It was another cold, winter evening in Elmwood. The air was crisp and the smell of woodsmoke and pumpkin spice wafted on the slight breeze, hanging heavily in the cold October air. "What a great evening for an adventure," thought B-Jay, the rather splendid, red beetle car, as he left the confines of the garage and headed towards the cottonwood tree.
He was more excited than ever. Not only was he going for yet another night adventure with his friends, but, this time, they had planned the evening and left nothing to chance. Tonight they were going to join the Halloween Parade in town. Halloween in Elmwood was a very serious celebration and tonight they wouldn’t just be observing the festivities from afar. No, tonight they would join them, each wearing a disguise to keep them safe from the humans. It was Aruna the Great Horned Owl's idea and it was perfect and quite possibly, foolproof. B-Jay marveled at how clever his friend was.
B-Jay's owner would not be using him this evening as he was staying home to watch scary Halloween films with friends that he had invited over from work. The coast would be clear for an adventure and he was feeling like a royal carriage from a fairy tale, decorated in shimmering gold tinsel and purple ribbons. He couldn’t wait to see what his friends were wearing.
“I feel absolutely ridiculous,” Cressida the very proud cat huffed, adjusting a tiny golden crown with her paw. She was dressed as an Egyptian Queen, complete with a beaded collar that she insisted was far too itchy for a cat of her stature. “A cat of my pedigree should not be wearing sequins in public. I guess that is what I should have expected relying on a dog to bring me an outfit.” She started pruning, hoping that her magnificent coat would draw attention away from her outfit.
“You look wonderful, very demure!” exclaimed Aruna the great horned owl, who was wearing a tall, star-speckled wizard's hat, which kept flopping forwards due to the size of his rather large ears.
“Dee what?” asked Digger Bo the badger, who himself was rather sparkly, dressed in an all-black outfit painted with glow-in-the-dark spots. He was so excited that he was practicing his high-speed tumbles, which made his spots look like the blurring light show from a disco ball.
“Demure!” voiced Aruna again, but before he could explain what it meant, Cressida butted in rather sharply. “Let it go, Aruna—let it go! I fear it would be so uninteresting the boredom will send the dog to sleep.”
B-Jay arrived just in time to change the conversation, pulling up next to them with his usual toot-toot from his horn. As he did so, Zippo appeared from behind the tree marveling at their fancy carriage for the evening.
“You look marvelous, B-Jay!” he chirped. The tiny ant was a perfect Jiminy Cricket, wearing a custom-made green top hat and tiny coattails. He tapped a toothpick "umbrella" on the dashboard before inquiring aloud. “Now, has anyone seen him? My conscience is telling me he’s nearby.”
“Seen who?” Maxwell the dog asked. His voice was muffled because he was wearing a giant, fluffy sheep costume. He looked like a very large, very confused cotton ball.
“Pinocchio!” Zippo cried, hopping into a dance pose, swiveling his top hat around like he usually did when wearing his baseball cap. “A cricket is nothing without his puppet!”
Just as he said that, Aruna flew down from the tree, grabbed the puppet with his rather large talons, and placed him squarely in the front seat next to Cressida. Cressida always took the front seat and shoved the wooden puppet up against the door, not wishing to give an inch of comfort away. Zippo didn’t notice as he was so excited standing on the dashboard, looking out of the window, and Digger Bo and Maxwell were unconcerned as they took up their usual seats in the rear. Meanwhile, Aruna clung to the headrest looking wizardly.
B-Jay pulled into the town square. It was a sea of orange lights and cheering crowds throwing candy. The parade had started and they snuck in unnoticed, stealing in front of the pirate ship. Cressida immediately started waving at the crowd in order to blend in.
“Wow—she really is taking her role seriously!” exclaimed Maxwell.
“Well, you do remember that her son was called Ludwig Gustav Clawhauser Fritz the 2nd, so maybe she really is a queen,” mused B-Jay.
They traveled slowly along 1st Street North, marveling at the other floats and the masses of people lining the sidewalk. There must have been more than 50 floats in total. They could see a Cinderella float, a Haunted House float with several occupants dressed in large white sheets looking like a box of Kleenex had exploded, some dancing Jack-o'-Lanterns, and a Witch and Wizard float adorned with bubbling cauldrons—the witches stirring the potions intently while the wizards waved sparkle wands above their heads, chanting several spells that they had obviously stolen from Harry Potter films.
A few minutes later the parade veered sharply left down Main Street and, just as B-Jay turned the corner, a single wave from Cressida's regal paw sent Pinocchio tumbling to the sidewalk. As it clattered to the ground, a small boy broke free of the crowd, picking up Pinocchio before hurling him onto the pirate ship. It was several minutes before Aruna remarked at the puppet’s disappearance.
Zippo grew frantic realizing that Pinocchio was no longer with them. “What is a Jiminy without his puppet?” He began to wail uncontrollably.
Aruna, who was very calm in desperate situations, immediately took charge, ushering orders out very loudly above the wailing noise: “Maxwell! Use that nose! Sniff out the puppet! We’re looking for pine with a hint of varnish!”
Maxwell began sniffing the air furiously, his sheep-suit wobbling. “I smell popcorn… I smell hot dogs… wait! I smell… wood!” With that smell deep in his nostrils, he turned sharply around on his seat, his gaze squarely centered on the pirate ship.
Suddenly, everyone turned and they saw him, not 10 feet behind them, stuck in the crow’s nest, his feet dangling from the rafters and his body crumpled like an unwelcome hostage!
“Shiver me timbers—he’s been kidnapped by pirates!” Zippo screamed, dropping to his knees. “Eeeee-heeee! Pinocchio! Stay brave!”
“I say we mount a rescue mission immediately,” said Cressida, sounding almost serious, not letting her unseen guilt show. “I will wave furiously and distract them while you boys go and board their vessel.”
“You could,” voiced B-Jay who was trying to console his tiny friend, “but what would it look like if the people watching were to see a dozen heavily armed pirates swinging their swords at a very fluffy, unarmed sheep? That would surely draw attention.”
“Yes, that is an excellent idea,” said Maxwell, feeling brave, having only heard the first part of the conversation. “My sheep costume is very fluffy and the padding will stop their swords from doing any real damage. I am ready when you are!” Maxwell stood high, arching his back. "Raise the Jolly Roger B-Jay, they'll be walking the plank in no time!"
“That’s it!” cried Aruna. “That's actually not a bad idea, Cressida!”
“Are you serious?” Cressida looked at him with a look she generally reserved for the dog. “Don’t tell me we are actually going to send the sheep. That’s really your plan?”
“No, no, of course not. We need a distraction, although I am not sure you waving is the kind we need,” replied the owl. “Digger Bo is the kind of distraction we need for this mission.” They all turned towards the badger, who had been relatively quiet until now, satiated with his usual tumbling, just stopping every now and then to observe the parade.
“Who, me?” he replied, looking rather confused.
“Yes!” replied Aruna. “What is the longest you think you could tumble for?”
“Is forever long enough?” replied the badger, thinking that it had to be a trick question seeing as he very rarely stopped.
“That should be long enough indeed,” replied the owl. “When I say go, I want you to tumble as fast as you can for as long as you can and hopefully, that light display you call an outfit will blind the pirates while I swoop in to rescue Pinocchio from the rafters. You must keep going, though, until I am safely back on board. Hopefully no one will see me as they will be too busy watching the light show.”
Zippo stopped his wailing as he knew how wise Aruna to be, and the plan certainly had merit. Everybody sat very still as Aruna began a countdown, anticipating a most daring rescue.
“Fingers crossed,” voiced Cressida sarcastically, adjusting her crown once more with a wry smile.
“3-2-1 and.................... GO!”
Digger Bo was so excited at being the hero of the story that he began tumbling on two, and by the time Aruna had reached "GO," he was at full speed. The lights from his outfit reflected everywhere. The crowd gasped and several cries of “ooooh” were heard as the street lit up like a 4th of July firework display. Cressida actually stopped waving and, for a fraction of a second, seemed quite impressed.
“Stay strong, Pinocchio!” cried out Zippo. “Your suffering will soon be short-lived.”
Before he had finished the sentence, the Owl swooped back aboard dropping the wooden puppet back to the front seat where he was eagerly greeted by a relieved Jiminy. The mission had been successful.
“My boy!” Zippo cried, hugging the puppet’s wooden leg. “I knew you’d come back to your conscience!”
“Well,” Cressida sighed, secretly relieved that she hadn’t been found out. “At least the badger’s constant spinning was finally useful for something other than making me dizzy.”
“That was the best rescue adventure ever!” voiced B-Jay, tooting his horn, his lights flashing in time with the parade music. “Now, though, I think we should head home before another tragedy befalls us.” Everyone agreed.
As they reached the end of Main Street they veered off, leaving the parade as it turned down a side street towards the final part of its route. Another mile or so and they would reach the cottonwood tree. The moon rose high as they approached, reflecting off Cressida’s sequins, and for a moment she really did look like an Egyptian Queen.
“You know,” Maxwell said, finally shaking off his sheep-hood. “That was the best adventure yet, even if no one could recognize what I came as tonight.”
“I know what you came as tonight,” said Aruna, “but I will let you explain it to everyone if you feel it is important.”
“A big bowl of cotton candy?” questioned Cressida, thinking that food was always the answer where Maxwell the dog was concerned.
“A sheep dog!” replied Maxwell, thinking he had outsmarted her, smiling as he revealed his genius.
Everyone laughed—even Cressida—as B-Jay pulled over by the tree, their costumes glittering under the Elmwood stars. It was indeed their best adventure yet!