“Is your Dad letting you go this year?”
“Well…he hasn’t said “No” yet!”
“Tell him that all of us are going and you’d be the only one missing from the party!”
“Doesn’t work…tried that last year.”
“Ummmm….I’VE GOT AN IDEA!…tell him and your Mom that we need chaperones and they HAVE to dress up in a costume TOO!”
“Hey…that might work…I’ll try it tonight when Dad comes home from the woods.”
Dusty…the juvenile ground hog waddled back toward the hole which was the North entrance to the family burrow.
Rachael raccoon watched him leave and crossed her paws hoping that Dusty’s parents would let him go to this year’s celebration and EVEN join him there. It’s always fun for the animals to dress up in costumes and pretend they were not who they really were. After all, why should humans have all the fun?
Rachael hadn’t decided exactly what she was going to dress up as this year. Last year she went to the Halloween party as a badger.

All she really had to do was put some makeup over part of the black “bandit” looking eye fur but everybody knew exactly who she really was and recognized her instantly. It wasn’t really much of a costume and was a total flop as a disguise. This year she would fool them all, but she wasn’t sure exactly how just yet.

Dusty didn’t know it but his Mom had been talking to his Dad about the Halloween party this year and had already convinced him to let Dusty go. When Dusty asked his parents about being chaperons he was amazed how fast they agreed to let him go and go with him. Then after his Mom told Dusty they had ALREADY agreed that he could go to the festivities this year, Dusty wondered if he really had to suggest the “chaperone” idea at all! Oh well…he loved his parents and it WOULD be fun to see them in costume too! He wondered what they would dress up as.  And he wondered what HE would dress up as too!

Dusty was thinking about his costume in his burrow and Rachael was thinking in her home tree. Dusty thought that it would be great to be a really mean looking animal and Rachael was trying to think of the prettiest animal she could.

Dusty’s Mom and Dad were stumped as to what to be since they had to set a fine example for the young animals at the party.
Finally the days passed and the night of the Wild Halloween Party arrived. Squeeky the chipmunk was the first to arrive at the old
hollow oak tree and his costume made him look like a mouse with big ears and pink tail. After all Squeeky couldn’t exactly fool anyone  dressed up as an elephant! Next to arrive was Buster the dog with four coffee cups strapped to his paws and a homemade saddle on his back and a bunch of long grasses tied to his tail. He “whinnied” very convincingly.
Hester the cat believe it or not was dressed up as a poodle and had her fur curled all over her body and said “Meo…I mean…WOOF!”

Then Rachael showed up all dusted with pink powder and a pink bow around her neck…”I’m a teddy bear!”

Well, the ground hog family was right behind her with Mom and Dad in full costumes. Dad groundhog had a striped shirt on and black shorts and a silver whistle around his neck…”I’m gonna referee you kids tonight so you’d better behave!”
“Hurrah…Yeah!” shouted Mom groundhog who was shaking pom poms while wearing a pleated skirt and tennis shoes and a Tee shirt with a big “G” on it.

Tom Turtle had his shell painted orange with black eyes, nose and toothy mouth drawn on and so he was “Jack O Lantern”. He looked very convincing when he drew back his head and legs into his shell.

Dusty was the last to arrive and at first Rachael didn’t recognize him dressed up as the meanest looking raccoon you ever did see!
Then Rachael and Dusty and Dusty’s Mom and Dad and all the animals there laughed and had a great time at the wildest Halloween party EVER!.