MOE’S HALLOWED EVE
Moe, the cat, was Wooffer’s special and best friend. Most cats can see and hear very, very well, but not Moe. Moe did not hear very well or even see very well, not even in the dark. When Moe listened, he always heard SOME thing, but what Moe thought he heard was often not exactly what was said and what he thought he saw might not really be there at all.
No one in the woods could ever make Moe believe that he was mistaken in what he thought he heard or saw, not even his best friend, Wooffer. The truth was that Moe did not know that he did not see or hear like everyone else. Moe was very nearsighted and almost deaf. If ever an animal needed glasses and a hearing-aid, Moe was one who did!
Moe went through his day thinking he was hearing and seeing what everyone else did. He was sure of it!
One day, near the end of October, Moe was snoozing beneath The Old Oak Tree when Old Agnes, Mother of Thousands, came strolling along with many of the young Thousands following close behind. They did not notice Moe snoozing in the tall grass at all.
Old Agnes was saying something to her children and Moe listened as hard as he could. Of course there was a lot of giggling and squeaking and leaping about by the little Thousands that caused Moe to be a little more distracted. All he heard was ‘Hallowed Eve . .. .tomorrow,’ and then all of the Thousands were out of sight.
Moe wondered about Hallowed Eve but not enough to wake up and seriously concentrate on what it might be. He considered it was more than likely just something that concerned field mice and went back to sleep and thought no more about it. The sun was warm on his back and he went on snoozing in the sun. He had just settled into a dream about a nice can of tuna that was smothered in chicken gravy when he was awakened by a great din of noise over his head in the branches of the Old Oak Tree. Three squirrels were having a very loud meeting. Moe heard it very clearly.
“We must decide on our costumes for Hallowed Eve! I was a hawk last year. I want to be an owl this year. When I knock on a door, they will sit up and take notice!” said Sir Doodah.
Mr. Hoity Toity laughed out loud thinking of Sir Doodah as a scary owl. He thought that the hawk costume that Sir Doodah had worn last year was the most frightening sight he had ever seen. It was so scary that he was going to wear it this year himself. Many a squirrel hid in their nest when they opened the door on that sight!
“What do you think of that, Mr. Corn?”
Mr. A. A. Corn replied, “Fine with me. I want to be a big black cat!” He was glaring down right at Moe.
Moe never noticed at all. As he listened to the plans the squirrels made about costumes, he began to wonder a little more about this ‘Hallowed Eve.’ First the field mice were talking about it and now the squirrels. He decided to keep his ears open and find out all that he could.
Just after dark, Moe curled up on the picnic table and washed his face and whiskers to get ready for bed for the night. He was just curling into a ball for a long night’s sleep when he saw the armadillo couple, Mildred and Claudie ‘Dillo, come out of their summer home in the ditch bank. A long line of little ‘Dillo’s were skipping along behind them singing at the top of their voices, “Been In The Creek, Smell My Feet, Give Me Something Good To Eat!” At least, that is what Moe heard. This was something to remember.
Hallowed Eve was a big holiday, it seemed. Everyone was dressing up like someone else, getting good stuff to eat just for singing a little song that did not even make sense was hard for Moe to sort out in his brains. Moe would ask Wooffer all about it in the morning. Wooffer was a very wise dog and he would know.
Early next morning, Moe caught up with Wooffer as he was on his way to visit they Bully Frogs in the ditch and began to tell Wooffer all about what he had heard concerning Hallowed Eve.
Wooffer listened with great interest.
“You mean they all dress up as someone else and go knocking on each other’s doors and say, ‘Been In The Creek, Smell My Feet, Give Me Something Good To Eat,’ and they get good things to eat everywhere they go?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes! That’s just it!” exclaimed Moe, who hadn’t gotten the whole thing clear in his own mind until Wooffer had explained it so well. “Could we have Hallowed Eve, too?”
Wooffer thought it was a great idea.
“Only, who could I be other than me and who could you be other than you?” he asked.
Moe thought for a long time.
“I know! You dress up as me and I will dress up as you!”
Wooffer and Moe both liked this idea very much. They tried all morning and into the afternoon to dress themselves up as each other. Nothing seemed to work. No matter what they did, they looked exactly like they always did. Wooffer looked like Wooffer and Moe looked exactly like Moe. Wooffer could not meow and Moe could not even begin to bark. It was hopeless. So, they decided to go as themselves, which was just as well.
The morning of Hallowed Eve dawned cool and crisp. The birds were singing their good morning songs, calling each other to breakfast and having a wing-ding of a time. The woods was aglow with the early morning sun sparkling in the dew on the grass. The spiders were busy weaving their new webs for the day, and life was good for every body and every creature.
By mid afternoon, the excitement began to build for Hallowed Eve to begin. Everyone was working on getting their costumes just right. Sir Doodah was practicing opening his eyes very wide so he could look like an owl and all of the Thousands had put on their best clothes. Each one had a little bag to put the good treats they were sure to get as they knocked on doors.
Wooffer was Wooffer and Moe was Moe.
Excitement was in the air!
As the stars began to twinkle in the darkness of the sky, the squirrels knocked on each other’s doors. Sir Doodah almost fell out of the tree when Mr. Hoity Toity opened his door dressed as a hawk. It took some explaining to make him understand that it was the very costume he, himself, had worn last year. It was a great hit. The story of the hawk costume and how Mr. Hoity Toity had frighten Sir Doodah is still told to this day when all the little squirrels are sitting around the branches nibbling on the treats they have gotten on Hallowed Eve. They all smile at Mr. Hoity Toity and roll their eyes at Sir Doodah.
Everyone was having a grand time looking at everyone else’s costume and talking about each place they had gone and what good treat they had received from each door.
There was a beautiful sound of joy on the wind that night that hung in the leaves and set the trees to whispering among themselves of the loveliness of the earth and all that surrounded them.
Wooffer and Moe set off for Old Agnes’ mouse house in the ditch bank.
Old Agnes was a remarkable mouse. She had a share in helping every one of the animals on in the woods.. Her small size had not prevented her and the Thousands from doing some very big deeds. The whole woods still talks about how the Thousands had saved Cho Lee Yen, the peacock, from starvation when he was attacked by mean dogs and could not walk. Everyone in the woods had worked together to make him well. Old Agnes and her family brought him all kinds of food to eat, even collard greens from the garden to give him strength. Old Agnes was one of a kind.
Wooffer and Moe knocked a loud, friendly knock on Old Agnes’ door and waited in joyous anticipation. They could hear the happy little squeaks of many voices coming from inside. A warm light was shining into the darkness from the tiny window in the front door and the smell of candy and apples floated on the breeze.
Old Agnes, herself, opened the door with a big bowl of treats in her arms, spilling some popcorn on the floor. She smiled out at Wooffer and Moe and said, “Happy Halloween, my dear friends! Welcome to our home!”
Wooffer and Moe looked at each other and sang out together, “Been In The Creek, Smell My Feet, Give Me Something Good To Eat!”
Old Agnes blinked, then blinked and blinked again. She could not contain herself. She began to giggle and jiggle and wiggle. She snorted and gasped until she burst out into a good loud laugh. Wooffer and Moe laughed, too, and not knowing what to do next, they decided to say it again.
“Been In The Creek, Smell My Feet, Give Me Something Good To Eat!”
They look with anticipation at the big bowl of treats in Old Agnes’s hands.
Old Agnes was still shaking with laughter as she screeched for the Thousands to can and “hear this!”
Wooffer and Moe were not too sure by this time, but they were obliged to repeat it again for the Thousands who all squealed at once, “You are doing it wrong! It goes, Trick Or Treat, Trick Or Treat, Give Me something Good To Eat,” and they all went off giggling and wiggling and laughing together imitating Wooffer and Moe saying, “Been In The Creek…”
Wooffer glared at Moe.
“Did you hear that, Moe? We should have said, Trick or Treat, Trick or Treat, Give Me Something Good to Eat!”
Moe said, “That’s what we said, isn’t it” Been In The Creek, Smell My Feet, Give Me Something Good To Eat?”
Old Agnes patted Moe on the head and gave him some treats. Wooffer went home to tell his mom all about the evening and especially about how Moe had gotten the words all wrong.
Moe went to sleep thinking that Hallowed Eve was one very strange Holiday, but nice because he got lots of treats.
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Love,
Betty
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