At Scary Godmother's house, Rachel and Sasha were ready for the best Halloween party yet.
"I hope Scary and Skully have some good costumes for us." Rachel said as they waited in the living room. Halloween was here and they had no costumes!
"Yeah, I couldn't decide on what to wear!" Sasha said. "Picking out a costume is so hard!"
"It won't be hard for long!" A voice said from the closet. The handle jiggled and out came Skully Pettibone, the skeleton in the closet.
And he was wearing a rather outrageous costume. He wore a black suit with silver trim in elegant patterns and a big sombrero!
"Ole'!" Skully shouted, striking a pose.
"Skully! Happy Halloween!" Rachel laughed. She and Sasha hugged their skeletal friend.
Sasha giggled. "That costume is so funny, Skully!"
"Happy Halloween, my little sugar skulls!" Skully chortled, ruffling their hair. "I have a big surprise for you two!"
"Ooh! I like surprises!" Sasha said.
"Especially a Halloween surprise!" Rachel added.
"Well then, you're in for a beauty!" Skully said. "We're doing something a little different for our Halloween party this year!"
"He's right!" said Scary Godmother's voice.
The girls turned around and screamed.
They saw a skeleton they've never seen before. But she was wearing Scary Godmother's hat, dress, tights and shoes.
"Rachel! Sasha! You made it!" The female skeleton hugged the startled girls.
"S-Scary Godmother?!" Rachel gasped. "Y-You're a-a-"
Sasha was too scared to speak. She backed away, but Skully stopped her. "It's okay, sweeties! Scary Godmother took off her skin for the skele-bration!"
"T-Took off her skin?!" Rachel stammered.
Sasha shivered. "S-S-S-Skele-bration?!"
"Yes! We're going to Mexico to celebrate Dia de los Muertos! Also know as Day of the Dead!" Skully said.
"No way! Day of the Dead?!" Rachel said. "I've heard of that! It's a Mexican holiday where people celebrate the spirits of their loved ones who have passed away!"
"Really? That sounds nice!" Sasha said. "But...why are you a skeleton, Scary Godmother?"
"Because skeletons are the traditional symbol of Day of the Dead!" Scary Godmother answered. "It's all about honoring the dead!"
"And you gals are gonna get all boned up yourselves!" Skully said with glee.
"Huh?! You mean-?!" Rachel felt nervous. "You're gonna make us...skeletons?!"
"EEEEE! No way!" Sasha squealed, furiously shaking her head. "I don't want to be a skeleton!"
"Oh, now, girls. Don't be like that." Skully cooed softly. "It'll be fun!"
"And we would never do anything to hurt you!" Scary Godmother said. "I'll just cast a little spell and make you skeletons, that's all! It's quick and painless!"
Rachel swallowed a little. "Okay..." She turned to her sister. "Sasha?"
Sasha whimpered. She looked around like she wanted to leave the room. Skully put his boney arms around her. "Please, Sasha? I really want to you be a part of this! My favorite celebration next to Halloween! Pleeeease?"
"Well, I want to celebrate but...me as a skeleton?!" Sasha shivered again. "It's just...scary! I'm scared!"
"But you'll still be you, Sasha!" Skully said. "Besides, there's no need to be afraid because I'll be right here for you."
Sasha looked at the floor. "Well..."
"Please, Sasha?" Skully started wriggling his finger bones against Sasha's sides. "Please?"
"Heeheeheehahahahahaha!" Sasha giggled and wiggled as the skeleton tickled her. "Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Okay! Okay! You win!"
Skully seized his tickle attack. "That's my girl! Alright, Scary Godmother! Do your stuff!"
Scary Godmother cracked her knuckles and raised her hands high. "Spookus Skeletonus!"
Green magic sprinkled on Rachel and Sasha. They felt their skin tingle, their clothes glowed brightly.
There was a flash of light. Rachel and Sasha were no longer humans.
"AAAAAAH!" screamed the girls when they saw their hands. They were made of bone now.
They looked at each other.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Rachel and Sasha stumbled onto the floor. They were both skeletons! And very colorful dressed skeletons too.
Rachel and Sasha were skeletons wearing beautiful day of the dead dresses.
"Whoa...Whoa!" Rachel couldn't believe it.
Sasha looked at her arms. She wanted to scream, she felt ready to faint. She shivered, but she heard rattling.
She realized it was her rattling!
"It's okay, Sasha!" Scary Godmother said. "There's no need to panic! You look fantastic!"
Sasha looked at her dress. It was quite lovely. It was black and decorated with pink, yellow and orange marigolds. A wreath of marigolds was around her head. "Well, I do love the dress."
"Me too!" Rachel was wearing a wedding dress and was adorned with red, blue, orange, and purple roses. She had a gorgeous white veil on her head. "This is amazing!"
Sasha saw how happy her sister was. Maybe this skeleton thing won't be so bad after all.
Skully helped Sasha up. "Sasha, you look gorgeously ghastly! You'll outshine every skeleton in the cemetery!"
Sasha giggled. "Thank you." She could always count on Skully to cheer her up when she's scared.
"Onto the party!" Scary Godmother said.
"I think you mean...FIESTA!" Skully corrected with joy.
"Yeah!" The girls cheered.
The gang of skeletons went through Scary Godmother's closet and arrived at a cemetery in Mexico!
"AAAAH!" Sasha couldn't help but scream a little. There were skeletons everywhere! All of them were dressed in their festive finest!
But she was amazed at how lively the cemetery was. Graves were decorated with candles and flowers and photographs of their families. The whole place was gleaming with happiness! Something she would never expect in a cemetery.
"Hola, Senior Pettibone!" A skeletal woman with long black hair and wore a purple dress glided up to Skully and gave him a big bony hug. "It's so good to see you!"
"Good to see you too, Carmen!" Skully said.
One by one, more skeleton women came to greet Skully. Apparently, he was quite popular with the ladies before he met and hooked up with Scary Godmother.
One of his admirers spotted Sasha. "And who's this?"
Sasha whimpered and the crowd of skeletons formed around her.
"Hola, Señorita!" A mustachioed skeleton said, offering Sasha a rose. Another offered her a rose, one even offered her an entire bouquet!
More and more skeleton men flocked to her, entranced by her bony beauty.
'Too many skeletons!' Sasha squeaked in her mind. She was becoming unnerved by their giant smiles, ghoulish cackles, and empty eye sockets staring right at her.
Seeing all these skeletons reminded her of her traumatic childhood experience where a cruel family member locked her and Rachel in a closet surrounded by glowing skeletons.
It became too much and Sasha fainted.
Sasha felt herself coming to and found herself outside the cemetery.
"I should have known this was a bad idea." Sasha heard Rachel said. Sasha looked from behind a tree and saw her sister and friends.
"I'm sorry, Rachel." Skully said, his skull looking sad. "This is all my fault. I should hav know now this place was too extreme for Sasha."
Ashamed, Sasha ran away.
"I just ruined everyone's night!" Sasha sobbed, tears coming from her eye sockets. "Why do I have to be such a scaredy cat?!"
As Sasha cried, she heard the distinctive sound of someone else crying. Curious, she looked over a bush and saw a little girl decorating a lonely grave.
Sasha watched the girl put a little framed picture by the grave. The girl then burst out crying.
"Poor dear..." Sasha came out of the bushes to comfort the little girl. "Excuse me-"
But when the girl spun around and saw Sasha, she screamed and ran away.
"I forgot! I'm a skeleton!" Sasha chased after the girl. She had to stop her before she got hurt. "Wait! Come back! I didn't mean to scare you! STOP!"
Sasha kept up with the terrified girl all over the forest. As she did, she realized that she was acting the same way toward Skully's friends.
The girl tripped over an old tree root and fell painfully on the ground. She screamed and curled up to protect herself.
"Sweetie, please don't be scared." Sasha cooed, comforting the frightened girl. "I won't hurt you."
The little girl whimpered answer kept herself curled up. But Sasha's calm, soothing voice finally brought her around.
"W-Who are you?" The girl's voice was shaky, but very sweet.
"My name's Sasha." She offered her skeletal hand. With a trembling hand, the girl took Sasha's and she was helped up. "Why were you crying, hon?"
The girl sniffled. "Because my mama..." She wiped her tears. "She's not here anymore." Her tears returned and fell off her face.
"That's not true, Sweetie,"
Sasha spun around and there was Skully Pettibone along with Rachel and Scary Godmother.
The girl gasped and tried to get away, but Sasha stopped her. "It's okay. They're my friends."
Skully kneeled down and smiled at the frightened girl. "You're Josefina, aren't you?"
Sasha blinked. "You know her?!"
"No, but I know her mother."
Josefina's mouth went slack as Skully took her hand. "Come with me."
Sasha and Rachel followed Skully, Scary Godmother, and the visibly stunned Josefina back to the cemetery.
Josefina stumbled when she saw all the skeletons partying, but Skully kept her balanced. He brought her over to the skeleton woman in the purple dress.
"Carmen, I brought you someone you know."
"Who is it, Skully?" Carmen turned around and gasped when she saw Josefina.
Carmen stared. Josefina stared.
"Mama?!" Josefina gasped.
"MAMA?!" Sasha and Rachel exclaimed.
Josefina tearfully ran up to her deceased mother and flew into her bony arms. "Mama! I missed you!" she sobbed.
"I missed you too, cariño." Carmen breathed, hugging tightly to her daughter.
Rachel wiped a tear from her eye socket, deeply moved from the touching scene. Sasha's eye sockets were filled with tears.
Carmen wiped the tears from Josefina's eyes. "Today is not a time to be sad, Josefina." She smiled. "It is Day of the Dead, the festival of love."
"She's right, hon." Skully said, patting Josefina's head. "This is a time to be happy and honor your loved ones, not be sad."
Carmen stroked Josefina's head. "I don't want my little girl sad, especially on such a joyous day like today!"
Josefina smiled and hugged her mom. "Let's dance, Mama!"
The two joined hands and danced with the other skeletons. Sasha watched them with a warm smile.
"How do you feel, Sasha?" asked Skully.
Sasha turned to her skeleton friend with a smile. "Much better!" She hugged him. "Halloween and Day of the Dead isn't a time to be sad and afraid. It's about having spooky good fun with family and friends!"
"Right on, Sis!" Rachel hugged Sasha as well.
"Then let's get this fiesta started!" Skully chortled.
The Day of the Dead party was back on and better than ever. Sasha and Skully were dancing happily.
Thanks to her skeleton friend, Sasha's Halloween couldn't be any better.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!
Have scary good fun out there! :D