The Halloween Cat Meow!
Meow!
Meow! sang a black cat as she sat on the fence one Halloween.
Meow!
Meow!
Meow!
A dog growled.
The cat jumped down and hid under the porch steps.
She had never had a home or anyone to feed and love her.
Tonight, she was very hungry.
So when everything was quiet, she came out from under the porch.
The side door of the house was open just a little, and a light was shining out across the yard.
It looked so warm and bright inside. that the cat ran up on the porch and right into the house.
The black cat had never been in a house before and everything in the room seemed very strange to her.
A table was set for a party, and right in the middle of it was a jack-o'-lantern.
Light was shining from his round eyes and funny nose and wide mouth.
Oh, how frightened the black cat was until she saw that the jack-o'-lantern was smiling at her.
He looked like my good friend the moon, she thought.
He will not hurt me.
So the black cat jumped on the table and rubbed against the jack-o'-lantern.
He felt nice and warm.
Then, She looked all about her, and by each plate she saw a tiny black cat.
The tiny black cats looked like mice.
Perhaps these things are mice, she thought.
But how still they are!
She reached out and touched one of them with her paw, and the tiny cat fell over.
Its head came off and out rolled some small pieces of candy.
The black cat was so surprised that she jumped back and bumped against the smiling jack-o'-lantern.
When she found that she was not heard, she went on looking for something to eat.
A cup of milk was by each plate.
When the black cat saw the milk, she gave a loud meow.
She put her head down into one cup and drank every drop.
Suddenly, the cat heard a terrible noise.
Before she could jump off the table, a crowd of children ran happily into the room, shouting and blowing horns.
Some were dressed like brownies.
One was dressed like a witch and one like a fairy.
The black cat had never seen or heard anything like this before.
She was so frightened that she could hardly move.
But when the children came running over to the table, the black cat gave one big leap to the top of the jack-o'-lantern.
She dug her sharp claws into him and held on with all her might.
When the children saw a black cat in the middle of the table, they screamed and shouted with joy.
Look, mother, cried one boy.
A real black cat has come to our Halloween party.
Did an old witch bring her?
Kind little Ruth tried to coax her.
Come, poor kitty, nice kitty, she said, but the black cat only dug her claws deeper into the jack-o'-lantern.
Her tail grew big.
She humped her back up very high and showed her teeth.
Poor thing, she is afraid of the noise, said mother.
Stop shouting and blowing your horns.
Let us be quiet for a minute, and perhaps we can coax her to drink some milk.
Please get a saucer, Ruth.
Ruth poured part of her cup of milk into a saucer.
Mother set the saucer down on the floor.
Come, kitty, she said very softly.
When the black cat saw the milk, she leaped down and began to drink.
Poor hungry kitty, said mother, and she began to pet the cat.
No one else had ever fed and petted the black cat.
So when she had finished her saucer of milk, she lay down at Mother's feet and went to sleep.
She is a real Halloween kitty, said Ruth.
May we keep her?
Yes, said Mother.
I believe she will be pretty when we wash her.
What shall we name her?
Call her Wick.
That's a good name for a Halloween cat.
