PEG'S TALES

October, with its cool breezes, colorful leaves, shiny, red apples, pumpkins and Halloween, inspired this story.

Scary? Funny? Read about an old lady and her cat and find out.

Granny Green lived alone in a rickety, old house at the end of a lane. Granny's pride and joy was her big back-yard garden. She grew vegetables, corn, and lots of pumpkins.

Halloween was Granny's favorite day. She was known all over town for her wonderful carved pumpkins.

Granny could carve a pumpkin into a silly clown or a frightening monster. She decorated her front porch with corn stalks, and dozens of carved pumpkins glowing with lights. Her garden scarecrow was always propped beside the front porch steps.

Granny made beautiful Halloween cookies. She decorated witches, ghosts, cats, and pumpkin cookies with colorful frosting. Each cookie was wrapped in orange paper and tied with a black ribbon.

Trick or treat kids came to the door in bunches for Granny's cookie treats and to see her carved pumpkins.

One Halloween afternoon, Granny went into her garden to gather more corn stalks for her front porch. As she was cutting the stalks she heard a soft crying, like a tiny baby. She stopped and listened. The sound was coming from the end of the row of corn. She walked slowly towards the crying noise.

There, beneath a corn stalk, was a little, black kitten.

"Oh, look at you, kitty," she said, picking it up and cuddling it to her. "You're just a lost baby looking for a home."

The kitty quited and began to purr. It purred so loudly its whole body shook. Granny carried the kitten into the house. She poured a saucer of milk for it, and watched it drink.

Granny tickled its neck and said, "Finding a black cat on Halloween is like a gift from the Great Pumpkin. What shall I name you, kitten?"

The kitten stopped drinking and cleaned its face with a paw.

That's when Granny saw the white marking on its chest. Picking it up, she looked at the strange, white spot.

"What do you know?, said Granny. "This white spot looks exactly like a ghost with black eyes, nose and mouth. That's it, my little kitty, you may be black, but your name is going to be Ghost."

Granny had not owned a pet in a long time, and she and Ghost became fast friends. Granny fed Ghost the very best diet for a cat. She gave Ghost lots of vitamins. She played with Ghost every day. He followed her everywhere she went, inside and out.

In one year, Ghost grew to be a huge, strong, healthy cat. As he moved beside Granny, he looked like a guard dog, fierce and protective. He walked like a panther, his yellow eyes watching every movement.

But, Ghost was not fierce. Ghost was not protective. Only Granny knew that Ghost was a sweet marshmallow of a cat. He only wanted to be loved by Granny, to sit in her lap and be petted. To tell the truth, Ghost was a scaredy-cat.

Ghost hid under the bed when Granny had a visitor. He ran into the house when the wind blew a leaf his way. The barking of the neighbor's dog made him tremble and run to Granny. There was no lion, tiger, leopard, or panther to be found in the likes of Ghost.

For a whole week Ghost suspected something was in the air. Granny was spending hours in the kitchen baking delicious smelling cookies. She was up half the night carving pumpkins of every size. Ghost ate the dropped cookie crumbs. He swatted at the pumpkin seeds that skittered across the kitchen floor. He watched Granny stack corn stalks on her front porch.

"What's going on?", Ghost wondered.

Then Halloween arrived.

"Ghost", Granny said. "We have to celebrate. This is your first birthday with me. I found you in my garden a year ago today, on Halloween."

"Ahhh," Ghost thought, rubbing against Granny's leg. "Maybe she'll bake me a tuna fish birthday cake."

Granny picked Ghost up. She looked him in the eye and said. "This is our big night, Ghost. Let the doorbbell begin ringing."

"Yikes!" thought Ghost. "The doorbell means visitors. It's under the bed for me."

Granny put Ghost down. "This year I'm going to wear a Halloween costume. Now I want you to be a brave cat and greet our visitors at the door. No hiding under the bed tonight. You're going to love these trick or treat kids."

"Costume?" Ghost thought. "What is she talking about? No hiding under the bed? This is too much for me. I need a nap." Ghost curled up in his favorite chair and fell asleep.

The doorbell rang. "Come on, Ghost," Granny called. "The fun is about to begin."

Ghost opened his yellow eyes. He yawned and went through his usual cat-stretching routine. "Granny's a good, old girl," he thought. "I'll show her I can be brave and stand beside her right at the door."

Ghost stalked over beside Granny, "Okay...here we go," Granny said.

She pulled the front door open with a burst. Ghost looked out. "TRICK OR TREAT!" a bunch of kids yelled.

Ghost froze into the frightened-cat-position. His legs stiffened. He went up on his toes. His back arched. His tail went straight up. His fur stood out making him twice his normal size. His eyes opened wide when he saw the weirdest, ugliest, ghastliest people. Skeleton faces, long stringy hair, ghoulsih teeth. He screached loudly and looked up at Granny for help.

Granny was dressed all in black, from her pointed hat to her shoes. Her face was a horrible green. She had tiny, mean eyes and a big, hooked nose with a wart on the end. Her teeth were like fangs, and she cackled and laughed, and shook her long-nailed hands at her wild looking visitors.

Ghost had never been so frightened in his life. Granny had disappeared and this old witch had taken her place.

"I'm out of here," Ghost thought.

With a loud howl, he shot out the front door. He raced through the crowd of kids on the front walk and looked up the lane. Another crowd of the most terrifying people were coming his way. They were vampires, and monsters with red faces and blue faces.

"Oh, look," one little devil screamed when she saw Ghost. "There's a witch's black cat." All the kids began to scream.

Ghost froze into another frightened-cat-position and screamed in alarm. The kids began to run. Ghost ran the other way thinking they were after him.

"I have to hide," he thought. "I have to get away from these demons." He ran behind Granny's house and into the garden.

There was one pumpkin left in the garden. It was so enormous Granny could not move it. Ghost scrunched up into a ball in back of the pumpkin.

"The world is coming to an end," he thought. "Granny has turned into a witch, and all the children are monsters. What shall I do?"

The big pumpkin began to tremble and shake. Ghost heard a booming laugh coming from inside it.

"HO..HO..HO..HA..HA..HA."

Ghost stood up. He hissed and spat, and arched his back. His paw shot out at the pumpkin. His claws scraped across its orange skin.

"Owww!" yelled the pumpkin. "That hurt. I only laughed because I've never seen such a scaredy-cat. I couldn't possibly harm you, Ghost. I'm just a big, fat pumpkin. But I do believe you're behaving like a really tough cat."

Ghost backed away from the pumpkin. "I didn't know pumpkins could talk," Ghost said.

"I didn't know cats could talk," said pumpkin. "And I only talk from sunset to midnight on Halloween. Then my time for talking is over forever when the magic of Halloween night ends. Don't be afraid, Ghost. Halloween is all for fun. The children dress up, and they trick or treat. The grown-ups love it, too. Go home, Ghost. Granny is looking for you."

Ghost headed home through the garden. A gust of wind blew a swirl of leaves into his path. He was not afraid. He did not run. He trod like a panther to the front porch.

Granny was sitting on the steps. She held her black, pointed hat and her green face mask in her hand. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She was calling over and over, in a weak voice, "Ghost...here Ghost...here kitty."

Ghost ran up the steps. He jumped into her lap. He licked Granny's tears away, and rubbed his head against her cheek. He purred his loudest purr.

Granny cuddled him to her and said, "Ghost, my dear, precious Ghost. I thought I had lost you forever, I should have known you would be afraid of all those children. I should not have worn my witch's costume. I'm so sorry."

The neighbor's dog began to bark. Ghost jumped out of Granny's arms. He arched his back, hissed and growled. Then, he hopped back into Granny's lap.

"Ghost," Granny said. "I think Halloween frightened you into being a brave cat after all."

"I wonder if she knows about the talking pumpkin?" Ghost thought.

They sat happily, with the glowing pumpkins all around them, and enjoyed the magic of Halloween night.

That's the end of my Peg Tale. Have a safe, fun Halloween. If you see a black cat, don't be afraid. It could be Ghost.

Remember to share a story with a friend...it's a gift!

See 'ya...bye,

Peg


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