To Gaga

Once upon a time, there was an immature mouse named Ralph who was two years old, afraid of centipedes, and interested in Legos. His mom was Bianca, a gentle mouse who liked to sew and bake cookies for Ralph.  Sue, his bossy older sister, who was also polite, disliked cleaning and changing Ralph's diaper.    

It was a spooky Halloween night, and Bianca was carefully feeding Ralph his dinner, delectable baby oatmeal. Sue was complaining enviously that she had to eat revolting pasta instead of oatmeal.  

Yuck!

After dinner, they excitedly put on their Halloween costumes to go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  It was Ralph's first time trick-or-treating so Sue was worried that they could not travel to the creepy haunted house. She frowned as she put on her queen costume and Ralph put on his pumpkin costume.

When they opened the door, there was a cow named Jigsaw who did middle school math worksheets and was Ralph's friend.  He was  not dressed in a costume so Ralph could recognize him.  Jigsaw told Ralph, "Don't go to the haunted bounce house.  They only give cotton candy.  Blech!  Don't go to the house on the corner because it belongs to a witch.  Last year, somebody went in there and never came out."  

Sue commented, "Instead of going to the bounce house, we will go to the formidable haunted house where the witch lives." Bianca replied, "We will see about that." Overjoyed, they set off trick-or-treating, hoping for marshmallows to eat and Halloween stickers.  

First, they visited Hedgie's house where the cute and pleasant hedgehog lived.  He gave them yummy candy corn and a copy of his autobiography, Hedgie's Big Adventure for Ralph.  Ralph was hesitant to go to the haunted house because Sue said they were going there next.    

As they approached the spooky old manor, Ralph felt like the house would come out and eat him up in a few bites.  Sue bravely peered into a window. The room looked dark, dusty, and creepy with furniture with broken legs.  The outside had broken windows, a tilted door, and cobwebs everywhere.  There was an old, gnarled tree where a well-mannered owl lived, writing scary ghost stories.  

outside

inside

They knocked loudly on the door.  No answer. They opened the door slowly, careful not to break the leaning door, which was quite broken. It led to a very old living room with a brick fireplace with a broom inside.