It was late evening now and the sun had set. The searing, sticky heat was now replaced with the cooler balm of early night. The crescent moon was bright, sitting adjacent to the constellation of Orion and had settled high in the almost cloudless sky, casting an eerie glow across the hills and the surrounding landscape. Bats flicked and flitted above the trees, feasting on the incessant and annoying buzz of mosquitoes, visible only when their dark silhouettes happened to cross a passing cloud. Below, in the long seeded grass, crickets chirped, their calls echoing from left to right, and back again. The conditions were perfect for a night adventure.
B-Jay, the red Beetle car, was feeling more than a little apprehensive because, although he was looking forward to seeing his friends again, he had never ventured out on his own after dark. He reasoned with himself that fear and excitement often go hand in hand when facing the unknown, and even though he was anxious at having a new experience, that was no reason to stay in the familiar comfort of the garage where he felt safe and secure. No, he would steel his resolve and go bravely into the night. After all, his friends were expecting him and would soon be waiting at the cottonwood tree.
As soon as he felt he had the courage, he started his engine, easing slowly out of the garage. It was dark and quiet and he could hear the sound of his tires as they scraped against loose gravel. He checked his side mirrors then turned left at the end of the driveway, accelerating slowly onto the road. His lights shone brightly on everything that lay before him. He never looked back and focused on what lay ahead. Despite his apprehension, B-Jay took his time getting to the tree. Not because he didn’t want to have an accident, but more so because he was aware that many different animals inhabit the night hours and may cross his path unnoticed. He did not wish to hurt them.
Minutes later, he rounded the bend and inhaled sharply as he caught sight of the many glaring eyes that reflected back at him from the darkness. He hoped the eyes belonged to his friends. His fear was assuaged, and he was relieved when he noticed two of the eyes were rotating in a rather large circular motion. That had to be Digger Bo, the tumbling badger, tumbling as usual, even in the darkness. B-Jay tooted and flashed his lights.
As he pulled up at the cottonwood, he could clearly see his friends in the beam of his headlights. Aruna, the wise Great Horned Owl, whose eyes seemed much larger in the moonlight, was perched on one of the lower branches, his head turning round in a rather unnatural fashion as he scoped the world around him. Maxwell, the large St. Bernard dog, was busy following his nose, sniffing out the multitude of scents that it seemed existed everywhere. As soon as he had tracked one, he was off again in search of another. Cressida, the proud black cat, who as usual was busy grooming, sat calmly on her haunches at the base of the tree. Zippo, the tiny ant, was spinning around on his hands, throwing his baseball hat upwards at timely intervals while practicing his breakdancing. They all exchanged greetings, gathering together eagerly, before alighting to their usual positions in the car.
"So, do we have a plan for our nighttime adventure?" inquired Zippo as he proceeded to moonwalk backwards along the length of the dashboard. He startled everyone when he ended his dance routine with a loud shrieking, "Oowwwww!"
B-Jay remembered that they had said something on their previous adventure about telling scary stories, and given that he was already feeling slightly uncomfortable, it seemed prudent to make the most of the current atmosphere.
"I think that we have the perfect conditions for telling scary stories," he exclaimed. "Unless, of course, you are all too afraid, which I quite understand. I am feeling more than a little unsettled at the thought of it." His engine gave a nervous, low-idling throb.
"Yes—let’s do that!" hollered Zippo before anyone else could respond. "And as you mentioned it first, B-Jay, you can begin." Again, he finished the sentence with a heart-stopping screech while dropping to his knees in yet another dance pose. "Oooowwww!"
"Are you going to do that every time you speak?" inquired Cressida with a very disapproving look on her face, her ears pinning back against her head in annoyance. "And more importantly, why exactly are you doing it?"
"Sorry!" Zippo replied, pulling off a shoulder shimmy. "I have been listening to Michael Jackson all week. Eeeeee Heeeeee—Owwwww!" He pulled at both sides of his trousers, showing off white socks as he bent his knees, stepping onto his toes.
"So we can expect a rendition of 'Thriller' at some point," she muttered to herself, under her breath. Her eyes were wide with large pupils; her countenance remained catlike, calm but alert.
Once Zippo had finished entertaining them, or startling them with his sound effects, they all gathered around the cottonwood tree. Each of them took up a position that seemed most comfortable on the grass, except Aruna who perched on a very low branch, just off to the side.
Once Cressida had finished licking whatever needed licking and Maxwell had finished scratching whatever needed scratching and Digger Bo had finished tumbling the amount of times that needed tumbling, they all turned to Zippo, making sure that he had finally finished screeching the amount of times that needed screeching. Once that was sorted and they all seemed comfortable, Aruna nodded toward B-Jay and gave a click of his beak to let him know that everyone was ready.
B-Jay hadn’t expected to go first and, in truth, he hadn’t even thought of whether he had or knew any scary stories. He thought deeply for a minute, his bumper rattling nervously, and decided to tell the tale of when he was stranded, having lost a wheel. It had been the scariest moment of his life and seemed, therefore, appropriate. He hadn’t given it a thought that everybody knew the story, having helped him retrieve the wheel, but they let him tell the story while they listened quietly. Having witnessed the distress that B-Jay had shown that day, they all reasoned that it was, for him, a very scary experience. His lights flickered dimly as he finished telling the story, growing brighter once his nerves had calmed.
"Well done," voiced Aruna as B-Jay finished. "That must have been quite a scary ordeal. Thank you for sharing that with us!"
"Are you kidding me?" thought Cressida to herself. "How is that scary?"
Just as Aruna had finished and before Digger Bo could take his turn, there was a loud, ear-piercing screech that echoed across the field, followed by a deep howl that seemed to silence the landscape. They all flinched and looked at the pitch-black treeline, each one holding their breath.
"Now that, that was scary!" she thought as she licked her rather puffed-up tail, trying to reassure it back to its normal, slender size.
"Nothing to do with me," stammered Zippo, hiding behind Maxwell, figuring whatever it was it would likely avoid the big dog. He pulled his hat tight over his eyes as he nestled deep into Maxwell's fur.
Maxwell growled deep within his throat, lifting his nose to the air. The hair on his back prickled as he prepared himself to spring. The cold air filled his nostrils as he inhaled with several snorts.
A stray cloud crossed the moon above them and all around stayed deathly quiet. For at least a minute nobody spoke and nobody moved. Once Aruna had finished whipping his head around in every which way, scanning each direction at least half a dozen times and had assured them that any apparent danger had definitely passed, they continued with their tales.
"I had a scary dream one day," said Maxwell, going next; his body still shaking, making his collar jingle as he recalled the incident. "I had just had the most wonderful breakfast and was curled up on my blanket. I must have fallen asleep because, before I knew it, I was dreaming."
"There’s a surprise," mumbled Cressida, this time loud enough for everyone else to hear. "A dog falling asleep after eating—call the press!" She then lifted her hind leg behind her ear before licking between the claws.
Maxwell continued, "In my dream, I remember feeling so hungry. I was hungrier than I have ever been, and I have had many hungry moments in my life, but this was my hungriest hunger ever. Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, my master filled my food bowl with the best food I have ever tasted. It was so good, and I was so hungry, that when I had finished the food, I proceeded to eat the food bowl as well. Suddenly, it occurred to me that if I had no bowl for my master to put the food in, then I would not be fed again. At that point, I remember waking up trembling. It was scary."
"That must have been quite a dream," voiced Aruna, taking on the role of the talk show host for the evening. "No wonder you felt scared!"
"Scary dreams can be very scary," acknowledged Digger Bo with a shaky voice, eager to go next. He popped up from the entrance of his burrow, where he apparently had run to when the howl occurred, his nose still wiggling nervously as he began his tale.
"My story is not about a dream," he stated. "My story is even more terrifying because I was awake. One day I was tumbling. As you all know, I like to tumble all the time—it makes me happy. But, on this particular day in question, I decided to tumble more than I have ever tumbled. I wanted to see if I could tumble a new record amount of tumbles, so I was tumbling profusely, with every muscle in my body. I tumbled so much that I had to stop to catch my breath. Well, as I was catching my breath, I noticed that everything around me was spinning and spinning while I was not. I suddenly feared that all my tumbling had made the world tumble in the opposite direction. I did not know what to do, as I was frozen with the thought that from that moment on, everything in the world would be tumbling except me."
Suddenly Cressida erupted into very uncharacteristic laughter as she realized that the badger had merely scared himself by making himself dizzy. Digger Bo was pleased to have made her laugh and began tumbling again.
"Well, if you find that story amusing," said Maxwell, his ears flicking backward as his eyes widened, facing her squarely. "I am going to assume that your story will be quite something to hear."
Cressida was more concerned with grooming her tail to respond to the dog’s comments but decided to say something despite her apathy. "I could," she said, letting her tail flick to the side, allowing it to puff up once more, "tell you about the day I ran out of cat spit—which as all cats will tell you is a magical substance—and feared that my fur would end up matted and dull, like a dog’s. I could even go so far as to tell you a story about a cat having nine lives being a gross over-exaggeration. I could tell you all this and more, but right now someone else needs to tell their tale as I am too busy." She then stood up stretching as if speaking somehow involved effort, before realigning herself back on the same warm part of the grass. Once satisfied she relaxed, tucking her legs completely underneath her torso, then rested her head on her paws.
In the meantime Zippo had reappeared and began whispering something to B-Jay, who suddenly turned out his headlights, leaving all around them pitch black. Seconds later, he turned his lights back on, and a shape resembling a camping tent appeared on the base of the tree as Zippo contorted his hands expertly, with a masterful display of shadow puppetry. Zippo seemed more excited than scared, contorting his face to match his narrative. When he had captured everyone’s attention he began.
"I am going to tell you about the day the aliens came," he said slowly, crouching, cocking his head to the side. He continued manifesting different shadows on the base of the tree as he told it, his gaze never averted as each expression unfolded. "It was a normal day in the park. Normal, that was, until a triangular-shaped UFO suddenly appeared very near to our ant colony." Once again he made the shape of a tent on the base of the tree. "Many aliens appeared from the craft and began shining bright beams of light at the ground. They were giants, and they made a deep droning sound that I assume was some form of communication. None of the ants that were there that day understood what they were saying, even the elders were perplexed, and we were not sure what they were looking for with their beams of light. Seeing as ants are curious, we gathered closer to the ship. It was then that the ground began to shake and tremble, and all around us we heard the sound of ants screaming as many large alien limbs squished them into the ground, crushing the life out of them. The colony flew into a state of panic, and we began to flee quickly in all directions. That was the day I lost my aunt, my great uncle, and several cousins. The colony hasn’t recovered from that scary alien invasion, and several ants now refuse to leave the safety of the colony."
As he finished his tale, B-Jay turned out the headlights again and everyone remained quiet as Zippo returned to his spot on the grass. He took a bow as everyone started clapping. Even Cressida gave him an approving smile. Or at least that is what he figured as he sat down, waiting for Aruna to speak next.
"That was quite a tale," said Aruna, stretching to his full height before opening his eyes as wide as they would stretch. "Which leaves just one more tale to be told." He paused, like a teacher would before beginning his lecture, stretched his wings before flapping them back into place, clearing his voice with a subtle hoot. Then, he began.
"My tale is called the Solstice Sun and was something that I endured as a very tiny, not-so-wise owlet. My very knowledgeable father once told me about how the sun and the moon are joined together by a cosmic string." He looked to the sky as if to show them, then looked back continuing the story.
"When the sun is at its highest position in the sky, it begins to be pushed back toward the ground by a very powerful force called gravity. As the sun is joined to the moon by this cosmic string, when the sun is pushed downward, so the moon is pulled upward. This same effect happens then to the moon, causing it to fall and the sun to rise. And so the cycle happens every day." He turned on the branch, adjusting his footing, gripping his talons round the bark tightly as if the tree was about to take flight.
"Well, this was not scary until my first summer solstice when I sat there as I did every day, perched upon my usual branch, waiting to watch the sun go down. I waited and I waited until my internal clock told me that something was wrong. It should have happened by now. The moon should have appeared, but the sun was still there in the sky." At this point in the story he shrank, pushing his neck down into his chest, collapsing onto his talons. He seemed smaller by doing so, which made his eyes appear even larger. He then leaned forward, toward them all before telling them the rest of the tale.
"I grew confused. I looked at the sun, wondering if maybe the cosmic string had got tangled somehow. I then began to fear that maybe the sun had got stuck between two branches of a distant tree and was unable to break free. It was most disconcerting, and I feared the moon might never appear again. I started to cry. Then my father explained to me that the summer solstice was the longest day of the year and that the sun stayed out later in the evening." He quickly stretched back to his normal proportions before exclaiming quite nonchalantly, "Obviously, now I am much wiser, but back then it was a scary moment for me."
They all agreed that the last tale must be true, as the time it had taken to tell all their tales had seen the moon disappear to be replaced by the early morning twilight. Though none of them could quite see the cosmic string that he had spoken about.
"Well, that surely passed the time," remarked Cressida, stretching out fully, before climbing back to her feet. "I have to say that was almost entertaining."
"Oh yes," replied Digger Bo with a twitch of his fluffy chin and a quick shake from his stout rump, "that was quite scary!"
"Oooooooooooooooooow," screamed Zippo unexpectedly, making everyone jump. He laughed to himself before offering his thoughts on the evening. "We should do this again. This was awesome. What did you think B-Jay?" he questioned with a sideways glance.
B-Jay exclaimed, "I have come to realize that we all have fears and scary moments in our lives. What has been most revealing is that what is scary for one person may not be scary to another. Fear can be a very strong emotion and is the same for everyone, even if the thing that scares us is subjective. Even though it might seem silly to someone else, it is not silly for the person who is feeling it." He then started his engine, preparing to make his way home. After all their tales he might even drive with his full beams on, just to be on the safe side.
"I concur," said Aruna, with a blink of both eyes and a click of his beak. "I think you summed that up perfectly. Maybe we could have another nighttime adventure, as this has been another most memorable time."
"So does that mean we are not going to finish the night off with a rendition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller?" questioned Zippo, with a sheepish grin. "Only I have been practicing the choreography all week. I could teach you!"
With that, he flicked his baseball hat forward and accompanied it with MJ’s famous foot flick, before spinning into a hysterical dance routine. Seconds later he froze on the spot. "Maybe next time then?" he inquired, before launching into another ear-wrenching screech, "Eeee – heeee - Owwwww!" And then he was dancing again.
As soon as the laughter stopped, which was long before Zippo’s epic dance routine did, they all said their goodbyes, then headed off in different directions. After a careful drive home, B-Jay closed the garage door behind him and, although he was feeling tired, he wasn’t sure that he could fall asleep immediately as he was still pondering the tales that he had heard. The sun rose shortly after, just as he drifted off to sleep.