Once upon a Halloween night, in a small town buried under the orange hues of autumn leaves, lived a peculiar, old cat lady named Mrs. Abernathy. Nothing particularly striking about her, she just loved her cats… and Halloween.
Every October 31st, neighborhood children tiptoed nervously up to her creaky, old Victorian house; compelled by the irresistible promise of the best assortment of candy in town, but scared out of their wits of the piece of town lore that came with it. The Legend of the Halloween Cat.
Legend had it that every Halloween, one of her black cats would transform into a towering, feral creature to guard her precious candy stash. Each year, children bet who would be brave enough to go for the candy bowl, only to run away screaming at the last moment.
But on this particular Halloween, young Timmy Stevens, summoning revolutionary courage, didn’t just take a piece, but he scooped the entire bowl of candy into his bag! Mrs. Abernathy just stood there, a leaf-like wisp in the doorway, her wiry mouth curving into a smile.
And just as Timmy started his victory skip away, he transformed… into the black cat, joining Mrs. Abernathy’s ensemble of kitties. “Every Halloween,” she smirked to herself, “I restock on both – candies and cats.”