It was late on Halloween night.
The candles inside pumpkins were flickering, low lolly wrappers blew across the footpath and every kid in town was tucked up in bed.
Every kid, except for one dog.
Squeezy the newshound was out on patrol.
He'd promised to make sure no trick or treaters had egged the letterbox at Squiz Kids HQ.
Good boy, Squizzy.
He sniffed under the bushes, checked the bins and was about to head inside when the beam of his torch caught something hanging from a branch.
A pair of old headphones, tangled in cobwebs.
Curious, he brushed them off. slipped them over his floppy ears and froze.
Follow the light that flickers low, where the shadows dance and the gum trees grow.
Squeezy gulped.
What was that?
A ghost on the radio?
Only one way to find out.
He straightened his detective coat, flicked on his torch and followed the rhyme into the dark.
The first clue was easy.
A trail of flickering pumpkin lanterns leading toward the park.
But halfway down the path, something yanked at his coat.
He spun around, fur-bristling, certain that a ghost had grabbed him.
Then he saw it.
His coat was snagged on a long metal pole poking from a bush.
He leaned closer.
No, not a ghost, not a pole, but an aerial.
And attached to the aerial was a blinking red light.
A little receiver.
If you're brave enough to seek, follow the rustle and the creak.
Squizzy's tail twitched.
Rustle and creak?
Was that creak, C-R-E-A-K?
Or could that be creak, C-R-E-E-K, like the little waterway near the playground?
Near the swings he found a half-eaten bag of jelly snakes and a glow stick that had been dropped on the ground, still faintly shining green.
He sniffed the air.
Sugar and mischief.
Hmm, definitely kids around.
Then, another whisper fizzed through the headphones.
Closer now, the secret's near, under the light that disappeared.
He turned off his torch, and there it was.
Across the park, an orange glow pulsed behind the trees.
Squizzy crept closer, his heart thudding like a drum.
Through the flap of a small tent, he saw them.
A group of kids in Halloween costumes, surrounded by walkie-talkies, laptops and cables.
A cardboard sign read, Spooky FM, broadcasting live.
They weren't ghosts at all, just clever pranksters running their own pirate Halloween radio show.
Squizzy wagged so hard that his badge jingled, and when the kids spotted him, they cheered.
It's the detective dog from Squizz Kids!
You found us!
They handed him a headset and a jelly snake, and together they went on air.
Tonight we have with us Squizzy the Detective Dog, reminding listeners to keep your tails wagging and your treats safe.
Laughter filled the tent.
The show signed off with one last cheerful...
Later, the park was quiet again.
Squizzy walked home beneath the gum trees, the moonlight silver on his fur.
Back at HQ, he placed the old headphones up on his desk and curled up for a well-earned nap.
Good night, Detective Dog.
And that's how Squizzy solved the case of the haunted headphones.
Another mystery cracked.
And another night's work for our very brave newshound.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I think it's time I went off to bed.
What on earth?
Come back soon.
I probably just... feedback happy halloween everyone