Gary and Morris and the Missing Jack-O-Lanterns

It was a warm fall day at the Hervey Foundation for Cats. Gary and Morris were having fun running around the shelter while Marjorie and her army of volunteers were decorating the place in advance of their Halloween party.

There were paper skeletons, ghosts, witches, jack-o-lanterns, and even black cats! Orange and black balloons adorned the walls giving way to orange and black streamers tacked to each corner.

A series of banquet tables had been put together in a row, with Halloween-themed tablecloths. On top of those tablecloths were bowls of Halloween punch, savoury hors d’oeuvres, and a bounty of Halloween treats – candy, chocolate, chips and popcorn! Putting it lightly, The Foundation was ready for the party of the year.

“I can’t wait until our guests get here!” said Marjorie. “The place looks amazing!”

Gary started pawing at an orange streamer.

“Little boy! Leave that streamer alone!” Marjorie said.

Gary flicked his tail and walked over to Morris.

“Nice looking streamer there, eh Morris?” he said.

“Yeah, I would’ve done the same,” Morris replied.

“Are you excited about the party?” Gary asked.

“I am!” he replied. “I just love this time of year. Though over the past few years, we’ve seen some pretty spooky stuff so I’m happy to stay in.”

“You boys want a treat?” Marjorie called out while shaking a bag of treats.

The two cats ran over to her, purring loudly.

“We’re going to have a lot of guests over tonight. I hope you two have lots of fun!”

Gary and Morris finished their treats and rubbed up against her legs, purring.

“I have to go pick up a few things from the store. We should see trick-or-treaters starting soon… and guests!” she said excitedly. “The volunteers are here, though, so you should be all set.”

One of the volunteers walked over to Marjorie and started talking to her. Once in a while Gary and Morris would feel a hand reach down to pet them. After a quick conversation, Marjorie headed to the door.

“See you soon everyone! Can you folks make sure all the jack-o-lanterns are finished, lit up, and put outside on the front step?”

Gary and Morris decided to get a bite to eat.

“Let’s go to the kitchen,” said Gary. “Those treats got my mouth watering!”

“Face it, Gary, everything gets your mouth watering. You eat more than any other cat I know!” said Morris.

“Excuse me?!” Gary proclaimed. “I do not eat more than any cat you know! That is rude! We both know Agatha the Tabby eats more than both of us combined and she is quite a nice lady.”

“Shhh!” said Morris. “Clearly I was joking, but don’t let Agatha hear you! I wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings!”

Just that moment, Agatha the Tabby waddled past them to dine on a bowl of weight loss kibble.

“Good evening Gary and Morris!” she said kindly.

“Hey, Agatha. Nice night out!” the two cats replied.

“Phew. That was close,” said Gary.

They had a quick chuckle and then chowed down on some of their favourite kibble.

»

About an hour had passed since the two cats dined adjacent to Agatha the Tabby. Gary was on top of one of the banquet tables investigating the spread, while Morris had found a nice comfy place in the mouth of a giant plastic skull.

Marjorie had only been home from the store for about five minutes when there was a ring of the doorbell and a chorus of children’s voices.

“HAPPY HALLOWEEN!” they cried out.

Gary bolted over to the door and Morris slipped out of the plastic skull in his usual cool, casual way.

“Coming!” said Marjorie, as she ran over to open the door.

There were three little kids dressed in costumes. One of them was dressed as a zombie, another a ghost, and the last one was dressed as Taylor Swift.

“Don’t you three look great!” said Marjorie, as she put a candy in each other their pillowcases.

The kids thanked her and took off for the next house.

“How fun!” said Marjorie.

The doorbell rang again, only this time there wasn’t a group of kids on the other side, there was a group of party guests! In the group, there was a witch, a devil, Freddie Mercury, a policeman, a giant yellow chicken, and Madonna!”

“Hey Marjorie! Place looks amazing!” said the chicken.

“And don’t all of you too!” she replied.

The guests continued to chat with Marjorie as they went inside.

Gary and Morris lay down near the entrance to watch everyone coming and going.

“This is the part I like the most,” said Gary. “When the humans dress up like a bunch of different things, I get such a kick out of it!”

“I get a little overwhelmed sometimes,” said Morris. “There’s just so much to look at!”

More guests came and went over the next hour, each with costumes seemingly more elaborate than the previous.

Then suddenly there was a ring at the door, and when Marjorie went to answer, nobody was there…

“It looks like someone is playing a prank on us!” she said back to the party guests.

One of the volunteers, who was dressed as Dracula, popped their head out the door and looked around.

“Yep! Nobody here! Must be a… Wait a minute. The jack-o-lanterns are missing!” they cried.

Gary and Morris stood and looked at each other.

Marjorie and a few party-goers walked out front to inspect everything.

“There were eight pumpkins here!” said the volunteer.

“Well, they’re all gone!” said Marjorie.

“Someone must have stolen them. I bet you it was neighbourhood kids,” said one of the guests.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” said another.

The cats now were looking at each other seriously.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” said Gary.

“I think I am,” said Morris.

Both cats jumped down and slid past the party guests while the door was open. The air had now started to cool down having been dark out for a couple of hours.

“Who do you think might have stolen the jack-o-lanterns?” asked Gary.

“That’s a good question,” said Morris. “The group of humans seemed to think it was other humans, younger ones.”

“That might be true. They did ring the doorbell after all,” said Gary.

“True. Let’s see if we can find any clues,” said Morris.

The cats waited for the humans to go back inside and then started to search around the property. They began by examining the area where the jack-o-lanterns once stood. Sniffing carefully at the ground, then the doorbell, they made their way around the perimeter. Just as it seemed like the thieves hadn’t left any clues at all, Gary found something.

“Morris! Come here!” he said.

Gary was standing overtop an overturned candle.

“It smells like a pumpkin,” he said. “And I love the taste of pumpkin!”

Morris sniffed the candle and then let out a faint meow.

“You’re right! Let’s see if we can follow the scent.”

The two cats smelled around the area of the candle for a while until Morris picked up another clue. There was a pumpkin seed on the ground.

“Found something!” said Morris. “I think I found a trail! Let’s keep going this way.”

The two cats started walking down the road together. It was bumpy and cool, with lots of other trick-or-treaters passing by. Some of them thought the cats were scary, or a bad omen, but others came up and gave them some pets.

“I really do love Halloween,” said Gary. “The weather is just right, the mood is right, and everyone is out having fun.”

Just then they came across a major clue. It was a fully smashed pumpkin, right on the side of the road.

“Let’s investigate,” said Morris.

The cats walked over and started sniffing around the pumpkin carcass. Then Gary noticed there was a piece of pumpkin with the outer shell still intact, and it had a stamp on the side, reading ‘Hervey Foundation for Cats’.

This was huge.

“We must be close,” said Gary.

The cats stood around trying to decide which direction to go in when they heard the voices of teenagers laughing and shouting.

“Stay low. Let’s go see where that’s coming from,” said Morris.

The cats got down on their bellies and crept through the grass toward an old tree several metres away from the road.

Behind the tree they saw a group of teenage humans. They weren’t dressed up like everyone else. In fact, they looked normal… suspiciously normal for a Halloween night.

“What’re they doing?” asked Gary.

“I think they’re just standing around. One of them is breathing smoke out of their mouth and they all seem to be laughing.”

“Do you see the jack-o-lanterns?”

“I think so, but it doesn’t look good.”

There was a pile of smashed-up pumpkins a few feet from the tree. Two of the humans were stepping on them and laughing it up.

Just then, however, there was a noise from the forest nearby. It was a deep, screeching supernatural sound. Like ghosts being released into the sky.

The two cats froze in their tracks, ears back, eyes wide like pie plates, scanning the terrain.

Guess who also froze in their tracks? The young humans.

“What was that, guys?” asked one of them.

“I have no idea,” said another.

“That was really creepy.”

Then, from the forest, came a massive beam of turquoise-green light.

The cats remembered seeing a similar light like that after encountering some witches in the forest. It was Halloween night and they could very well be in there again – conjuring their magic.

“You don’t think-” said Gary.

“I think so,” said Morris, cutting off Gary. “I think those witches might be back.”

“Let’s get out of here!” said one of the young humans.

They raced to gather up their belongings and ran as fast as they could.

Gary and Morris waited until it was clear to get back up and walk over to the pile of broken pumpkins.

“Confirmed, these are the ones from The Foundation,” said Gary.

“What should we do?” asked Morris.

“I have an idea!” said Gary. “Follow me!”

Gary took off for the forest where the green light had emanated from.

“You… you sure about this?” said Morris, sheepishly.

“Even if there are witches in the forest, they didn’t hurt us last time!” Gary replied.

Gary led the way, past where they’d seen the light and all the way to Bullwinkle’s cabin.

“Bullwinkle! Come outside!” they yelled.

“Gary? Morris? Is that you?” he said.

“We need you!” they replied.

“I’ve been hiding inside with the raccoon family since that big sound echoed through the trees,” the big moose replied.

“And… and the sky changed colour,” said Papa Raccoon.

“It’s okay! Nothing bad will happen. It’s difficult to explain, but you can trust us,” said Gary.

“And we need your help!” said Morris.

Bullwinkle came outside, raccoons in tow, and the cats explained to them what they’d been up to. Gary and Morris wanted to make sure that even though the pumpkins were already broken, they wouldn’t let them go to waste. There were plenty of woodland friends who could enjoy them as a yummy nutritious meal.

Bullwinkle agreed and felt more confident with the cats at his side. Mama and Papa Raccoon were also excited as their family loved eating pumpkin.

“Hop on!” he said. “Let’s go get them!”

The cats and raccoons jumped on his back and off they went up to the side of the road.

Once upon the pile of pumpkins, they all disembarked from Bullwinkle’s back and started loading pieces of pumpkin on him.

“There’s plenty of room fellas! Load it all up!” he said.

After a short period of time, they’d loaded all the pumpkins and were ready to roll.

“Alright, let’s get these back to my place very carefully,” said Bullwinkle.

“Mama and Papa Raccoon? Baby Raccoons? You all ready to go?”

“We’re good to go!” they said.

“Gary and Morris? Load is secure?”

“Load is ready!” they said.

And with that, Bullwinkle strode back to his cabin, with seven broken pumpkins, two cats, and a family of raccoons all on his back. They left the one by the side of the road where it was to avoid humans catching a glimpse of a moose with cats, raccoons and pumpkins on him.

Once at the cabin, they unloaded the pumpkins and brought them inside.

Mama and Papa Raccoon decided they’d take some large pieces home for supper, and in the morning, they’d tell all their friends to come and get some for themselves.

Gary and Morris felt quite accomplished. They’d solved the mystery and found a way to turn a bad situation into one that would benefit many of their friends. All in all, it was a good Halloween.

“Thanks for your help, everyone!” said Gary.

“Yes! We really appreciate it!” said Morris.

“You guys always surprise us,” said Mama Raccoon.

The animals all bid farewell to one another and took off for their own respective homes.

When Gary and Morris got back to The Foundation, the party was in full swing. They slipped in through the back door and into the living room area where people were talking, dancing, sipping on drinks, and eating the delicious food Marjorie and the volunteers had set up.

“There you are! My boys!”

It was Marjorie. She scooped them up in her arms and gave them a big hug.

“You two won’t believe what happened tonight! We had over 100 trick-or-treaters, everyone loves the food and the music is perfectly spooky… and someone took our jack-o-lanterns! Despite that, everything has been so great. We have friends, family, and a wonderful party!”

The cats looked at each other.

“I wish we could tell her,” said Morris.

“Me too!” said Gary.