The Day-After-Halloween Fright
Ebook by Darby Dobbs
© D. Dobbs, 2010. All rights reserved.
Smashwords edition, first electronic edition.
Published by: MoMatters
ISBN 978-0-9830986-0-7
Rating: Not rated yet.
Published: November 2010
Category: Children's fiction, Animals, Entertainment, Values for children, Patriotism, Government, Constitution, Halloween
Words: 3004
Language: English
Ebook description: It’s the day after Halloween at All-Animal Elementary and the students bring their candy for a special event. They soon discover it’s not the candy weighing contest they expect. Mrs. Frackenbristle has other more diabolical plans...
“Don’t take your freedom for granted.” Anonymous
1. The Project
It was the day after Halloween at All Animal Elementary, and Monkey’s classroom was abuzz.
Mrs. Frackenbristle clamped her beak in a line, rapped her ruler and said, “I hope you brought your trick-or-treat candy for our project today.”
Everyone looked around to see what everyone else had brought. Most students had their candy in paper bags. Some had pillow cases or plastic jack-o-lanterns. Know-It-All Rat had a wagon.
Kinkajou had a bulging pillow case on his desk.
“Seriously,” he said. “I could hardly lug it in.”
The class snickered.
“Whoa,” said Monkey. “You have almost as much as me.”
“I’ve got more,” said Kinkajou.
Mrs. Frackenbristle fluffed her giant wings and rapped the ruler again.
“No fooling around,” she said. “Our special project starts with your candy...and a lesson in math.”
“Anything but history,” said Monkey, as he sneaked a piece of his Halloween candy.
Kinkajou agreed.
Ms. Violet, the teacher’s assistant, clomped her hooves as she rolled a large weighing scale into the room.
“Cool,” said Kinkajou.
“Mrs. F is going to weigh our candy, and the one with the most wins,” whispered Monkey.
“I could have told you that,” said Know-It-All Rat, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
“Me too,” said Pig.
Mrs. Frackenbristle was known for the Halloween candy weighing. The winner got early recess for a month.
“I’m going to win,” said Monkey.
“Yeah? Well maybe I will,” grunted Pig, who had secretly wrapped some rocks in an empty Skittle's bag and added them to his loot.
“Please dump your candy onto your desks,” said Mrs. F.
The class snickered as Dog stuck part of his Halloween costume on.
“And take the mask off, Dog,” frowned Mrs. F. “Halloween’s over.”
Clattering sounds could be heard as the students dumped their candy out. Everyone looked again to see what everyone else had.
“Landslide,” yelled Kinkajou. He scooped both arms around his candy stash to keep it on the desk.
“Yum,” said Monkey, sneaking another piece of his loot.
“Hey, want to trade me your Willy Wonka bar for a Tootsie Roll Pop?” asked Monkey.
“Do you think I’m crazy?” asked Kinkajou.
Dog saw Cat’s tiny pile. “You have hardly any trick-or-treats Cat,” he said. “You can have some of mine.”
Dog slipped Cat a pack of M & M’s and a Kitcat bar. Meerkat pitched in a pack of candy corn. Rabbit gave two sour balls.
“Could I have your Mars bar too?” asked Cat.
“I’ll take some extra,” said Pig, “if you’re giving it away.”
2. Is This A Joke?
Before any more could be said, Mrs. F banged her ruler and grabbed a tub the size of a laundry basket.
Ms. Violet blinked her doe eyes. “I’ll help you with that,” she said.
The students murmured.
“Ms. Violet is coming around to your desks,” Mrs. F explained. “We’re going to deposit everyone’s candy in the tub.”
Monkey’s mouth flew open. “What?!!” he said.
“Is this a joke?” scowled Kinkajou.
Everyone looked at everyone else.
“Hey, hold on!” said Know-It-All Rat. “Is this a some kind of takeover?” He shot to his feet.
“Wait a minute,” said Meerkat, hugging her pile of loot. “How will I get my stuff back?”
“I want my stuff,” she sniffed. “I don’t want somebody else’s.”
“Yeah,” said Monkey. “I went trick-or-treating on the hills. They give out the good stuff. I don’t want to trade my Snickers bars for Cat’s Bazooka Bubble Gum.”
The students leaned forward to hear what Mrs. F’s solution was.
“Well,” she said. “Tough luck then.”
More mouths opened. “You won’t be getting the same candy back. Or the same amount,” she added.
“But I was going to start a candy store,” cried Monkey.
“Am I crazy?” yelled Kinkajou. “I must be hearing things.”
“No, you are not hearing things,” said Mrs. Frackenbristle.
“This year we are ‘redistributing’ our candy. The whole school is.”
“But what does ‘redistributing’ mean?” asked Meerkat.
“It means that after we collect the candy, we weigh the total amount. Then we redistribute by giving each student back an equal pile. That way every student will have the same amount of candy as every other student.”
“What?” screamed Monkey. “You’re giving some of mine to Pig? I don’t even like Pig!”
“I don’t like you either,” said Pig.
“Hey no fair,” said Kinkajou. “I was going to split mine with my cousin who has the mumps. Now I won’t have enough.”
“I was going to share with my little brother,” said Hen. She turned a beady eye on Mrs. F.
“Yeah,” said Dog, leaning over his loot. “I worked hard for this.”
“This is a day-after-Halloween-fright alright!” said Monkey, who noticed that Mrs. F was letting them rant and rave.
“I’ve got it!” said Know-It-All Rat. “I’m telling Principal Goat about this!”
“He’s in on it too,” snapped Mrs. F.
3. A Trip To Principal Goat’s?
Meerkat began to wobble and blink.
The students gasped as she slumped to a heap on the floor.
“Now look what you’ve done!” cried Kinkajou. “You killed Meerkat!”
All eyes and ears were on Meerkat, and the class held its breath while Ms. Violet took her pulse.
Finally Meerkat blinked and sat. “Am I in a science fiction movie?” she asked.
“No. You are not!” said Mrs. F.
Cat gave a big yawn. “Well I say redistributing candy is a radically cool plan.”
Everyone looked at Cat, then at Cat’s measly trick-or-treat pile.
“You would,” said Kinkajou.
“In fact,” Cat continued, “I would love to have more treats than I collected!”
“In fact,” she said, “You all have extra and I want more.”
“You could have gotten more yourself,” screeched Kinkajou. “You don’t have the mumps.”
“I walked three hours and got a blister on my foot,” Monkey said to Mrs. Frackenbristle. “Cat quit early to watch TV.”
“Okay class. That’s enough,” said Mrs. F, who was back to banging her ruler.
“And don’t be a tattletale, Monkey,” she added. “Don’t be greedy either.”
“Besides, Ms. Vi and I are the big shots here.” Mrs. F crossed her wings. “What we say goes!”
“Arghhhh,” groaned Monkey behind his hand.
“Phooey,” said Kinkajou.
“Like it or lump it,” growled Mrs. F.
Monkey grabbed one last treat from his pillowcase.
“Monkey!” yelled Mrs. F.
Monkey swallowed his bite of candy and gulped.
“Want your name on the board?” snapped Mrs. F.
Ms. Vi went on collecting, as sounds of, “No fair, no fair,” came up from around the room.
Mrs. F’s ruler rapped harder and longer than before.
“Who would like a trip to Principal Goat’s office?” she threatened.
“I wish I had Mrs. Soupenkraut instead of Mrs. Frackenbristle,” whispered Monkey.
“I wish I went to a different school,” whispered Kinkajou.
“I wish Monkey didn’t have a unibrow,” said Pig, then snickered.
4. Greedy
Ms. Violet finished her candy collecting, then carried the tub to the scale.
“Brilliant!” said Mrs. F when she saw candy piled to the top. “I’d like to give a special thanks to Monkey, Dog and Kinkajou. They worked extra hard so we could have lots of candy to divide!”
Monkey, Dog and Kinkajou did not smile. Neither did Rabbit, Duck or Meerkat who had trick-or-treated their hardest this year.
“Write these numbers in your notebooks,” said Mrs. F. “Then we’ll add them up. We have 27 students. Add five shares of candy, which go to me!”
Mouths dropped even further this time.
“Ms. Violet gets four shares, seven go to Principal Goat, six to Vice Principal Tortoise and five to each of their ten assistants.”
A loud cluck, then sounds of “What?!” and “Hey no ffff...” were cut off with more ruler banging.
Monkey tried raising his hand, so as not to get in trouble. “None of you put candy in,” he said. “How can you take some out?”
“You didn’t even trick-or-treat!” said Kinkajou.
“Simple,” said Mrs. F. “We’re the bigshots and we make the rules. Rule number one is: we get a lot for being in charge!”
The class phone made a beep and was answered by Mrs. F. She smiled grandly as she said, “Of course, Vice Principal Tortoise! Of course.”
Mrs. F hung up the phone and turned. “That was a friend of mine in the office,” she said. “He wants his parking space repainted and would like at least three extra shares to trade for it!”
“Hey that’s so not f....” said Meerkat, then put her head down so she wouldn’t faint.
Monkey groaned behind his hand. “How come the bigshots get special privileges and we don’t,” he whispered.
“Now we know who’s greedy,” whispered Kinkajou.
5. Math Time
Monkey gritted his teeth, as Mrs. F wrote ‘14 pounds of candy’ on the board.
“Divide the total number of shares into 14 pounds,” she said. “Raise your hand when you’re done.”
Monkey slowly did the math. He passed a note to Kinkajou when Mrs. F looked away. “Half the candy in there used to be ours,” it said. “We could have had a great candy store.”
“I wish I was home with the mumps,” said Kinkajou.
Ms. Violet walked around checking answers.
When everyone was done, Mrs. Frackenbristle said, “Ms. Vi and I get first choice.”
As the teachers huddled over the candy, Cat grabbed Dog’s mask, and Pig gave a loud snort.
The class waited for Mrs. F to blow. When she didn’t, Kinkajou said, “Hey! They like our candy as much as we do!”
With all the “big-shot” shares tucked away, Mrs. F said, “Line up beside the candy tub. And bring your trick-or-treat bags.”
Monkey raced to line up, hoping to get a few Snickers bars.
But Cat streaked to the head of the line.
“Cat took cuts,” said Monkey.
“I was here first,” said Cat.
Mrs. F carefully weighed a scoop of candy and poured it into Cat’s bag.
“Thank you Mrs. Frackenbristle,” Cat sing-songed.
Monkey was next. He looked in the tub as Mrs. F scooped. More than half the candy was already gone! And there wasn’t a single Snickers bar either!
“Hey!” he said, then shut his mouth when Mrs. F glared. “But...”
Last warning Monkey,” snapped Mrs. F. “One more and you’ll be donating your entire share to Principal Goat!”
6. Double Phooey
Monkey skulked back to his seat. Cat couldn’t have gotten all the Snickers bars he thought. The teachers had taken special privileges...again!
Kinkajou was next. “I don’t like what you gave me,” he said. “Can you give me a different scoop?”
Mrs. F looked at Kinkajou like he was crazy.
“Brrriiing!” rang the recess bell, but half the students were still lined up.
“Tough luck then,” said Mrs. F. “If you want a share you’d better stay in line.”
“Uhhhhh,” they groaned.
“Why me?” said Meerkat, but everyone stayed in line.
“Are you going to redistribute the candy next year too?” asked Monkey as he headed out.
“Why shouldn’t we?” said Mrs. F.
“Because it’s not fair,” said Kinkajou, after they got outside. “But watch them do it anyway.”
“Then I’m not trick-or-treating on the hills next year,” said Monkey. “Why should I get blisters when Cat won’t work at all.”
“And I’m not going for any two and a half hours,” said Kinkajou. “I’ll go home and watch TV like Cat.”
“Same here,” said Dog. “And who cares if better costumes get more treats. I probably won’t even wear one.”
“Double phooey,” said Kinkajou, looking through his new loot. “This pack of Skittles feels like a bag full of rocks.”
7. That’s Our Candy You’re Eating
Grousing came from across the playground, as students checked their candy shares.
Rabbit sat on the blacktop. “This is the worst day-after-Halloween ever,” she said with a sigh.
“I didn’t have much to start with,” said Meerkat, “but now I have even less.”
Choruses of “Me too,” and “Same here,” came up from all around.
The end of recess bell rang, and Cat sashayed past with candy in her mouth.
“I hope you know that’s our candy you’re eating,” said Dog.
“Hummmph,” said Cat with her mouth full. “I wuv da ew fister!” she added.
“Who cares if you love your new sister,” said Kinkajou.
“No,” Cat swallowed.” I said, I love the new system.”
“You would,” said Monkey.
“Last one in’s an insect,” said Kinkajou, and smacked straight into Pig as he ran.
“Ow,” grunted Pig as something heavy assaulted his toe. The Skittles bag with rocks rolled off to one side.
“Oh, sorry,” Kinkajou started to say, but then he saw Pig’s face. It grew pinker by the second with guilt.
Monkey looked at Kinkajou and Kinkajou looked back. Then they both stared at Pig. “You!” they said at the same time.
“I, I,” stuttered Pig, who was even redder now that they had guessed. “I-I’ll give you some of mine, Kinkajou,” he said. “Sorry. I just wanted to win the contest.” Pig hung his head. “Well, what I thought was the contest. I shouldn’t have tried to cheat with the rocks,” he said. “Then you wouldn’t have ended up with them.”
“Ummm, okay,” said Kinkajou. “And I’d love to trade for some candy. But I get to pick what I take.”
"Right," said Pig. The second bell rang as he handed two Hershey bars off to Kinkajou.
“And...sorry I called you a ‘unibrow’ Monkey,” said Pig.
“Hey," called Monkey, as everyone raced for the room. "Maybe you’re not such a bad guy after all Pig!”
8. Another Confession?
“Aargh,” groaned Monkey when he saw the chalk board inside.
The day-after-Halloween fright was not over yet!
Mrs. F was at the board, gobbling down a trick-or-treat gummy worm, which had probably been his. And to make matters worse, she was about to put the Y on the word HISTOR-Y.
“Not history!!” cried Monkey.
“Bleh,” said Kinkajou.
Mrs. F turned. “First I have a confession,” she said.
“Wha-at!?” said Monkey, who hadn’t really been listening again.
First a confession from Pig. Now one from Mrs. F?
Everyone looked at everyone else.
“We’ve been playing a little game this morning,” said Mrs. F with her mouth full. “About government.”
She added the word ‘Government’ to the chalk board.
Eyebrows went up.
“If we called it ‘The Big Bully Government Game’,” she said, still chewing, “who would you say the bullies were?”
“Duh,” said Know-It-All Rat, who had watched Ms. Vi cart their candy off to the office and was still in a sour mood.
Mrs. F glared.
“You and Ms. Vi were the bullies,” said Monkey dully. “Plus Principal Goat and his gang.”
“And who would you say were the winners?” Mrs. F asked, hunching her shoulders up like a comedienne.
“All of the above,” quipped Know-It-All.
A gummy worm dangled from Mrs. Frackenbristle’s beak as she nodded. “Redistributing your riches is one type of bully government,” she went on. “Maybe Rat knows what it’s called.“
“Socialism!” said Know-It-All, pushing his glasses up.
“Correct!” said Mrs. F. “But big bully governments have other names too. Like communism, Marxism and progressivism. And all big bully governments take your rights away! That is certainly not the kind of government our Founding Fathers set up!”
“I know the Founding Fathers too!!” said Know-It-All. “They wrote the Constitution of the United States!”
“Very good Rat,” said Mrs. F, as Ms. Vi quietly pointed to the American flag.
“This flag stands for America, land of the free, where no one has to redistribute their candy!” said Mrs. F.
Cheers went up from around the room.
9. The Clue
“Does this mean we get our candy back?” asked Kinkajou.
“Sorry,” said Mrs. F. “All I have left are a few gummy worms.”
“Same here,” said Ms. Vi, “and half a Snickers bar.”
“Double phooey!” said Kinkajou.
“Uuuuuhhhh,” moaned the class.
Mrs. F wrote ‘Founding Fathers’ and ‘Constitution’ under ‘Government’, then turned to unveil a serious looking stack of books.
“First History and Government!” groaned Monkey, slumping down in his chair. “Now Founding Fathers, Constitution...”
...and homework!” said Kinkajou.
“Let’s see an official show of hands,” Mrs. F continued. “Who really hated redistributing their loot?”
Every hand went up but Cat’s.
“Now put on your listening ears,” added Mrs. F as she held up a constitution book. “And I will give you a clue. Study the Constitution, and you will learn how to keep your loot next time!”
Monkey sat up with a jolt. “How to keep our loot!?” he said. “Then maybe I’ll trick-or-treat on the hills again! And I’ll start a candy store in my garage!”
“I’ll help you,” cried Kinkajou, “so I can earn a bike!”
“I could start a treats-for-the-needy program,” said Meerkat.
“I’ll make the best Halloween costume ever!” said Dog.
“And maybe help me out with mine?” asked Pig.
Only Cat looked glum.
“Learn about it or lose out,” said Mrs. F.
“Don’t worry Cat,” said Dog. “I’ll help you learn to trick-or-treat next year. If you try, you can get as much as me!”
Cat perked up. “Highly radical,” she said.
Mrs. F popped the last gummy worm in her mouth and wrote: ‘And NO HOMEWORK today for good listeners!’
“I was going to listen anyway,” said Monkey with a grin.
“Me too,” said every student in class. Even Cat.
“Double-cool,” said Kinkajou.
THE END
Look for more books by Darby Dobbs, including future All-Animal Elementary books, another "The Day-After-Halloween Fright" for older kids and a constitution book.