This year Halloween was on a Friday, and my husband was home by early afternoon...a good combination since for the first time in five years neither one of us had to work on this holiday night. We could finally have some fun!
Mike arrived home, quickly ate a sandwich for supper, and then grabbed the halloween makeup bag on his way to the bathroom so he could start putting his 'zombie face' on. SpiceGirl trotted behind him like a little shadow.
"Don't you think it's a bit early to start doing that, Honey?" I asked.
"I want to be able to take my time and get it right", Mike replied, looking over at me from the doorway...and not seeing SpiceGirl slip quietly inside...
But I did. And after the bathroom door was closed, it was just a matter of seconds before I heard Mike's voice saying, "SpiceGirl, get out of that bag!...leave this alone!...no, don't eat that!...
The bathroom door was quickly opened, SpiceGirl was unceremoniously pushed into the hallway, and then the door was closed again.
I waited. Surely Mike didn't think it was going to be THIS easy, did he?
Sure enough, SpiceGirl laid down on the carpet and proceeded to stick her little front leg underneath the door in an attempt to hook something. And she did, too. Unfortunately, it was Mike's toe and not the makeup bag.
"HONEY! Will you PLEASE come get the CAT?!"
I walked over to Little Miss Innocent Eyes, scooped her up, and carried her into the living room while whispering, "listen, you little imp..."
Sitting on the couch with SpiceGirl getting all the attention enticed Noodleman to come out from underneath so he could get his fair share of petting and chin-scratching, too.
Before long, we all heard the bathroom door open, and three heads turned towards the entranceway.
Suddenly filling the doorway was a very large and realistic-looking zombie...a hatchet in his skull... blood all over a gastly pale and blackened face... and wearing old ratty clothes that wouldn't make a good rag.
Two of the three of us started to hiss, growl, and stand up on full alert! But full alert didn't last very long because the sound of retreat came into evidence as two cats took off at full speed towards the front bedroom...and sanctuary underneath the bed!
"So much for protecting you," Mike chuckled.
"It's a good thing I didn't need them for back-up," I said. "We should dress them up as chickens!"
The two furry fowls stayed under that bed for over an hour. Of course, Mike didn't help matters much when he kept kneeling down and peering under the bed, trying to coax them out.
"Will you please stop doing that!" I said exasperatedly. "There's no reason for them to listen to a ZOMBIE!"
When Noodleman and SpiceGirl finally decided that it was safe enough for them to come out, they slowly entered the kitchen where Mike and I were, walked cautiously over to him, and sniffed his shoes.
Mike spoke softly to them, and bent over to let them sniff his hand. "See? It's just me, guys. Everything's okay." he reassured them.
Both kitties gave him a dirty look, and walked distainfully back to the living room where they curled up on the couch together...and with their backs towards us.
Mike and I put the candy into a large bowl, placed it by the front door, and watched tv while we waited for the first of the Trick or Treaters to arrive.
It wasn't long before we heard the laughing voices of children coming up to our door.
Knock, knock, knock. "Trick or Treat...Trick or Treat!"
Both kitties lifted their heads and pricked up their ears.
Mike opened the door...and caused quite a bit of screaming and laughter due to his ghoulish getup.
As little monsters, princesses, and a Spiderman entered our living room for their candy, those two confused cats took off at a dead run. But instead of heading towards the bedroom...the children were blocking that exit... they ran towards the back hallway, down the stairs, and into the basement!
And they stayed down there for the rest of the evening!
At ten o'clock, we were finally done with Halloween. There were no more ghosts or goblins walking up and down the sidewalks, and the neighborhood was now gratefully quiet.
"Well," I sighed. "I guess it's time to close up shop and put the rest of the candy away. But tonight was fun!"
"Baby, believe me, the fun's not over yet", Mike said mischeviously.
And as he headed for the back hallway, I just knew that tonight was going to last for a little bit longer.
