Where we are – Chloe and Zoe Cat’s school has decided to have a Halloween party. It’s a new experience for the cats and other pupils at Xavier Q Hedgehog Elementary School. Mama Cat isn’t sure it’s a good idea, but the girls are so excited, she’s decided they will all go. It’s planned for the Thursday before Halloween in the school gymnasium. That afternoon, when Mama meets the bus the girls are full of energy.

Chloe: Mama! we have to hurry home and get changed. They are serving pizza at 6 pm. We don’t want to miss it.

Mama Cat: What’s pizza?

Zoe: It’s some kind of human food. It has dough on the bottom and other stuff on top.

Mama Cat: Like what?

Zoe: Like cheese and meat.

Chloe: And tomatoes.

Mama Cat: Tomatoes?

Chloe: And other vegetables.

Mama Cat: That sounds pretty strange.

Zoe: Mama, we want to try it.

Papa Cat: It sounds interesting. I’ll try it too.

Mama Cat: Hmmf.

Papa Cat: Girls, go get your costumes. I have a surprise.

Chloe and Zoe run off. They come back with their matching black bear cub costumes. Mama Cat helps them get dressed. Papa disappears for a few minutes. When he returns, he’s dressed as a large black bear.

Chloe: Ooh, Zoe. Look at Papa!

Zoe: You’re a bear too!

Papa Cat: I thought we could go as a bear family.

Zoe: Mama, where’s your costume?

Mama Cat: I feel silly dressing up like a bear. I don’t have a costume.

Zoe: But how can we be a bear family without a Mama Bear?

Chloe: Please, Mama? It’s just for the party.

Papa Cat: I got you a costume. We’ll be a handsome bear couple.

Zoe: Please??

Mama Cat really didn’t want to get dressed up, but the other three cats looked disappointed.

Mama Cat: Okay. But only this once. And no pictures.

As soon as they were dressed, they drove to the school. Mama had the salmon tarts she had promised to bring. When they arrived, there were a variety of animals wearing costumes walking from the parking lot to the school. They were met at the door by Ms Fishman, the girls’ teacher. (It’s a family name, she’s actually a groundhog.) The teachers had decided to all dress as witches. Apparently that was also a human custom.

Ms Fishman: Hello, Cat Family! You are all so cute! Come on in. The tarts look delicious. You can put them on the treat table over there.

She pointed to a table that was full of treats. Some of them were common animal foods, but there was also a large cake and a bowl full of candy. They were intended as decorations, but some of the dogs had already helped themselves. Fortunately, there was no chocolate. Mama Cat put her tarts near a bowl of kibble.

Zoe: Let’s go to the gym. That’s where the pizza is.

As they walked down the hall, there was an interesting smell. Mama Cat couldn’t identify it, but it wasn’t unpleasant. When they got to the Gymnasium, there waas a large table with all kinds of pizza. They all had the same crust, but there were a lot of toppings.

Chloe: Look, Mama. Some of them have fish on them. And that one has chicken.

Papa Cat: Yum! They smell delicious.

They each had a slice of anchovy pizza with a cup of cream.

Papa Cat: I really like this. Could you make it at home, honey?

Mama Cat: I suppose. But I think it would be better without the crust.

Zoe: Then it wouldn’t be pizza, Mama. You have to put the fish and the cheese on the crust.

Mama: Hmmf.

Papa Cat: What next, girls?

Chloe: We can either go to the scary room or the game room.

Papa Cat: What’s a scary room?

Zoe: It’s a dark room. You walk around and they try to scare you.

Chloe: Let’s do that!

Mama Cat: I think I’ll wait for you here. I don’t want to be scared.

Papa Cat: Okay, girls. Let’s go.

They walked around a large, dark room. Every time something popped up, the girls screamed. Papa Cat was holding their paws by the end.

Mama Cat: Did you like the scary room?

Zoe: It was pawsome! I was really scared.

Papa Cat: They did a good job with the scares. And the girls were very brave.

Chloe: Can we play Pin the Bone on the Skeleton next?

Mama Cat: That sounds safer. Let’s go there.

They got in line for the game. Each of the girls took a turn at being blindfolded, spun around and pointed toward the skeleton. They missed the target, but received glow-in-the dark bracelets for playing. Then they heard the announcement to go back to the gymnasium for the costume contest results. Lacey Lemur, the head of the PTA was going to announce the results.

Lacey: I want to thank everyone for coming. This has been a huge success and, hopefully, will be the beginning of a new tradition here at Xavier Q Hedgehog. Our judges have been walking around looking at the costumes. We were extremely impressed by the work that you have put into this. It was a hard decision, but we decided to go with a group award. The winners of the first annual Halloween costume award are Chloe and Zoe Cat who came as part of a bear family. Please come forward.

Chloe and Zoe ran up to the stage, followed by their parents.

Lacey: You’ve won a gift certificate to Howard’s House of Halibut. Now let’s get a picture for the school website.

The four cats posed for the picture. No one could tell that Mama Cat was cringing with embarrassment.

Pictured generated by Gemini AI