LitSite Alaska

For the past 259 years, Grazilda had never missed a Halloween night out with her friends. But tonight her flying broom was leaning against the wall, and her pointed hat was hanging off the tip of the broom with her long black cape. There Grazilda sat in the dark room in her rocking chair, rocking back and forth, creak, creak, creak! The only light was the flickering fire that made shadows on the wall. But she also had some more company. Lying next to the fire was her black cat, Pepper, her best friend, who had been with her for 100 years.

Then the silence was gone. There was a knocking on the door.

'Grazilda!'

Her three friends, Nilda, Grilda and Filda, were waiting to find out why she hadn't met them at sunset in the forest like she always had.

'Well, as you can see if you look by the fire, Pepper is going to have babies any minute now,' Grazilda said.

Then they could understand because they knew how much witches love their cats.

Nilda was the oldest, the grandmother who was 400 years old. She was plump and very jolly for an old witch. Grilda was very scrawny with long, stringy hair and had a long, dark, black cape with holes all over. Her black cat was the exact same with long sticking-out fur like porcupine quills. Filda, the youngest and most glamorous, wore a lavender witch gown with a matching hat. Her hair had lavender purple streaks that went all the way down her long, thick hair, and her final touch was the 2 1/2-inch fake eyelashes that were, of course, lavender. Her cat had beautiful silky black fur and a diamond collar. She rode like a queen on the back of Filda's broom.

While they were talking on Grazilda's rickety, crickety old porch, Grazilda heard a meowinglike sound that was calling her from inside. 'Oh no, I have to go,' she said. 'Pepper's calling me. She must be having her babies. Have a good time tonight,' she called, as they flew off on their brooms.

Grazilda went in and knelt down by Pepper. She counted, 'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine little black kittens. What, another one? Ha-ha, it's a pure white one! What are we going to do Pepper? I've never heard of a witch having a white cat.'

The next morning Grazilda and Pepper named the nine black ones. It was easy to think of names for them like Midnight and Spook, but what could they name a witch's cat that was white with bright blue eyes and a little pink nose? All the names they thought of were too soft and pretty, like Pearl, Snowflake and Lacey. Then Pepper meowed excitedly: 'I know the perfect spooky name. How about Ghost?'

'That's a great name,' Grazilda said, but in Grazilda's heart she thought about how hard it would be when Ghost started Witch Cat School and was the only student that was white.

As all the kittens grew up, they never thought of Ghost being any different from them. Then one fall afternoon while the kittens were playing in the crunchy, crackly leaves, Grazilda called, 'Come in, everybody. I have something important to tell you.' So they waddled in one by one in a straight line, each one covered in leaves.

'Tomorrow is a very important day for all of you,' Grazilda said. 'You're going to go to Witch Cat School like your mother did.'

'What's that? What's that?' they cried.

'Well, that's where I learned everything to be Grazilda's cat,' Pepper said.

'Oh, boy, will there be acrobatics class so we can learn how to balance on a flying broom like you, Mom?' Ghost asked.

'Yes, and remember only the best students will get to ride with the witches on Halloween night, and there will be a contest to see which three kittens win,' Pepper said.

When Ghost went to sleep that night all she could think about was how much she wanted to win that contest and ride on the broom with her mommy.

The next morning their mother licked and fluffed them all, and they went out the door and walked through the woods following Grazilda. Ghost felt nervous, but most of all she was excited when she saw the teacher and all of the other kittens and their proud witch owners waiting for the bell to ring. But when Ghost walked by, everybody stopped and stared and started whispering. She didn't know what was wrong until the other students started laughing and pointing and said, 'Oh look at that ugly white cat. She can't come to school with us. Witches' cats are black.'

Then the teacher and the witches walked over to Grazilda, and the teacher said, 'I'm sorry but you have to take that white kitten home with you. I can't allow her in my class.'

Grazilda picked up Ghost and said, 'This kitten has just as much right to be here as any other witch cat. Everyday I will bring her here with her brothers and sisters and make sure she gets in. So stand back,' she said, as she marched up the steps of the school with Ghost.

At first nobody would talk to Ghost, and the only time she was happy was when she was in acrobatics class doing back pawsprings, aerials and tucks. When it was time to do the tricks on the balance beam, nobody raised their paws. Then Ghost raised her paw and said, 'I'll try it.' So up she climbed on the beam with everyone watching her, thinking she would fall off for sure, but she started to perform perfect back layouts and all sorts of flips. Then the silence was gone, and everybody started gasping with amazement.

'Wow!'

'She's good!'

'How does she do that?'

At lunch she went to the same table where she always ate all alone, but today crowds of kittens came and sat next to her. They had forgotten all about that she was white. 'You know what, Ghost? Tomorrow's the competition, and I think you're going to win!' said Inkspot, who had been the meanest one of all.

The next day all of the witches, the teachers and the mommy cats filled the auditorium. It was Ghost's turn on the balance beam, and she did all of her tricks perfectly! Everyone cheered and cheered when she won the gold medal, especially Pepper and Grazilda. So that night she climbed up on Grazilda's broom and flew with Pepper through the starry Halloween night with the witches!

Note from the author:

This story is not just about Halloween. It is also about not judging people by the color of their skin because everybody's equal. What's important is the way people are inside.