Desmond

It was Halloween night and Desmond, the black cat, walked the streets of his neighborhood. Jack o' lanterns illuminated his way as trick or treaters dashed door to door, saying they're mantra, ''trick or treat.'' There were clowns and baseball players, werewolves, witches and goblins. A brother and sister team, 9 and 12, followed behind a living ventriloquist dummy named Blank. He leered at the cat. ''What are you doing here, Desmond?'' Blank asked. ''I thought I got rid of you.''

''Got yourself a couple more living slaves, huh?'' Demond said.

Blank snapped his finger and flashed a toothy, crooked grin. ''We're not slaves,'' the brother and sister, big smiles plastered to their faces. ''We hang out with Blank due to our own freewill,'' the brother and sister said.

''Very good, children,'' Blank said.

Desmond shook his head. ''You lie through your teeth.''

''I've heard just about enough from you,'' Blank said. ''I'll feed you to a St. Bernard.''

''Shut up or I'll lead you to the termites and let em have a picnic on your head, jerk,'' Desmond said.

Blank stretched out and then placed a hand over his mouth. ''You're so tedious and boring, I want to pass out speaking to you.''

''Probably because your head is wooden and hollow, like a politician! You can't comprehend my words,'' Desmond said.

Green mist poured out of his mouth, and it enveloped everyone in a thick fog. When the fog cleared Desmond found himself in a cemetery. Zombies started rising from their graves. Desmond hid behind a tombstone. ''I see Blank is up to his old tricks again,'' Desmond said. ''Zombies? Could that little wooden creep be more cliche?''

Desmond weaved in and out between the legs of the shuffling horde. ''This is like taking candy from a baby.'' He came to the cemetery gate and saw the brother and sister standing there. ''I'm going to find a way to break the spell, kids,'' Desmond.''

The sister placed her hand over her mouth and chuckled. ''Silly cat,'' she said. ''You're going to die.''

The sister picked Desmond by the tail and flung him toward the ravenous zombie horde. He landed inches from one of the zombies' feet. Desmond scampered up the zombie's pants leg and scaled its body until he was on top of the creature's head and dove 0ff. He ran away, dodging zombies and when he got back up to the gate he raced past the brother and the sister and slid through the bars.

He ran away as fast as he could, and he heard Blank chuckling. ''You'll never defeat me! I'm too clever for you!''

Desmond felt the ground start to give way. Chunks of earth started falling away all around the cat. He had to leap across a wide gap to land on a bit of sidewalk safely. He was in a familiar neighborhood. He knew Mr. Graves lived here. He had created Blank; he would know how to destroy the dummy. He snuck inside the darkened house and found that it had been deserted long ago.

''This can't be,'' Desmond said. He found termites gnawing on what remained of the wooden banister. Desmond knew what he must do. He waited for the creepy jerk to show up. He paced out in front of the window. His child slaves lumbered behind him, and he chased Desmond into the house through the open window. Desmond started to run up the steps. Blank followed him the cat up the steps and growled. ''I'll skin you!''

Desmond raced underfoot and made Blank stumble. He grabbed the termite ridden banister and his entire hand was devoured by termites in seconds. He fell back and he and the children took a tumble and their wooden heads cracked open when they hit the floor. ''They were dummies all along!'' Desmond shouted. ''You scared me and made me believe those children were real and in danger!''

The termites swarmed over Blank and devoured him in mere seconds. He raced up the steps and the termites happily munched their way through the steps, causing parts of it to collapse in on itself and fall. He took one look back at the house, feeling a sense of relief. ''Blank is dead,'' Desmond thought. ''He can no longer harm another living soul!'' He heard ghastly groaning and remembered the zombie horde. ''Oh crap,'' Desmond said. ''I hate Halloween.''