Tales From The Doxie Side Tricks or Treats

Tricks or Treats

  Tales from the Doxie Side

  Copyright 2010, Kathryn Abbey and Lynn Dillenbeck

  Chapter One

  Time For Bed

  Turn off that television, Minnie said to her son, Hershey. But, Mom! Can I just have five more minutes, PLEASE? It's my favorite show and I promise I'll get up for school tomorrow. Well, I guess five more minutes is O.K., but not a second more. Besides, I don't like you watching those scary shows right before bed. You'll have bad dreams. Not me, mom. I'm not scared of anything!

  Hershey was so tired when he finally headed off for bed, that he almost forgot to brush his teeth. He went back to the bathroom and picked up his toothbrush and squeezed on a big glob of his favorite toothpaste and sleepily began to brush his teeth. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he thought he saw a shadow sneak past him. He knew that he must be imagining things and thought to himself, Maybe mom was right. I probably shouldn't watch scary shows right before bed.

  As he climbed into his warm bed, he pulled the covers all the way over his head, because he couldn't stop thinking about the shadow he saw in the mirror.

  This is silly, he thought. I don't believe in ghosts! I think I'll read for a minute, just to get my mind off of everything. He picked up the book he had been reading for a book report at school, which happened to be about pirates. He was at the part where the pirates were burying the treasure they had stole from the Spanish ship. One of the pirates had just pulled out his sword, and started to chase down one of the other pirates. He raised his sword to strike him and . . . Oh no! This book isn't making me feel better. I'm even more scared than before! Hershey slammed the book shut and thought, Maybe I'll just turn out the lights and try to go to sleep. When I wake up in the morning, everything will be right again.

  Later that night, Minnie peeked her head into Hershey's room to say goodnight and tuck him in, but he was already fast asleep. She thought he looked like a little angel, all snug in his bed, and she whispered, Sweet dreams, my little guy.

  After checking on Hershey, Minnie went into her daughter, Josephine's room. Josephine, who liked to be called Jo-Jo, was two years older than her brother, and you might say that she was perfect, except for one thing . . . she was TOO perfect! She always made straight A's in school. She had so many friends, that they would fight over who got to sit next to her in lunch. Her clothes always looked like they came out of a magazine, and were never wrinkled. She never had a bad hair day, and she was the top athlete on her school's soccer team. She was even a really good sister. Hershey, even though he was a little jealous, thought she was the best sister in the world.

  Minnie smiled and said to herself. What a lucky mom I am. She let out a giant yawn and then headed off to her fluffy bed. Just as she was about to turn out the light, she thought she saw a shadow moving across the hallway. She had just checked all the locks on the doors and checked on the kids. She thought to herself, I must be seeing things, and she turned out the light.

  Chapter Two

  Getting Ready for Fun

  Early the next morning, everyone woke up to their own alarm clocks. Minnie had hers set to the local easy listening station because she needed to wake up nice and slow. Jo-Jo was into hip hop, so she woke up to a disco beat. Nothing but rock and roll worked for Hershey. He lived for screaming guitars, blazing drums and a booming bass beat. Naturally, his alarm clock was set to his favorite punk rock station.

  Somehow, just like most mornings, they all managed to get dressed, make up their beds, and make it down for a quick bowl of cereal before time to catch the bus for school. Did you finish your homework last night? Yes, mom, they both answered at the same time. What about that book report that's due tomorrow, Jo-Jo? Of course, mom. Remember, it's me we're talking about here! Just a simple, yes mom, will do, missy. Sorry, mom, I meant, yes, mom. Good. That means we won't have any extra work to do tonight.

  Tonight was Halloween. Besides Christmas, this was the most fun holiday of the year. Dressing up, tons of candy, watching scary movies, and hanging out with your friends. What could possibly be better than that! Every year, Minnie would go to the giant warehouse store to shop for giant bags of candy and would bring home at least three giant pumpkins to carve. This year she had decided on candy corn and bubble gum for the treats. She was still working out her ideas for the pumpkins. Every year she would carve the most amazing pumpkins, and everyone in the neighborhood would stop by to see what she had created that year. Sometimes they were carved into monsters, like Frankenstein or Dracula. Other times she made them into spiders and bats. Last year she outdid herself and created an amazing haunted house. What would she do this year?

  Love you mom, they shouted back as they grabbed their backpacks and headed across the lawn. Love you too!, Minnie yelled back at them.

  Chapter Three

  Am I Seeing Things?

  After the kids were off to school, Minnie went upstairs to put in a load of laundry before she left for work. As she carried the clothes to the laundry room, she noticed something very odd. A houseplant had been knocked over and dirt had been scattered halfway down the hall. What on earth,? she thought. Maybe one of the kids had tipped it over, and forgot to clean it up. It wasn't like them to be so messy, but sometimes kids will be kids. As she cleaned it up, she thought she heard someone whispering on the other side of the wall. Now I know I'm going crazy, she thought.

  When Hershey and Jo-Jo came home from school, they were dizzy with excitement. They had been planning this night for weeks, and it was finally here. After a quick snack, they both ran upstairs to start getting ready. Minnie stayed in the kitchen where she was feverishly working on finishing up her pumpkins. She had decided on a werewolf theme this year. Each pumpkin told part of the story.

  The first one showed a scene of a hand being bitten by a wolf. The second showed an enormous full moon surrounded by scary trees. The last showed a werewolf with big scary teeth howling at the moon. She was quite proud of her work. In fact, she considered herself a true artist. She placed candles into the carved out cavities and positioned them around the front steps of the house. Well, I guess I had better get ready myself, she said as she looked around her spooky decorated house.

  Jo-Jo had always seen herself as a warrior princess, so for the third year in a row, she chose to be a beautiful warrior princess. That's the kind of princess, nobody wants to mess with. The perfect combination of strength, beauty, and karate skills. Jo-Jo laced up her boots, jumped around the room pretending to fight off a gang of bad guys, then smiled at herself in the mirror. You rock!

  Hershey was going a totally different direction with his costume. For weeks, he had been pouring over the Internet looking for ideas. Nothing as boring as a ghost or vampire would do.

  He wanted to scare the living daylights out of his sister and everyone else in the neighborhood. After all of his research, he decided to go with the zombie, living dead idea. He found some old clothes which he had used to help paint the house last year, and ripped them apart. He borrowed some red lipstick from his mom, and made himself look like blood was on his face. The hair gel was the perfect touch, because it made his normally straight hair look like a complete mess. Finally he put some white flour on his face to make him look really scary. Looking in the mirror he jumped back. Who was this terrible creature? I'm going to scare EVERYBODY!

  His first victim was Jo-Jo. She was adjusting her princess crown in mirror when he jumped up from behind her. She screamed so loud, that Minnie came running up the stairs, only to see Hershey, the zombie boy and scream herself. Perfect, thought Hershey!

  Chapter Four

  Time for a Scare

&
nbsp; The Doxies have a tradition in their home to have a fun supper of chili dogs with all the fixings every Halloween night. Minnie makes her special baked beans and has big bowls of chips and dip and plates full of homemade treats. Brownies are Hershey's favorite, which isn't surprising, since he was names after a chocolate bar. Jo-Jo prefers the pumpkin cheesecake, which her mother makes especially for her. They had invited their friends, Ginger, Lucy, Willie and Spike to join them, so they all had a great feast before heading out for trick or treating.What everyone didn't know, was that there was something very big and very scary listening to them from behind the walls. Later that evening, this creature would venture out into the open and give them all a nasty surprise.

  Jo-Jo, Ginger and Lucy wasted no time heading out for trick or treating. After finishing their dinner, and taking a few pictures of each other with their cell phones, they said goodbye to Minnie and began their night of adventure. You make sure to stay together, and whatever you do, don't go inside the house of any strangers! We promise said the girls. And don't eat any candy until I get a chance to look it over, O.K., Mrs. Doxie. Minnie thought how she hated being such a worry wort, but you can never be too careful with the ones you love.

  Hershey, Willie, and Spike took off in the opposite direction, after hearing the same instructions Minnie had given the girls. They looked as though they belonged in a horror flick, which is exactly what they wanted. As they headed around the corner, Minnie heard some little girls scream, and she knew what had frightened them. I hope they don't scare the neighborhood too much tonight, she chuckled to herself.

  After getting the kids off, she turned on the television to find something to watch. Of course, the only thing on was stories about ghosts, monsters, and crazy people. She decided on a movie about a ghost that takes place in this spooky castle in Scotland. She liked these kind of movies that happened on dark and stormy nights. She made herself a cup of hot chocolate, and settled into her favorite chair.

  It seems that it was only seconds afterward, that the doorbell started to ring and a steady stream of trick or treaters started lining up at the door. Oh well, so much for my movie! she said. After about an hour of handing out treats, the groups of kids started slowing down, and she decided to try to catch the end of her movie. As she drowsily watched the ending, she thought she saw a shadow creeping past the sofa. I must be seeing things, she said, but then she remembered the plant that had been knocked over and the strange whispering sound she thought she had heard that morning. Slowly she got up from her chair and crept towards the sofa.

  Nobody can prepare you for the things that happened in the 'Doxie home that night. This was one of those situations where you survive purely on instinct. As she peeked around the corner of the sofa, what should she see, but an enormous snake, coiled up and ready to strike. It was at least 15 feet long, had a deep grey color with a yellow belly, and it's head had a wide hood surrounding it. It was bad enough to have any giant snake in her living room, but this snake happened to be one of the most poisonous specimens in the world . . . a King cobra! Just as the vile creature leaned back its body to strike, the front door opened and in came all of the kids. They were laughing and dancing around the doorway and had no idea what danger they were all in. In what can only be described as motherly instinct, Minnie ignored the terrible fear that had taken control of her and she dived across the table and grabbed the knife she had used to carve the pumpkins. She turned around to face the treacherous creature and locked eyes with it for what seemed like an eternity.

  The snake started to sway back and forth, the way they do before making their attack. Hershey bravely threw one of the pumpkins right on top of the reptile, and before the snake had a chance to turn around, Minnie sliced off his head with one swift stroke.

  As the snake lay dead on the floor, Jo-Jo, and all of their friends just froze with their mouths opened wide. Minnie ran over and gave them all a really long hug. Mom, you saved our lives! Not without the help of a very brave young man, she said. Well, said Hershey, you didn't think I was going to let a nasty old snake hurt my family, do you?

  After cleaning up the mess, they all sat down around the kitchen table to enjoy some of the treats they had come home with. It had turned out to be one of the biggest hauls of candy in the history of Doxie Halloweens, and all the kids decided that they should donate half of their treats to the children's home down the street. You guys never stop amazing me, said Minnie. Well, mom, talk about amazing! We had no idea you had a ninja warrior living inside of you! Minnie just smiled to herself and thought Best Halloween ever.

  THE END