Vernon’s Trick AND Treat

On a cloudy afternoon in October, the extraordinary friends at Bento High School gathered in the park for a chat.

‘Can you believe it, guys?’ asked Dylan the dachshund. ‘The year is almost over. It’s already Halloween next Tuesday!’

‘I know,’ enthused Charley the chameleon, ‘I can’t wait for Vernon’s Halloween Party!’

‘I wonder what he is planning for this year,’ said Trevin the tiger. ‘Have you guys come up with costume ideas for trick or treating?’

‘I know mine!’ said Rosie the rabbit. ‘You will be really surprised,’ she smiled mysteriously.

‘Let’s meet here at seven on Tuesday and we can go trick or treating together,’ Dylan suggested. The others agreed.

When Tuesday evening arrived, the friends met and they were all excited to see each other’s costumes. They did a great job, because it wasn’t easy to figure out who is who. The only exception was Vernon who didn’t put much effort into his costume and only wore a big black hat and a black eye mask in addition to his usual black cape.

‘Vernon, how come you’re here? You hate this big fuss. And where’s Spencer your spider?’ asked Trevin.

‘I left him at home, because I was afraid someone would trample on him.’

‘And why don’t you wear a more disguising costume? I recognized you immediately,’ said Rosie.

‘Well, I was busy preparing my Halloween Party and to be honest, Rosie, you’re so smart you are impossible to deceive,’ Vernon answered smiling.

‘That’s so sweet of you,’ said Rosie, but she started thinking when Vernon said such a kind thing to her last time. Still, she was happy about the compliment and especially about the vampire feeling so relaxed and glad.

‘Come on guys, let’s go,’ Trevin told the group.

‘We should wait for Charley,’ Rosie said.

‘He called me and said he would join us later,’ Trevin said and the friends headed to the first house that had a very scary, huge Jack-O’-Lantern at the gate. As they moved from house to house the pile of sweets became bigger and bigger in their bags. They were having a fantastic time, laughing and joking, trying to be very spooky. At one of the houses Vernon marched ahead and took two handfuls of chocolate balls that were wrapped in green foil.

‘Vernon, what will you do with those chocolates?’ Trevin asked surprised.

‘I’ll eat them, of course,’ Vernon answered.

‘But they are not red, they are green!’ Trevin exclaimed.

‘Well, I’ll unwrap them,’ Vernon replied. Trevin wondered for a few seconds, but shrugged it off by thinking Vernon was always strange. He rushed after the others to the next house. When their bags got full of sweets, they decided it was time to go to Vernon’s. Delilah turned to him: ‘Trevin and Rosie want to walk to the party, you know how sporty they are, but I can give you a lift in my convertible.’

‘No need, I’d rather walk with them. I love exercising in the fresh evening air,’ the vampire said. Delilah was astonished. ‘What?! Exercising and fresh air? Wait a minute! Who are you and what have you done to my friend Vernon, who would never say no to a nice little drive?’

‘Well, it’s just today. It’s Halloween. Any other day I would go with you,’ Vernon said embarrassed.

Rosie joined them and eyed Vernon suspiciously. ‘Are you blushing? Okay, this can’t be true! You’re definitely not Vernon! He never blushes at anything!’ The others gathered around the fake Vernon. ‘Take your eye mask off,’ they demanded.

‘All right, fine! I’m not Vernon,’ he said and took off his mask and hat.

‘Wow! I don’t believe it!’ everyone exclaimed as they discovered that it was Charley in disguise.

‘You are amazing, you totally fooled us,’ Dylan said.

‘Not totally,’ said Trevin. ‘I felt there was something wrong with Vernon eating those green chocolate balls.’

‘But you almost took us in,’ Rosie said. ‘I was just a little bit uncertain about Vernon complimenting me.’

‘Well, I had great fun seeing the shadow of doubt on your faces,’ Charley said smiling.

‘You should totally put back on the mask and the hat and let’s see what the real Vernon will say,’ Rosie suggested. Charley disguised himself again and the group of friends headed to the Halloween Party. When they arrived, Vernon opened the door for them. ‘Oh, you’re finally here! I’ve been waiting for ages,’ Vernon said impatiently, but his jaw dropped when he saw Charley as the fake Vernon. ‘What’s going on here? Who’s behind the mask?’ he asked.

‘It’s me, Charley,’ the chameleon replied proudly.

‘You can’t have seriously thought that anyone would believe you were me? I’m unmistakable,’ the vampire said with a hurtful expression on his face.

‘You would be surprised,’ Trevin said smiling.

‘Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. Come in, the party is at full speed. And by the way, Rosie, you look awesome in this costume.’

They all had an amazing time, but Rosie kept looking from the real to the fake Vernon, being confused by how nice they both were to her that evening.