The Tale of Trick-or-Treat and the Headless Mouse

Here comes a little Halloween tale! I love Halloween and got inspired by ashmimi.com to do some wreaths earlier this month. I wish I had so many cute things I could create costumes for my critters, but well! I have been busy this month, with an exam and being ill,  and this thing took a week to shoot! XD The story is very picture heavy and maybe a little bit spooky as well!

Enjoy and happy Halloween!

"Children!" Mr. Springer said when the last class had ended. "Have you heart the tale of the Haunted Mansion?" he asked his class.

The children where all silent. Some of them, who had lived in Lingondale, had heard about the Haunted Mansion before. As well as it's inhabitant, the Headless Mouse.

"I have heard about it." little Iona Dale said.

"It's an old, old story." Mr. Springer said. "Dating back to when the mansion was first built."

"The Headless Mouse was not always headless, but he lost it because he was a bad man, it was his punishment." Mr. Springer said and dramatically turned his back against his students. "But when they brought his body back to be buried, weird things began to happen at the mansion!"

Mr. Springer took a pause. "Cookie jars went missing, one could hear strange sounds at night!" he said. The children sat completely quiet, capivated by Mr. Springer's story. Except for Joanne who felt very embarrassed. "No one have lived there for 200 years after what happened that one night..." Mr. Springer said.

He ended his story there and returned to the black board. "Will you go trick or treat tonight?" he asked his class. The girls nodded their heads, they had planned it all already. "It will be the first time!" Evelyn Waterbrook said and smiled. "Well, watch out for the Headless Mouse!" Mr. Springer said and laughed!

The girls, Joanne Springer, Iona Dale, Stephanie Clearwater and Evelyn Waterbrooks, gathered outside to talk about the evening. Trick-or-treating was new in Lingondale, and it was the first time they where going to do it, so they where very excited! 

"You girls are silly!" Rufus Slydale declared. "Me and Winton will go and do a real Halloween-activity!" he said. "We will go to the Haunted House and look for the Headless Mouse!"

 Rufus jumped up on the climbingstairs. "We will go there tonight and we will catch him!" he said. "Winton and I will free him for you!" he said. Winton wasn't so sure that this idea was good, but he would do as his friend Rufus said.

 "That is so silly Rufus!" Evelyn said. "Mr. Springer was just telling a story, there is no ghost and the manor isn't haunted." she said. "Winton, I will tell mum about it." Iona said.

 Rufus jumped down, but unfortunately landed in the bushes. "You girls won't laugh when we get him!" Rufus said.

 The girls where already leaving, they where just going to get home and get in their costumes, and meet up in front of Evelyn's house. "Boys really are silly." Joanne said. "Or maybe it's just those two." Iona added.

"My mum made us bags!" Stephanie said. It had been almost an hour since they had left the school and they had all been home, had a snack and changed. Stephanie was a princess. "Oh, that's great!" Evelyn said and Stephanie handed out the bags. They where only going to go to a few houses that where close to the Slydale's where they would have a pyjama party with Scarlett.

 Joanne knocked on her own door, she was, just like Evelyn, a fairy.

 Mrs. Springer opened, with Josie in her arms. She also had a big bowl of candy on her arm. "Trick or treat!" the girls said."Oh my!" she said. "How wonderful you all look!" she said. She handed out candy to each and one of them. "Who are you supposed to be, Iona?" she asked. "Helios, the sun god!" Iona said and smiled.

"Bye bye!" the chimed as they where heading to the next location, which was the home of Evelyn.

"Looks like my dad isn't home." Evelyn said. The car was gone from the parking space. Evelyn's dad was a carpenter so it was a bit strange that he was out this late at night.

As the girls walked to the door, little Ethan Waterbrook jumped out from his hiding space behind the potted plant and yelled: "BOO!". He startled the whole group and began to giggle as his trick had worked.

Evelyn laughed. "Oh, you're so silly Ethan!" she said. "You scared us all!" The other girls laughed as well and Ethan laughed before getting inside to help his mum. He also wanted to go trick-or-treat.

They knocked on the door and Mrs. Waterbrook came out, holding a big jar of candy. The girls yelled "trick-or-treat" and got compliments on their costumes as well as a piece of candy each. Evelyn kissed her mum and promised to call when to say good night. They then went all the way up to Beechwood Drive, which was quite a bit from Applewood Lane.

The first house on that street was Stephanie and her mothers. Stephanie's mother was a seamstress and loved all sorts of crafts. She said that next year she would make their own wreath instead of buying one from the Slydale Supermarket as they had done this year.

The girl knocked on the door and giggled when Mrs. Clearwater opened. "Trick or treat!" the called and each got a candy before they set off again.

They had finished and arrived at their location! The last stop on the way. They knocked on the door and waited patiently.

Mrs. Slydale opened and engaged the girls in some small talk as she was handing out the candy. She admired their costumes and said it was a shame that Scarlett couldn't come, but she had had a doctors appointment.

Scarlett showed herself at the doorway and waved at her friends. "Wow, you all loook amazing!" she said. "You can join us next year!" Stepahnie said and smiled at her friend.

They all went inside the Slydale home and made themselves comfortable in the livingroom.

Mrs. Slydale and Scarlett had put out mattresses on the floor. Stephanie was going to sleep on the sofa while the others would sleep on the floor. 

"Oh I can't wait until after dinner!" Iona said. They all got out of their costumes and washed their hands before they ate dinner. Mrs. Slydale had made a pasta dish for them, and they are in the kitchen, laughing and telling Scarlett of how fun it had all been!

After dinner they all cuddled up on the floor, except Stephanie who sat in the sofa. They put all the candy they had gotten on the mattresses and ate it as they where listening to a radio show.

It was a very, very scary show! Evelyn was terrified and wondered how it would go for the little boy ghost! Everyone was silent and still, cuddling up next to each other and listening to the story.

And then suddenly the front door slammed! Scarlett fell over in fear!

Iona and Joanne hugged each other! Oh they where scared!

"Hi!" Rufus said and waved at them.

Scarlett got a bit angry at her brother, even if she knew that he had not scared them on purpose. "Why did you have to be so loud!" she accused him off. "Because tonight I saw a living dead!" Rufus said.

"I'll tell you the story!" Rufus proclaimed. "Look, it's very scary, so I understand if you want to stop listening." Rufus bragged a bit. "Well, after me and Winton had had an afternoon snack, we decided that we should go and visit the Haunted House..."

"You should have seen it, it was very spooky! If nothing is haunting in there, then it should be, that's how spooky it was!" Rufus said.

"Me and Winton arrived there, and it was still rather light outside. Winton was a bit worried that we were doing something bad, so he stopped me." Rufus had also been a bit scared, but he was a very curious fox.

"'Are you sure we should do this?' Winton asked me. He wasn't scared or anything, but he knew that one can't just go into other people's houses!" Rufus said. "Although I guess no one owns that house..."

"I told him of course! I mean the door was open! That means that it's just to walk in." Rufus said. The truth was that the door had hardly been open, it just had not been on it's hinges because it was so old. "Winton and I got inside and we walked up to the second floor. And if the outside was spooky, then this was even more so!"

"Winton was looking at the chandelier that had fallen down. It was actually really pretty, full of spiderwebs and dust!" Rufus said. "We were very brave, I tell you! We were far away from each other and that room was creepy!"

"I was checking out the chairs, imagining that the Headless Mouse must have used those chairs to sit on, well when he still had a head." Rufus paused. "There wasn't a noise to be heard other than us. There was no living soul there at all!"

"But then!" Rufus threw himself down at the mattress. "There was a loud noise that scared us both to death!" he said. The girls shrieked at Rufus sudden outburst, as they where very into his tale.

"Me and Dale where very brave after the initial shock." Rufus said.

"You should have seen us!" he said. "We were as brave as two soldiers!"

Rufus nodded at his own words. "We where ready to fight of the ghost in any moment, we where like two spies that were about to be caught, like two knights before a battle!" Rufus said, but that wasn't at all true. They had both been terrified, out of their wits! What if the Headless Mouse was coming to get their heads?!

Rufus omitted the parts of the story that did not fit, after all he was trying to impress Iona. He didn't want to be seen as someone who was scared. He knew that Superman and Batman never was! "Do you know what it was that made that sound?" he asked Iona who shook her head.

"It was just Mr. Waterbrook!" Rufus said. "Apparently they are renovating the house for the mayor and turning it into offices, and he had forgot his lunchbox when he was working there today." Rufus said. "He told us that we shouldn't be there, but that he wasn't angry." Rufus looked at their mother who had heard the whole story.

 "He gave Winton and me a lift home and told us that if we wanted to come back, he would let us have a tour." Rufus said proudly. "I think that we would have caught the Headless Mouse if we had just stayed a bit longer!" he said. "I am not sure I believe you." Scarlett said, knowing her brother well.

"Now it's really time for bed!" Mrs. Slydale interfered. "And don't think I didn't hear your story Rufus!" she said. Rufus looked a little bit red and flustered, he knew that he had done something wrong.

The girls began to get themself in order and Rufus made his way to the stairs. "Tomorrow we should all pick leafs!" he said and the girls all agreed to that. Mrs. Slydale followed her son upstairs to talk a bit with him, but before she called downstairs: "Goodnight girls, sweet dreams!"

The girls all made themself comfortable, snuggling down in their bed. It was silent and nice in the house, and their beds where warm. It had been a great day. "Do you think the Headless Mouse exist?" Evelyn asked.

"I don't think so." Joanne said. "It's just a story." she said. Iona nodded in agreement. "Plus the house is from the 1820's, that's not even that old." she said.

"Yes, but wouldn't it be cool if there was." Stephanie said. A headless mouse." she yawned. "Next year I'll dress as him." was the last thing she said before she fell asleep.