Transcript for Parent Storytellers
It was Halloween night on Oni Pepperoni’s street, and a thick fog had rolled in just as the sun went down. Oni had been planning his costume for weeks. He had decided to be a brave explorer with a special flashlight that could “see through anything,” as he told his friends.
“Be back before it gets too late,” called Oni’s mama as he headed out the door.
“I will!” promised Oni. He clicked his flashlight on and off, making sure it worked perfectly. The batteries were new, and the light was super bright. Perfect for a foggy Halloween night!
As Oni walked down his street, he noticed how different everything looked with Halloween decorations. Houses had glowing pumpkins on their porches, fake spider webs in their trees, and spooky ghost decorations hanging from branches.
“This is the best night of the year,” Oni said to himself, swinging his candy bucket.
Suddenly, Oni heard a strange sound.
“Bawk! Bawk! Bakawwwk!”
A chicken ran right past him, flapping its wings frantically.
“Hey! Come back!” Oni called, shining his flashlight after the chicken.
The chicken stopped for a moment, looking back at Oni with wide eyes.
“Are you okay, chicken?” Oni asked.
“Bawk! There are red giraffes with skeleton faces in there!” the chicken clucked, pointing a wing toward the old house at the end of the street.
Oni turned to look. The old house had always been there, but tonight it was decorated for Halloween with purple and green lights. A sign out front read: “Welcome to the Halloween Haunted House!”
“That sounds like decorations,” Oni explained. “It’s Halloween! People dress up and put scary decorations everywhere. It’s all pretend!”
But the chicken wasn’t listening. It was already running toward the haunted house, as if it needed to check for itself. Oni was curious. Red giraffes with skeleton faces? That sounded kind of cool! He decided to follow the chicken into the Halloween Haunted House.
Inside, the hallway was dark with glowing footprints on the floor leading the way. Oni used his explorer flashlight to see better.
“Chicken? Where are you?” he called.
Around the corner, Oni found exactly what the chicken had described. There were two tall figures that looked like giraffes, painted bright red with skeleton patterns on their faces. But Oni wasn’t scared. His flashlight showed that they were just cardboard cutouts.
“These aren’t real giraffes,” Oni laughed. “They’re just decorations!”
Just then, something floated down from the ceiling. It was a little fairy with sparkly wings and a glowing wand.
“Hello there!” said the fairy in a friendly voice. “I’m Zoe the Halloween Fairy! Are you lost?”
“No,” said Oni. “I’m looking for a chicken that ran in here. Have you seen it?”
“Oh yes,” nodded Zoe. “The chicken went that way, but it seemed very scared. Would you like me to show you the way?”
“Yes, please!” said Oni. “But I’m not scared. I have my explorer flashlight!”
Zoe smiled. “Then follow me!”
But instead of following Zoe, Oni spotted another hallway that looked interesting.
“I want to explore a bit first,” Oni decided, shining his flashlight down the new hallway.
“Okay,” said Zoe. “But I’ll be right here if you need me!”
The new hallway had more Halloween decorations. There were friendly-looking skeleton decorations hanging from the ceiling, more chickens (but these were just stuffed toys), and some bunnies hopping around with silly raccoon masks on their faces.
“Cool!” said Oni. He was surprised to find all these decorations and animals in the Halloween Haunted House.
Oni kept exploring, running through different rooms, looking up and down and all around. Each room had different decorations – some with spider webs, some with friendly ghosts, and one filled with balloons that looked like eyeballs.
Finally, Oni came to a room filled with fog. When the fog cleared a bit, he noticed a puddle of pink liquid on the floor. “Oooh, spooky pink blood!” said a voice trying to sound scary.
Oni flashed his light on the puddle. “That’s not blood! That’s just colored water with food coloring!” he laughed.
Suddenly, there was a loud BANG! Oni jumped, but then relaxed as colorful lights switched on all around the room. The ceiling lit up with rainbow-colored lights spinning around and around.
“Surprise!” shouted Zoe the Fairy, flying into the room. “Welcome to our Halloween dance party!”
Just as Zoe said this, Oni heard more clucking. The chicken was running out of the haunted house, still scared of all the Halloween decorations.
“Wait, chicken! It’s okay!” Oni called, running after it.
As he ran outside, Oni didn’t see a small pile on the sidewalk. He stepped right in it.
“Eww!” he said, looking down. “Someone didn’t clean up after their dog!”
But he kept running after the chicken. As he reached the street, something amazing happened. All the “monsters” from inside the haunted house came outside too!
The giraffes, the skeletons, and the bunnies with raccoon masks all gathered in the street. And then they took off their masks!
“They’re all kids in costumes!” Oni realized with delight.
One giraffe pulled off its head to reveal Oni’s friend Scout. A skeleton removed its mask, and it was Betty! Even the chicken was actually Ollie wearing a very good chicken costume.
“Oni!” called a familiar voice. It was Sparkle the Unicorn wearing fairy wings just like Zoe’s.
“Sparkle!” Oni shouted happily. “You’re here too!”
“Of course! I wouldn’t miss Halloween!” said Sparkle.
More friends arrived. Captain Milky Way the astronaut cow was dressed as a robot, and Max the flying truck had parked nearby, decorated with spider webs.
Everyone started dancing right there in the street to the music coming from the haunted house.
“This is the best Halloween ever!” shouted Oni.
Just then, they heard a splash. The friendly goat from Sparkle’s bicycle adventure had jumped into the small creek that ran alongside the road.
“Come on!” called the goat. “The water feels great!” Soon, all the friends were splashing in the shallow creek, laughing and having fun. Even a kid dressed as a friendly vampire joined in, careful not to get his cape too wet.
After playing in the creek, Oni gathered his friends – Ollie the chicken, Scout the giraffe, Betty the skeleton, and all the bunnies – and they walked back to Oni’s house to count their candy.
“We should share,” suggested Oni. “That way everyone gets to try different treats.”
All his friends agreed, and they made a big pile of candy in the middle of Oni’s living room floor. Each friend took turns picking their favorites.
As they enjoyed their treats, Oni looked around at all his friends in their costumes, still damp from the creek, some with face paint smudged from all the dancing and playing.
“You know what?” said Oni with a big smile. “This was the most wonderful Halloween ever!”
And as his friends nodded in agreement, Oni was already thinking about what adventure they might have next.