Last year for Halloween, we dressed up, but we didn’t go out. This year, we’re all feeling a little more confident and safe about the areas neighboring Whimsieville. In fact, do you know, it’s been months and months since we’ve heard anything that sounds even remotely like a dog? That Mr. Squee sure must be doing his job well! He’s keeping all the dogs far, far away. So this year, we decided to be brace and go out trick- or- treating.
Yes! We have gone out trick or treating! In fact, we just got back. And what a blast it’s been! If I’d known it was going to be this much fun, I would have done everything I could to overcome my silly fear of dogs even sooner than this! But wait, wait…I’m getting way ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.
I guess the beginning was a few weeks ago, when I let the beans slip (let the cat out of the bag??) that we Whimsies do actually enjoy a bit of sweets now and then. Last year, we were keeping that a secret, so even if we had decided to go trick-or-treating, we wouldn’t have been able to share that with you here, and sometimes sharing is half the fun. But now that everybody knows how much Whimsies love candy, it only makes sense that we would go trick-or-treating. We talked about it for a while, and Tillie and (to a lesser extent) Trixie convinced me it would be safe, if we only went to the houses on either side of Whimsieville. We happen to know for a fact that no dogs live in either of those houses, so I became convinced it would be safe after all to take our Big Trick-or-Treating Adventure.
So, that’s how it started. But next…we got shoes. See, last year we only had one pair of shoes, and also those pretty pink ballet slippers that go with the Fairy Princess outfit. But even then, it meant one of us would have to go with no shoes, and that simply was not an option. Traveling within the confines of Whimsieville we often go barefoot, but once you get outside the gates, there’s Concrete and Asphalt, which are very difficult surfaces for delicate Whimsie feet.
But now we have shoes…lots and lots of shoes! So we know that whatever outfits we might put together, we would be able to add some appropriate shoes to finish off the look, and make us able to safely and comfortably walk those long distances past the gates of Whismieville.
After getting all those shoes, we began to rummage through our wardrobe, seeing if we could put together any new looks that might be good for Halloween. We did indeed find some new looks, but none of them were quite as good as the outfits we had last year. So ultimately, we just decided to repeat. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…right?)
Actually, Trixie has had a hankering to be the Fairy Princess ever since last Halloween, so she gravitated right towards that outfit, and as you can see her, she does it tremendous justice! Trixie’s even taken it up a notch, adding a hot pink shirt rather than the simple white one I wore last year, and she’s also added white tights. What a conglomeration of colors! She considered wearing the sparkly pink sneakers with the Fairy Princess outfit, and while those might have served her quite well, in the end she was set on the pink satin slippers. They are not as rugged as the sneakers, but no matter—once we got on our way, Trixie spent so much time skipping and jumping, pretending she could fly, that her feet barely ever touched the ground, and the slippers remain in good shape, even after a Halloween outing.
Tillie played around with the pirate outfit, and with all her crazy hair, we just had to laugh and agree that she makes the perfect pirate! Doesn’t the eye patch look absolutely adorable on her? Adding the brown suede boots even gives the impression of pirate boots…well…sorta. It was the best she could do, and she spent most of the evening clomping around, shouting “Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate’s life for me!” So those poor little boots really got a workout!
Now as for me, I end up with the pumpkin outfit, which suits me just fine. I always wondered what it would feel like to be fat, and this gave me an opportunity to try it out. But it’s a most peculiar feeling I don’t particularly care for! It’s very difficult to stand upright when your belly is this big! I kept wanting to fall forward, and had to pull myself upright at the last minute. Luckily, my black patent leather shoes gave me some good footing, and as we traveled the concrete and asphalt roads to the Neighbors’ Houses I was even able to get off a little tap dancing! That made the Holiday feel extra festive!
But wait! I’m getting ahead of myself again! Before we went out, Miss Chrissy said she would like to take a picture of us on the front step. She remembered that when she was a girl, she and her sister would often go out trick-or-treating together, and their Mom would take a picture of them before they left on their adventure. Well, all this talk about being a girl got Miss Chrissy feeling nostalgic, and she went into the Photo Box and dug up one of those pictures of herself with her sister, sitting on the front step in their Halloween costumes.
Oh my! Isn’t this funny! The funny part for me is that this is the way I remember Miss Chrissy, because this is what she looked like when we used to live together all those years ago, before I got taken away by wolves. I don’t remember Halloween, or trick-or-treat, from back in those days, because back in those days young Whimsies didn’t do such things. But I do remember Miss Chrissy like this. Of course she’s much older now, and does look different, but we Whimsies are really good at seeing past the superficialities of age, and seeing the person inside. So when I look at this picture of Miss Chrissy, I remember who she was when we first knew each other…but at the same time, I can easily see that she’s exactly the same person.
I must say, though…I don’t understand those “Halloween costumes” she and her sister are wearing. What is this all about? They look like they are made of colorful plastic, which has been added over their thick Winter coats. How is that a costume? And why does her sister have all those dots on her face? Miss Chrissy assures me that no…her sister did not regularly have dots on her face, but that it must have been part of her costume. But why doesMiss Chrissy not have dots on her face as well? Hmmm…Miss Chrissy had to think about that one for a while. And then it came to her! Obviously, her costume also included a Mask, which her mother made her take off for the picture.
Miss Chrissy does not remember anything in particular about these Halloween costumes, and her clearest memory about Halloween is her cousins coming in and telling her that someone on the other side of the block was giving out DECKS OF CARDS!! Entire, whole decks of cards!! Wow!! And someone else was giving toothbrushes.
Sigh…
But I’m getting off track again, aren’t I? Sorry about that! I guess it’s just that I’m a little hyped up from all the CANDY we’ve eaten tonight! Because even though we only went to a few houses on either side of Whimsieville, boy did we bring in a load of candy! Here’s a picture of us with only a portion of it. The rest of it was already in our bellies by this point.
It was really hard to sit still for this portrait, but I hope it conveys how very excited we are by the whole idea of Halloween and trick-or-treating and FREE CANDY!!! As you can see here, we had two trick-or-treat bags that were shaped like pumpkins, but since I was already shaped like a pumpkin, I let Tillie and Trixie use those special bags. I had to go to Miss Chrissy’s Pocketbook Closet to find something to put my candy in. I took her very smallest little purse—and even so, it was enormous for me!! But that’s okay, because I think all the people who gave us candy felt that if I had such a very big bag, it ought to be filled with lots and LOTS of candy.
I made out like a bandit!
Huh! A bandit. That’s giving me an idea for a new Halloween costume for next year…
Yes, I’m already thinking about next year. Because this was so much fun. And the best part was realizing how much fun you can have, when you don’t let your fears tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. Sometimes it’s okay to take a chance that there won’t be dogs (because sometimes there won’t be) and then you go off and see things you’ve never seen before, and get lots and lots of delicious candy.
All in all, this was a fun and successful evening.
