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The episode titles are in yellow. Those in red were repeated more than once.
The Dyelanders were
all slightly on edge this year. First, Lady JenniAnn had run away from
Dyeland City not once but twice. And then some yahoo had come to
Dyeland claiming to have dirt on Andrew! In such a time as this, it was small
wonder that people were spooked when they saw a hooded figure in black
come darting through Dyeland City and into the castle.
Adam was standing in front of the doors to the Ballroom, waiting for
Andrew when the figure approached him.
"Where is the angel of death?" it said in a gravelly voice.
"I am an
angel of..."
Adam began but was cut short.
"The other one. Where is Andrew?" the figure asked again.
Adam tried to sneak a peek at its face but it was covered in a sheer
cloth that made it difficult to distinguish features. The only
thing he could make out at all were glints of reflected light
indicating eyes peering out of the darkness and at him.
The massive black robe didn't offer any clues either.
"I'm not sure I should tell you." Adam moved to block the door
that Andrew was behind.
"Fear
not!"
the mysterious voice said as it pushed past a bewildered Adam and
walked towards the unsuspecting Andrew.
Andrew's back was to the figure and he didn't notice its presence until
its hand had grabbed his shoulder. He turned around and a look of
shock came over his face.
"Get away from him!" Adam yelled as the figure made a sudden
movement.
Meanwhile, in Monica's Cafe, a group of Androolers were gathered to
discuss their costumes for the party that was to take place that
evening. Everyone was excited, the party would be something
of a reunion. It had been
months since all of Dyeland had gathered together. Some among
them had planned it and had made sure secrets and lies surrounded the whole
affair. The pact they'd made prohibited them from
revealing details until the party began.
Over coffee, tea, pastries, bagels, and the blue angel food cake that was
the Cafe's signature dessert the group discussed their
costumes and, more importantly, whether Andrew would attend and what
his costume would be. Frankly, some of their ideas would have
made the poor angel blush. But then, they didn't really mind
that. He was awfully cute when he blushed...
As the giggling ceased, one of them spoke up. "Y'know, this is
fun and all but the heart of the matter remains that Andrew doesn't even
like Halloween. I don't understand why we continue to
celebrate a holiday our friend despises?"
"I guess the party planning crew just has a lot of chutzpah. Think about
it the opposite way. If so many people enjoy the holiday, why
would Andrew put himself above all them and deny them their quality time with their costumes
and candy? You do what you want, by I intend to accept the invitation and attend the party
tonight."
"True and it's probably better than having Andrew spend the night
alone. Wallowing. So I guess I'll go. What are friends for
but to
cheer us up when we think an entire holiday has been designed with the
purpose of giving us a bad reputation?"
The group was disrupted by someone entering the cafe and slamming the
door behind them. Their hearts began to beat faster when the
stunned figure explained "Reaper! There's a reaper headed into
Dyeland Castle!"
With those words the occupants of the cafe darted out the door,
at godspeed, towards the
castle, and began their manhunt. Or reaperhunt rather.
Back at Dyeland Castle, Adam and Andrew grew more nervous minute by minute. They stared
in horror as the figure before them bent over and began to cough
uncontrollably. Suddenly, something blue, very dark blue
flew from its face. It was gesturing wildly as if playing the
world's most confusing version of charades. Andrew started to approach
the figure but before he could it spoke again. The words coming out first
hoarsely and then clearer.
"Geez, stupid cold. Ha! There's my head scarf. I
wondered where it had went. 'Seek and ye shall find!' It must
have fallen onto my face when I ran here. I wondered why
everything looked so dark..." The figure then stood up, face
now uncovered and hood fallen from her head.
"JenniAnn??" Andrew said as his heart began to return to its
normal
pace.
"Umm yeah. Who'd you think? Oh! Have you seen me without my
glasses? Maybe that's what threw you off. Worked for
Superman!" JenniAnn looked at him curiously before she caught a
glimpse of herself in a mirror. She'd rushed to the castle in
such a hurry that she grabbed the first thing she could to cover her
costume and protect it from the mud. Unknowingly she had grabbed
a long, hooded black sweater coat. "Oh my gosh! I'm so
sorry Andrew. With this and that scarf fallen over my face I
looked like a grim reaper! Trust me, it was not intentional."
JenniAnn felt awful but the two angels of death could barely control
their
laughter and even she started to see the humor in the situation.
After laughing herself, JenniAnn explained "I came here because I
wanted to explain things before you saw all this."
Many of the Dyelanders sincerely loved Halloween, dressing up, handing
out candy, etc. But they also respected Andrew's stance and the grudge he bore against the
celebration. As a compromise, Audrey, JenniAnn, Joy, Mieke,
Miriam, and some others had, in a labor of love, decided to
decorate the ballroom in a festive, magical but decidedly un-Halloween
theme. Twinkle lights in blue and gold hung from the
ceiling. Candles were scattered about waiting to be lit.
Delicate blue cloths covered the tables. Flowers were in the
center of all the tables. The whole effect gave the room a
celestial feel.
Andrew took in the room and began to think that maybe, just maybe, this
October 31st would be a good one.
The party started out beautifully. There was a full moon in the sky and the
moonlight slipping into the windows made the room even more
heavenly. The empty chairs were almost entirely
filled and it was still 15 minutes before dinner was to
begin. The turn out was amazing. And the costumes were
fantastic. Not a single person had come dressed as anything that
would upset Andrew. There was Bunny dressed as a wolf, Mieke in
her Cinderella dress, Joy was none other than AnaMaria lately of
"Pirates of the Caribbean" fame, princesses, clowns, pirates, elves,
fairies, and animals of all sorts were ready to begin breaking bread together. And the "sky is falling" tone of the day
had went away when it was revealed to everyone that the grim reaper
that had been spotted was none other than JenniAnn having a very bad
fashion moment. After getting rid of the problematic, black
sweater coat JenniAnn had revealed her own costume, Lizzie Bennet from
Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." The Dyelanders were
delighted by each other's costumes. But one person remained to be
seen... Andrew was missing in action.
"Where is Andrew, anyway?" Miriam asked, nervously fingering the feathers on her angel
costume.
"I don't know but he
better show up after we went to all this trouble to de-Halloween the
Halloween party. Else, in an act of tough love, some of us are
gonna have to go over to his house and drag him here," JenniAnn
answered only half joking and beginning to frown.
"Let's not
jump to
any conclusions." Audrey responded.
"I just hope he's not remembering me the last time we
tried to have a Halloween party and I ended up nearly
accusing him of trying to kill me." JenniAnn frowned at the
memory.
Suddenly, the Dyelanders were interrupted by the big bang in the foyer.
Like the front door slamming shut. Then came a sound like hooves
on the wooden floor...
"Sure hope they aren't cloven!" Adam, who had just entered from the
nearby TV room said with a wicked grin. The joke distilled some
of the nervousness in the room.
Suddenly, the Ballroom's French doors were thrown open. As the
latest arrival stepped out of the darkness all thoughts of Mr.
Darcy flew out of "Lizzie Bennet's" head. "Cinderella" couldn't
have been happier if Prince Charming had just come through the
door. "AnaMaria's" Captain Jack couldn't have been more
impressive... Adam just burst out laughing.
"Hey there, pardner!" he said as Andrew, sitting atop his horse
Trinity, decked out in black jeans, a black button up shirt with white
pearlized buttons, and a black cowboy hat looked down at the assorted
Dyelanders.
"Hey Adam," Andrew said blushing when he realized the impact his
costume had on nearly the entire room. He quickly
dismounted. "Good evening, ladies" Andrew said, emphasizing his
Southern drawl.
"Hello!
I love you!"
someone shouted from the crowd.
Andrew blushed again and the crowd laughed and then stared some more.
Adam saw this could go on for a good long time and decided, being one
of the few people in the room to still have some sense about him, to
interrupt it. "Hey! Dinner's waiting. I'm not letting
this food go to waste for all the tea in China!"
Andrew sent Adam a grateful smile as laughing and chatting started up
again and everyone moved to the tables.
Andrew giggled to himself when he heard someone at a nearby table say
"That boy may not like Halloween, but that Halloween costume sure
agrees with him..."
The dinner was delicious and gave everyone the chance to catch up with
each other. Then they happily spent the rest of the night
thoroughly enjoying their reaper-free costume party.