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by lindy_guo
Harry the Grarrl had lived happily at the Wayside Wanderer Tavern with his
siblings for many months now. He was a well-adjusted Grarrl, and had learned
many things since he had ended his days of captivity (including not to eat the
inn sign!). The memories of a time when he had only been Experiment
dsaf654dsaf899 seemed to fade. Harry was very very happy now, even when
Chianinny the excitable Chia bounced on his bed every morning to wake him up
to play. He didn't mind gruff Sylavista the Lupe telling him to move his large
tail out of her path, or when Wyaethius the Poogle climbed up his back to play
King of the Grarrl with his friends (a silly game that seemed to involve knocking
each other off Harry's back and onto the grass).
The Wayside Wanderer was bustling with activity. Tiara and her fellow innkeeper
Kyerai were hanging black and orange streamers from the high wooden rafters.
Sylavista was supervising Wyaethius and Chianinny as they rolled a large pumpkin
in the door. Harry scratched his large head in confusion, and wondered what
was going on. The pumpkin certainly looked tasty. Perhaps it was dinner.
He walked over to Tiara, carefully ducking his head so as not to knock the
streamers from the rafters, being a rather conscientious Grarrl She smiled,
and said a curious thing to him, "Happy Halloween, Harry!" Kyerai noted the
Grarrl's height advantage, and offered him a streamer end to tack up before
Harry could even ask what those words meant.
Carefully putting streamers in their places as directed by Kyerai, Harry wondered
to himself what Happy Halloween was. Howl was the noise Sylavista made when
she looked up at the moon, or when something was getting on her nerves (usually
Chianinnya). Maybe Happy Howl-o-Ween was what Tiara meant. A day for howling
at weens. Harry had no idea what a ween was, but he figured he'd best find out
straight-away.
image by thephoenixofeio
After he was finished hanging the streamers, he headed for the reading room
of the inn, where books of all sorts were kept. Along the way he passed Tiara's
daughter, Kichara, holding ... a skeleton! "Poor fellow," Harry said, shaking
his head. "Must have waited way too long for his meal."
Kichara giggled as she hung the skeleton on the wall. Harry was aghast. "Are
you just gonna let the poor guy hang there? Shouldn't we bury him?" he asked,
shocked.
"Silly Grarrl! He's a decoration, why would we bury him?" Kichara said, straightening
a leg bone on the poor starved fellow.
"......" Harry couldn't think of anything to say. What a strange thing to do!
Remembering his purpose in coming down the hallway, he continued towards the
library. This room was just full of books, and certainly, one of them would
have something on Howl-o-Ween. Harry sat down in the middle of the floor, and
began to read. He was getting better at reading, and had learned to enjoy it
immensely (and not only because books made great snacks!) He skimmed through
the Encyclopedia Neopia (all except for volume A-E , which he took a bite of
to stop his tummy from rumbling) . There was absolutely nothing about ween!
And the only article on howling was about how lonely female Lupes often did
entirely too much of it (and not enough thinking, the article went on to say,
about how to improve their situation.)
He read the lonely Lupe article for a while before eating page five out of
frustration. This had nothing to do with weens at all. How was he going to figure
it out?
***
Harry spent many restless days trying to figure out the meaning of Howl-o-Ween.
He'd considered asking his siblings, but he didn't want to look dumb for not
knowing. He'd also thought about asking Tiara, but she was so busy these days.
Every time Harry thought to talk to her, she'd been busy hanging odd things
from the walls. Now, in addition to the large pumpkin on the floor (which Kyerai
had told him repeatedly was definitely not for eating), the streamers, and the
poor departed skeleton in the library hall, there was also a stuffed witch,
a scary looking ghost who shouted "Boo!" whenever someone passed it, and a black
cauldron which bubbled and smoked.
Harry considered going down to the library again to read some back issues of
The Neopian Times that were kept in folders on the shelves. Perhaps some Neopian
had done an investigative report on the Howl-o-Ween phenomenon. But to get to
the library would mean passing by The Dead Guy (as Harry called him). The vacant
eyes of the skeleton seemed to stare accusingly at passersby , and the Grarrl
was quite sure the poor man deserved a decent burial. So traversing that hall
was out of the question.
Finally, a solution hit Harry's somewhat small brain like a ton of bricks.
After the headache subsided, it became perfectly clear how to figure out what
to do. He rushed out of his room, and in to the common area of the tavern, letting
out a mighty "Hoooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwllllllllllll!!!!!!!" Plates
shook in the kitchen, a few patrons dropped their mugs, the ghost "boooed" in
response, Kichara fainted, and Tiara blinked, rubbing her ears.
"Howwwwwwwwwwwwllllllllllllllllllllll-o-wweeeeeeen!!!" shouted Harry, causing
more collateral damage, ear rubbing, and enthusiastic boos from the hanging
ghost. Tiara fetched the broom from the kitchen and swatted Harry right on the
tail. "Bad Grarrl!" she said, and shooed him outside, closing the door.
Harry sniffled loudly. He was so sure he'd discovered the true meaning of Howl-o-Ween.
But apparently, howling at the top of one's lungs was right out. He sat on the
doorstep and cried pitifully. After Tiara's hearing returned, she felt sorry
for having swatted Harry with the broom, and headed out to talk to him.
"Poor Harry," she said, patting him gently. "I'm sorry I was angry with you,
but why were you howling so loudly?"
Harry tried to stop sniffling, and looked down at Tiara sullenly. "I was trying
to figure it out.. you know. Howl-o-Ween. But no matter how much I howl, I still
don't know what a ween is, and if I ask my brother and sisters, they're going
to make fun of me for not knowing..."
Tiara hugged Harry's foreleg (it being the only part she could reach) affectionately.
"They wouldn't make fun of you, dear. Halloween isn't about howling. It's a
time of fun, where young ones everywhere dress up in costume, and head out to
trick or treat."
"Costumes? " said Harry " Trick or treat?"
"Yes.... You get to pretend, for one wonderful day, to be something or someone
else. A scary witch, a faerie princess, or a wise old wizard. You can be whatever
you want to be, on Halloween. Then you carry a sack, and head out to your neighbour's
doors, and knock politely to say 'Trick or Treat'. They place a candy in your
bag, and you thank them kindly, then move on to another house."
"Wow!" said Harry. "That's way better than howling!" He cheered up immediately,
and began to think of what his costume should be... then remembered, "Oh.. and
I think you should know... your daughter is hanging dead guys in the library
hall..."
"Dead guys...?" Tiara looked puzzled for a moment, then chuckled. "Oh, the
skeleton? Don't worry, Harry, it's not real. That's part of the fun of Halloween,
hanging up spooky decorations."
Harry looked very relieved. He'd hated to think that Kichara was turning into
the next Doctor Sloth... or worse... a Doctor like one of the two who had imprisoned
him a long time ago in DSAF Labs....
To be continued... | 
