The Frightened Ghost

“Ooh! I just hate Halloween”, said Cedric, peering out from behind one of the shuttered windows of the old house that was his home, “It’s so scary, all those frightening ghosts floating about”.

Boris the bat unhooked himself from his upside-down perch and flew down beside Cedric.

“I don’t know why you’re so afraid of ghosts, Cedric”, said Boris, “You are a ghost”.

“I know that”, said the cowardly spectre, “But I’m talking about Scary ghosts, not timid and shy ones like me”.

Just then, however, some trick-or-treaters; little kids in rubber Halloween masks, came to the door.

“Eek!”, said Cedric, seeing the masks and getting scared, “Monsters! Lots of them!”.

Quick as an autumn leaf that’s whisked away by a gust of wind, Cedric flew under his rickety old bed to hide himself.

“Monsters?”, said Boris, peering out of the window, “Huh! Those just look like little kids to me”.

“That’s what they’d like you to think”, said Cedric, shaking under his bed, “But then when you open the door, they grow really big and scary”.

Boris shook his head, tutting; then, flying over and perching upside down on the door handle, he latched onto it with his clawed feet and, flapping his wings hard, pulled the front door open wide.

“Trick or Treat!”, shouted the children outside, holding out bags and expecting lots of candy.

Cedric peered out from under his bed at the little trick-or-treaters.

“They really are children”, he said to himself, smiling and not feeling afraid anymore, “Maybe they’ll be my friends”.

And then, coming out from under his bed, he floated up to the children and held out his hand to shake theirs, “Hi, my names Cedric”, he said, “I don’t have any treats to give you, but I can show you lots of tricks”.

And, saying this, Cedric took off his head and juggled it back and forth between his hands before putting it back onto his neck and shoulders.

But the children at the door were just terrified and ran away, shrieking and yelling, “Help! A Ghost! A real ghost!”.

Cedric shed a ghostly tear, wiping it away with the hem of his white ghost sheet and, instead of saying Boo!, like a normal ghost, he said, “Boo-hoo! Why doesn’t anyone like me?”.

“I like you”, said Boris, swooping down upon the bags of candy that the frightened children had left behind, “I like you enough to share these yummy sweets with you”.

Cedric thanked Boris, taking some of the candy, some bubblegum, and chewing on it before blowing up a great big pink bubble that made him smile.

But then the bubble burst with a loud *POP* that scared Cedric so much that he flew back under his bed.

“Poor Cedric, you’ll never change”, said Boris, shaking his head.

Fortunately, Boris managed to tempt him back out with some more delicious candy and then, together, Boris and Cedric had a very Happy Halloween.