It was a dark and spooky night. All the usual suspects were arriving to the school parking lot for a Halloween Costume party of sorts. The humans and the dogs were all competing for Best Costumes and Best Dog Costume. As the sun started to set, the dog competition kicked off.
“Welcome one and all, to our tenth annual costume party. This is the tenth year we’ve included the dogs and boy are we in for a treat…”the announcer, a young up-and comer, and daughter and owner of Winston. Winston looked on in pride as his human took her rightful place next to the judges table.
The judges were chosen at random. This year the chance meeting included three men of different ages, one judge stood out from the others, wearing his own homemade Elvira costume. It was a beautiful sight, vintage and all.
“And a special shout out to Seth for wearing his costume and representing well at the judges table.”
And then there were the pets. Kenny and Larry looked on in amusement as all the dogs they’d been working with came out. Winston, the poodle, Angel and Baby the pit bulls. Larry was keeping his display simple. He was forced to wear a bow-tie. It suited him.
“I hate this thing,” he said to Kenny, dressed with a cute pumpkin hat on. “Why did they force me to wear it? Do they not respect my choice?”
Kenny adjusted his orange head gear. “Yeah, I don’t think we are respected at all. But I’m loving this pumpkin hat. It’s the cutest.”
Larry reviewed Kenny’s costume. It was pretty cute. One of the best costumes came from a visiting Chihuahua named Roo. He wore a squirrel costume so good, it would have made Simon blink.
“I refused to wear a costume,” Gus Gus said to Larry. He approved his choice.
“I wish they would listen to me,” Larry said. “But I just don’t have that sort of clout around here. Kenny’s over here parading like he was born a pumpkin.”
And he was. Kenny was showing off his ample backside, sashaying side to side as he walked the catwalk. The music was monster mash and it fit in with the theme. Once he finished serving looks to the seated crowd of Halloween revelers, it was Larry’s turn.
The DJ changed the song to “Hungry like a Wolf” and Larry decided to give his best impression of his fellow brethren.
Roo and Gus Gus went down the catwalk together. A little boy ran up to try and grab Roo, but Roo bared a set of teeth that meant “look, but don’t touch.”. A precious lesson for anyone dealing with little dogs.
Just as the party was winding down, Kenny and Larry heard a whistle.
“Well look who it is,” Otis said, as she strolled up with a group of five or six other felines. She was wearing a studded collar and an eye patch. “We’ve decided to crash your party.”
The group was a ragtag bunch, some of them were new to Kenny and Larry.
“Why don’t you introduce your friends here,” Larry said to Otis. Roo, Gus Gus and Winston all came close to the cats. They came from cat/dog households.
“Gladly” Otis said. “I’m Otis of course, member of the OutClaws. And this is our fearless leader Sora.”
Sora nodded. She was wear a crown made of vines and leaves. It didn’t look like a costume. She had no collar.
“And this is Bones, he’s our unofficial spokesperson.” The white colored cat was either dressed as a vampire or Kenny and Larry were in TROUBLE.
“Hi ya guys…and gals…nice to meetcha,” he said. The effect of fangs and blood with his weird eyes made the effect all the more spooky.
The other two cats, Bernie, a white and black ball of fur, a tiny kitten, wearing a bandana and Pudding, an Orange Butterscotch cutie, wearing pink frames with no prescription. It was a good looking group.
“Pardon our intrusion,” Pudding said, smirking, “But my new owner, Seth is one of the judges.” He was clearly very proud of this fact.
“Of course he is,” Otis said. “My human is over there running the music.”
One she saw the group of cats, she played “Bad Moon Rising.”, and waved at Otis.
The fun continued as the humans gave away their best costume to a little girl dressed as a Blueberry named Veruka Salt. It was well deserved as she rolled around the party in it.
“And finally…the moment all the canines have been waiting for…”the announcer said. “The winner of the 2020 Best Dressed Costume for Dogs is…..wait a minute. It appears we have a tie between Kenny the Pitbull and Roo the Chihuahua.”
Applause erupted as the rest of the dogs barked and barked.
“Idiots…loud idiots,” Sora said, under her breath. “It’s just a dumb contest.”
Otis laughed, “But see that’s the point. It’s all in good fun. Plus, they really had the best costumes.”
“Now what?” Winston asked…
“Oh that’s easy. Tonight we howl at the moon. It’s a big one,” Larry said.
And they did. The party ended late in the night and by the end of it, Kenny’s pumpkin hat was on Bernie and the blueberry fell asleep holding the little kitten.
Happy Halloween! Stay safe out there!