Another night approaches as the sun touches the horizon, ready to set on a distinct neighborhood. The wind blows the leaves in a disorganized fashion making a crackling, eerie, creepy sound that would make the hair on the back of a troll stand up! The trees, barren of the leaves but a few, reveal branches that look like multiplications of huge witches and warlocks hands ready to grab you at a moment’s notice! The streetlights suddenly turn on prepared to emit a spooky, daunting, ghostly shadow! Anyone brave enough to walk by the street lights will hopefully not be gobbled up by their own shadowy cast! The night cannot be more perfect! For tonight, it is when the goblins, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, witches, monsters, and everything in between come out to play! Alas! The perfect night for HALLOWEEN!

   Inside one of the units, on the fourth floor of a four-story apartment building, we see Sam and Roy. Sam, the slender white and black cat is in front of the television watching cartoons, laughing as anvils fall on cartoon characters. Roy, the chubby black and white cat, dressed in his pumpkin Halloween costume, somewhat concerned, is by Sam to question him.
   Roy excitedly asks, “Sam! It’s almost dark outside! Why are you not getting ready for Halloween?!”
   Sam coolly replies, “I’m ready to go in an instant. The real question is… are you ready for Halloween tonight?”
   “Of course I am! Can’t you see I’m wearing my costume?” replies Roy.
   “No, no. What I really meant was mentally. Are you ready to conquer your fears of ghosts and goblins and boogiemen and monsters and such?” scoffs Sam.
   At first, Roy is scared at the thought brought upon by Sam, then thinks for a moment.

   “That doesn’t scare me! I have Bat-Cat to protect me! If Bat-Cat can’t protect me, I have Super-Cat as back-up!” adds Roy with the utmost confidence.
   Sam taunts Roy by saying, “You know, Bat-Cat and Super-Cat are fictional characters and do not exist in real life.”
   “Well, so are ghosts and goblins and boogiemen and monsters and such!” replies Roy.
   With an evil smirk on his face and a flashlight under his chin, Sam growls, “If you don’t believe in ghosts and monsters and such, then I guess you’re not afraid to go out trick-or-treating without Skip… in the dark… all… by… ourselves!”
   With a mix of uncertainty and confidence, Roy replies, “You’re darn tooting right!”
   “Then it’s settled,” says Sam, again with an evil smirk.

   Sam outfitted as the Caped-Cat and Roy dressed as the Pumpkin-Head, are ready to start their Halloween adventure!
   “Are you sure you boys want to go treat-or-treating without me?” asks Skip.
   “Oh, don’t worry about us, Skip. We’ll be just fine,” replies Sam.
   “Okay, fine. You boys call me on the cellphone if you get into any trouble, and I’ll come and pick you up,” says Skip.
   “Not to worry, Skip. See you soon!” says Sam.
   “Bye, Skip,” says Roy with a little uncertainty.
  With the boys already outside the apartment, Skip screams, “And don’t eat any candies until I check them!”
    A faint scream is heard by Sam, “We know, Skip!”

   The night has finally approached to reveal the full moon. With the clouds slowly passing by, it covers the moon every so often. The chilly wind blows a bombardment of leaves onto the bodies of Sam and Roy, making it difficult to see and walk. Then suddenly, the wind dies out leaving a very quiet somber mood. A noise is heard behind the bushes and this leaves Roy in a frozen frightened pose! Even Sam is distraught by the noise and is quickly on guard. As the crunchy noise from the bushes grows louder and louder, Sam and Roy paused, staring at the precise location of the noise. Then suddenly, a scary pirate pops up!
   The pirate screams out, “ARRGGG! Hi-ho, matey’s!”
   Sam gasps as Roy is at the brink of fainting. But with a closer look, they realize it is only their friend Grant dressed as a pirate. His pirate hat is made from last week’s newspaper, his eyepatch is made from remnants of cloth, and his sword is made from two pieces of discarded wood. Sam and Roy breathe a sigh of relief.
   “Grant! You almost gave me a heart attack!” says Roy.
   “I’m sorry, Roy. But I sure did give you guys a good scare!” replies Grant.
   They all agree as they laugh out loud.
   “Hey, want to come trick-or-treating with us, Grant?” asks Sam.
   “Absolutely!” replies Grant.
   And the three continue their Halloween journey.

   After about a dozen houses of trick-or-treating, their candy bags are not full enough to satisfy.
   Sam looks at his candy bag and cries out, “Last year, we had nearly twice as much candy! I say we go to another part of the neighborhood where the candy loot is greater!”
   “What part of the neighborhood?” asks Grant.
   “On the south side… Cornelius Parkway!” replies Sam.
   “But..but..but.. that means we have to cross the Creepy Ravine,” says Roy.
   “That’s the quickest and only way. Who’s with me?” asks Sam.
    “Let’s do it!” says Grant.
   “Well… okay,” says Roy with little confidence.

   It gets more difficult to see as they get closer to the Creepy Ravine. The streetlight does not reach the heavily wooded area, which made it dark and super spooky! This made the Creepy Ravine even creepier! Sam, Roy, and Grant proceed to the Creepy Ravine cautiously and ever so slowly. Their hearts pound so hard it seems to be popping out of their ears. As they get closer to the ravine they see a ghostly silhouette made from the help of the moonlight. They all freeze in their tracks and wait for the silhouette to make its next move. The ghostly silhouette now forms into three silhouettes and slowly starts to produce physical figures. Roy jumps behind Sam, as Sam and Grant are frozen on the spot with almighty fear! All three ghostly figures jump out and are in full sight with the help of the moon’s light. The ghostly figures are their good friends Sandy, Muffins, and Roger! Roy, Sam, and Grant breathe a sigh of relief. Sandy is dressed as Wonder-Pup, Muffins as a Fairy Princess, and Roger as Frankenstein.

   “Hey, guys!” says Roger, “Looks like you three just seen a ghost or something!”
   Sam, Roy, and Grant laugh out loud.
   Sam replies, “Yeah… or something”.
   “Where are you guys off to?” asks Sandy.
   “We’re off to Cornelius Parkway to get bigger candy loots, ARRGGH!” replies Grant, still in his pirate frame of mind.
   “What are you guys doing in Creepy Ravine?” asks Sam.
   “Just like you guys, we’re trying to get to Cornelius Parkway,” replies Muffins.
   “Well, then, off we go to Cornelius Parkway to get tons of candies!” barks Sam.
   “ARRGGH!” growls Grant.
   “Candy. Yum-yum delicious,” says Roy.
   “Me like candy!” grumbles Roger in his Frankenstein mood.
   “Boys will be boys,” says Sandy and Muffins in unison.
   Off go the six to continue their Halloween journey.

   So dark and spooky is Creepy Ravine, the six of Sam, Roy, Grant, Sandy, Muffins, and Roger walk slowly into it. You can hear the footsteps of the six as it lands on crunchy dried leaves of autumn. Sometimes the feet would land on soggy mushy mud as it made a gushy sound as if stepping on goblin guts and brains! A noise is heard above the trees, and with a breeze of wind in the mix, it sounds like a wispy “Oooo-oooo.” Roy, with fright, jumps behind Sam. Sam, with the others, stops dead in their tracks.
   “Wh.. wh.. what was that?” asks Roger.
   Uncertain, Sam replies, “I’m not sure”.
   The six all stare at the branches above looking for the origin of the scary sound. Still looking above the branches, they continue slowly. As they proceed, again the “Oooo-oooo” sound is heard. They freeze in their tracks with even more fright instilled in them. This time the “Oooo-oooo” with a combination of a flapping sound, an object comes flying down from the branches of the trees straight towards them!
   “AHHH! It’s a gargoyle to eat our guts!” exclaims Grant.
   “It’s a ghost to haunt us all!” screams Roger.
   “It’s a vampire to suck our blood!” shouts Sam.
   Roy is so scared that he hides behind Sam with his eyes tightly shut. Covering their heads with their arms, Sandy and Muffins duck to avoid the menacing flying monster approaching them! As it comes closer to the group of six, it suddenly stops a few feet above them and perches on a branch of the tree next to them. The six look above them and realize it’s just an owl. They look at the owl then look at each other, then laugh out loud with embarrassment.
   “Ha-ha!” screams out Roger, “Did that owl fool us good!”
   “Did you see the look on our faces?” says Sandy.
   “My, oh, my!” says Muffins blushing.
   Then, out of nowhere, making a high-pitched squeaking sound, comes a bat swooping right down at them!
   “It’s a bat! A vampire bat! It’s going to suck our blood! Ruunnnnn!” exclaims Sam.
   The group of six, screaming like a bunch of banshees, run frantically away from the bat. They are all exhausted by the combination of screaming and running and finally stop by an old bridge. The thing that made the old bridge so gruesome was beneath it, it is very dark and sinister looking. The perfect environment for trolls to occupy! And this old bridge was the only way to cross the ravine. The six are all heaving and moaning trying to catch their breath, fatigued from the sprint they performed running away from the blood-sucking vampire bat.
   Grant catches his breath and says, “We’re here at the bridge… the crossing point of the ravine to get to Cornelius Parkway.”
   Roy nervously says, “Is it true trolls live underneath the bridge?”
   “Don’t be silly, Roy,” replies Roger confidently, “There is no such thing as trolls.”
   Then, all of a sudden, they hear noise coming from the tunnel of the bridge. It sounds like some sort of grumbling that a terrifying troll would make.
   “You… you were saying, Roger,” says Roy with a frightful tone in his voice.
   “Sam, go see what it is,” says Sandy.
   “Why me?” replies Sam.
   “Because you’re the closest to the bridge,” answers Sandy.
   “You’re so brave, Sam,” says Muffins with a twinkle in her eyes.
   That being said, Sam cannot show Muffins his cowardly side because he has a huge crush on her. Sam goes towards the tunnel of the bridge at a snail's pace. The closer he gets to the tunnel, the louder the grumbling noise gets. His heart pounds harder with each footstep. Sam tries his best to be brave and progress ever so closer to the belly of the bridge. At this point, Sam is a few feet away from the bridge. With the grumbling getting louder from the tunnel of the bridge, a couple of figures emerge. Sam is flabbergasted with fear. So fearful, he tries to scream but cannot, and is just left with his mouth open. As the two figures come closer, Sam’s mouth opens wider trying to let out a scream. They are just a few feet away and in clear view. Sam notices they are real live trolls! He is stiff with fright, so much so that he cannot even run from the hideous monsters!

   Then one of the trolls utters the words, “Hi, Sam! Fancy meeting you here!”
   Sam’s fright is now replaced by curiosity. ‘How does this troll know my name?’ he thought.
   “Who… who are you?” asks Sam nervously.
   “Don’t you recognize me, Sam?” asks the troll. Then the troll pauses and rips off his troll mask and says, “Of course not! Silly me! I forgot I was wearing this troll mask!”
   With the mask off, it reveals to be Jack. The other troll is his twin brother Russell.
   “Hey, Sam! Did we scare you?” asks Russell.
   “Don’t be silly! I was not scared one bit!” replies Sam with utmost poise, now that the threat has passed.
   “What were you guys doing in the tunnel?” asks Sam.
   “We were searching for Russell’s collar. He lost it looking over the bridge, watching his reflection on the water,” replies Jack.
   “Hmmm, the story sounds familiar,” says Sam.
   “How about you? What are you doing here?” asks Jack.
   “I’m here with Roy, Grant, Sandy, Muffins, and Roger,” replies Sam.
   “Sandy is here, you say?” asks Russell with a big smile on his face.
   At this point, the other five join Sam, Jack, and Russell.
   “Oh, it’s only Jack and Russell,” exclaims Muffins.
   “Hi, everyone!” says Jack.
   “Hellloooo, Sandy,” says Russell with his best smile.
   With her eyes rolled back, Sandy replies, “Yes. Hi. Russell.”
   “What are you guys doing here?” asks Roger.
   “We were off to Cornelius Parkway to get candies. We heard that the candies are a better fetch there,” says Jack.
   “You heard right!” says Grant.
   “Well, what are we waiting for?” asks Sam.
   “Let’s do it!” exclaims Jack.
   “Yum-yum delicious candy, here we come!” shouts Roy.
   “But we still have to cross that creepy-looking bridge,” says Muffins.
   “I have an idea,” says Sandy, “Let’s all hold hands and cross it together.”
   “That’s a great idea!” exclaims Grant.
   They all hold hands, turning the group of eight into one big group. Slowly they cross the bridge.

   The group finally make it to the other side of the bridge where the riches of candy galore await them. As if they have conquered the tallest mountain, they all stop and look at Cornelius Parkway. They all have a smile on their face that cannot be removed for some time… the ‘some time’ meaning until they have to cross Creepy Ravine again to get back home! But that is another story… HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

      The End!