The Halloween Treat Trail

It was Halloween in Fruitville, and the sky was turning pumpkin-orange.

Tonight was trick-or-treat night, and the friends had been getting ready ALL day.

Banana-Man wore his purple cape — his every-day cape — and a brand-new orange bow tie. In his hands was the biggest treat basket in Fruitville. "For sharing," he said.

Little Cherry was a twinkly star fairy, with sparkly wings and a wand that sprinkled paper stars.

Pip was a pirate. His leaf hat was folded into a pirate hat, and he carried a treasure map he had drawn himself. "Arr, mateys!"

Baby Melon was a bumblebee, with black stripes and two wobbly antennae. "Bzzzt!" she said, which is bee for hello.

Andy Apple was a superhero, with a tiny red cape just like Banana-Man's. Perry Pear was a wizard, with a tall purple hat covered in paper stars.

And Bella Blueberry was a ghost — a soft white sheet with two smiley eye holes. "Boo!" said Bella, in the least scary voice in the whole wide world. Everybody giggled.

Banana-Man held up one finger. "Halloween rules," he said. "We stay together. We walk, we don't run. And we say thank you at every single door."

"Thank you!" shouted everybody, practicing.

Then out they went into the purple-orange evening — seven friends, one basket, and a whole town full of treats.

First stop: Mayor Mango's house. Knock, knock! "TRICK OR TREAT!"

Mayor Mango gave everyone a banana muffin wrapped in orange paper. "Thank you, Mayor Mango!" said the friends.

Second stop: Mr. Fig's house. Mr. Fig put on his most serious face. Then he saw the ghost. "Oh my!" he cried, holding his hat. "A ghost! A very small, very polite ghost!"

"Boo," said Bella, politely. Mr. Fig laughed so hard his serious face fell right off, and he gave out fig bars with extra sprinkles.

Pip the pirate stuffed his treats into his pirate bag. But Pip's bag was already very, very full of treasures — buttons, a shiny rock, and three acorns.

So every few steps — plip! — a treat tumbled out of Pip's bag and landed on the path behind him. Plip! Plop! But Pip was too busy being a pirate to notice.

Third stop: the bakery, where the baker gave out pumpkin cookies shaped like smiling moons. "Thank you!" sang the friends. And nobody ate even one. Treats are for the very end. Everybody knows that rule.

Just then, Little Cherry stopped. She looked back down the darkening path. "That's funny," she said.

"I am sure I saw treats on this path a minute ago. A muffin here. A fig bar there. But now… they're gone."

Everyone looked. The path was empty. Not one single treat.

And then — from behind the pumpkin patch fence — came a sound. "Hee hee hee!"

A small white shape went whoosh between the pumpkins, and was gone.

Baby Melon grabbed Banana-Man's leg. "Was that… a REAL ghost?" she whispered. Her antennae wobbled.

(Psst! Did anyone see Bella? She was hiding in the pumpkin patch!)

Banana-Man knelt down and gave Baby Melon's hand a squeeze. "If that is a ghost," he said, "it is a giggling ghost. And a giggling ghost is usually just a friend we haven't met yet."

Little Cherry counted heads, the way she always did. "Banana-Man, me, Pip, Baby Melon, Andy, Perry…" She stopped. "Wait. Where is Bella?"

The friends looked all around. No sheet. No Bella. Just pumpkins, smiling their jack-o'-lantern smiles in the dark.

"Bella!" called Banana-Man, in his big, kind voice. "Bella Blueberry!"

From somewhere behind them came the giggle again. "Hee hee hee!" — closer this time.

The moon was up now, round and silver, and it was time to head home to the strawberry house.

The friends walked back along the path — and the path was still empty. No muffins. No fig bars. No moon cookies. Every single dropped treat had vanished.

Perry Pear pushed his wizard hat up out of his eyes. "This is a mystery," he said, in his best wizard voice. "A treat-traily mystery."

Andy Apple struck a superhero pose. "Do not worry! Super Andy will solve it!" Then he tripped over a pumpkin and solved nothing at all — but everyone laughed, and that helped.

As they came around the last bend, Little Cherry gasped. "Look! The strawberry house is GLOWING!"

And it was. All along the steps of the strawberry house, jack-o'-lanterns were lit, smiling their warm, friendly smiles.

And between the jack-o'-lanterns stood… a tower.

A tall, wobbly, wonderful tower of treats! Banana muffins, fig bars with sprinkles, moon cookies, and every treat that had fallen on the path — stacked up like a little mountain, with one of Little Cherry's paper stars shining on top.

"Our treats!" cried Pip. "But who…?"

From behind the tower, up popped a small white shape.

"BOO!" it said — in the least scary voice in the whole wide world.

The sheet slipped down… and there was Bella Blueberry, giggling so hard she hiccupped. "Surprise!"

"Bella!" everyone cheered. "It was YOU!"

"Pip's bag was dropping treats," said Bella. "Plip! Plop! All the way down the path. I didn't want any treat to get lost in the dark. So I picked up every single one —" she spread her little arms wide, "— and I made a Treat Tower, so we could share ALL of them together!"

Banana-Man's eyes were shiny. "Bella," he said, "your surprise is the best treat of all." Then he smiled his gentlest smile. "Next time, tell us your secret plan — so we can all help you carry it."

"Deal!" said Bella. "Teamwork tastes even better."

So the seven friends sat on the strawberry-house steps, under the smiling jack-o'-lanterns, and they shared the whole Treat Tower, treat by treat.

Pip gave Bella his biggest muffin. "For the tower builder," said the pirate.

Baby Melon the bumblebee fell asleep between two pumpkins, dreaming bee dreams. "Bzzzt," she sighed happily.

"Halloween treats are sweet," said Banana-Man, looking up at the moon. "But a friend who looks out for you — even from inside a sheet — is the sweetest treat of all."

"Happy Halloween, Fruitville," whispered the friends.

The End. 🎃