh heartily and even join in by clapping twice.But the loud sound immediately echoed through the empty street, revealing just how quiet it was. The echo startled both Hugo and Leonardo, and they quickly covered their mouths, fearing the owner of the house would be alerted. Fortunately, after they checked around, there was no movement. Their eyes met, and they laughed softly.The two did not hesitate any longer and started working, hanging roll after roll of paper onto the branches. Soon, a lush sycamore tree had turned into a "roll-up door," with white tails swaying gently in the breeze; the scene was quite spectacular."I didn't expect pranking to be this tiring." Hugo whispered with a chuckle, throwing rolls upward continuously, his right arm feeling a bit sore. Although he said that, his movements didn't slow down, and he quickly threw the remaining two rolls up. Now, with his practiced technique, handling two rolls at once was no problem for Hugo.After they had tossed all the toilet paper up, looking at this huge white sycamore tree, a sense of accomplishment welled up. But just as Hugo and Leonardo were preparing to leave, someone came rustling over from the street corner not far away, making the two immediately want to hide in the "paper curtain cave."But then Hugo saw who it was—three young people, and they were also dragging two bags of toilet paper. It seemed they were fellow pranksters. Hugo immediately grabbed Leonardo and looked at the three people with a grin. Both sides saw each other and actually nodded at one another, then watched as the three continued forward, while Hugo and Leonardo tiptoed toward Burbank High School.After walking some distance away, Hugo looked back one more time at his and Leonardo's masterpiece. The beautiful paper curtains were swaying gently in the wind, a stunning sight. One could imagine that when people woke up tomorrow morning, this place would surely be "shaded by white willows"!Hugo broke into a big smile and then started jogging, quickly leaving Leonardo behind. Leonardo couldn't help but shout from behind, "Hey, Hugo, hey..." But Hugo didn't slow down; instead, he turned around, smiling brightly, and waved at Leonardo, urging him to catch up.However, Leonardo's voice drifted over faintly, "You're heading in the wrong direction..." The "Flash" before him instantly froze in place.
