It was Halloween night and Scary was flying across the face of the moon with Ghost with Hair in tow. “My favorite holiday,” he whispered darting past Crater 1 and tipping Pod over just for fun. “Everyone wants to be scary tonight, but I get to be SCARY every night.” Ghost with Hair glanced at his eight-eyed companion and shuddered just a little bit as the two entered the earth’s atmosphere. “Remember, little friend,” said the sinister Morphadoodle, “our mission is to get to the Tree with Many Trunks before the parade arrives. If Nicky did as he was told and set up the jack o’ lantern detour and my ingenious Slime and Slide, then when all those paraders make the turn, they will find themselves slipping, tipping and sticking in muck and I can finally get my hands on Goo’s Goo’s orange box.’’

Scary had been obsessed for a year with snatching the orange box from the round blue Morphadoodle ever since Goo Goo and his twin Sun Smile had left it on the curb to trick or treat at someone’s door. Not only was it his favorite color on the outside (which was reason enough for the attraction), but when he lifted the lid and peeked inside he couldn’t believe his octo-eyes. There were tons of video games in there and Scary loved to play. He actually had the box in his grip and was about to take flight when the only creature that could possibly scare him hopped toward him. A creature so appalling to Scary, that he dropped his jaw, dropped the box, and shot into the air screaming, “Help!!! I’m being chased by a Cuniculus!!!!!!!” “A Cuniculus?” said Goo Goo to Sun Smile, as the pair carried their Halloween booty back to the curb. “Is that Latin for a 7 foot tall Great Red kangaroo on its way to a kick boxing match?” “No,” said Sun Smile looking at the orange wake in the sky, “that’s Latin for cute little bunny rabbit with twitchy little nose and fluffy little tail.”

For 365 days Scary tried hard to erase that memory from his brain, but it hadn’t been easy. “If I don’t get that box this year,” he threatened, as The Tree with Many Trunks came into view, “I will be in a BAD mood for 365 more days…and you know what that means.” The tips of Ghost with Hair’s hair stood on end and a feeling of impending doom spread throughout his amorphous form. It wasn’t nice to see Scary in a bad mood for even one day – how could he possibly survive 365 more?

The billowy phantasm began to wrack his brain. “I could cook crab legs, shrimp and spaghetti for dinner,” Ghost with Hair thought, making a mental menu of Scary’s favorite foods, “but that would only satisfy him for one part of one day.”

“I could invite his friend Cary to come for a sleep over or take Ruffy for a walk,” he continued thinking as he watched Scary inspect the Slime and Slide trap. “But that only accounts for another day and a half.”

His worries were interrupted by the sound of merry-making Morphadoodles filling the night air. Scary motioned for him to help light the candle in the jack o’ lantern and the two slipped behind the giant pumpkin with the letters D… E… T… O… U… R… carved into it.

“Hmm,” said Electric, the Morphadoodle park ranger who headed the parade. “I don’t remember a detour, but I suppose we should follow it.” He turned his light beam head down the black path to lead the way. Pair after pair followed behind him, slid in the slime and stuck in the muck. Scary smirked at their dilemma and flew toward Goo Goo and Sun Smile who were trying to pull the orange box out of the trap.

“Let me help you with that, my friends” he said reaching down toward the box he had waited one year to hold. The pair made room for his hands and Scary began to pull, but something was wrong. His slime and muck were so thick that even he couldn’t release the box.

“What do we do now?” said Goo Goo beginning to cry. “Everything I own is inside.” “Don’t worry, little blue guy,” said Egg-Burto the Magician who appeared (as he often did) in the nick of time. “With one or two abracadabras I will have all of you free and on your way.” The Morphadoodles began to cheer. “Just a moment, everyone,” he said commandingly, “I’ll need an assistant to hold a few of my things so that I can put all of my effort into this trick.” His eyes rested on Scary whose body was surprisingly clean. “If you would be so kind,” he said, raising an eyebrow and removing his top hat that he held upside down, “would you hold my magic hat? I’m about to perform a powerful trick and would hate to have it land in this mysterious mess.” Scary nodded. “And, Sir,” Egg-burto continued, “make sure that Nibblet doesn’t hop out.”

“Did you say ‘hop’ out?” asked Scary, all eight of his eyes growing wide. “Please tell me that Nibblet’s a frog.” “A Frog?” shouted Egg-burto. “What magician pulls a frog out of his hat? Nibblet is a Cuniculus – a bunny rabbit with a twitchy little nose and a fluffy little tail.” Scary began to shake. “I believe,” continued Egg-burto, lifting his wand and tapping the brim one time, “that you met him last Halloween.” In an instant, out hopped Nibblet, who had only one word to say…….BOO!!!”

Scary’s eyes popped, his jaw dropped and he shot into the sky like a rocket.