On a gloomy, cloudy day, Sasha returned home after a long day at school. She entered the Grant Mansion, only to find it completely empty.
"Where is everyone?" Sasha looked around and she found a note on the kitchen counter. It said that Rachel was on a trip with Rook to Revonnah while everyone else was out on missions.
Sighing, Sasha wanted to make the best out of her solitude. Thing is, she didn't know how.
Sasha decided to just take a nap. She walked upstairs and went down the hall to her room, but when she reached for the doorknob, it started to jiggle! Sasha squeaked and backed away from the door.
Panicking, she ran over to the broom closet and shut the door tightly. When Sasha peeked through the door, the doorknob remained motionless.
"What was that all about?" Sasha asked herself, she gulped. "What could be in my room?"
"Maybe something creepy and crawly!" a voice cackled as Sasha felt crawling fingers on her shoulders.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sasha screamed and jumped right out the closet and onto the floor, trembling tenfold.
Hearing a laugh coming from the closet, out came a familiar skeleton.
"Skully?!" Sasha exclaimed. She exhaled and put a hand to her chest. "You scared me!"
The skeleton winked with a tip of his top hat. "Of course I did. I was just rattling around the closets in the area and thought I'd pop in for a spell!" He looked around. "Where's Rachel?" He helped Sasha up.
"She's on another planet with Rook, so I'm all alone." Sasha droned.
Skully could sense her sadness. He got an idea. "I know! How about we head back to the Fright Side for a little visit at Scary Godmother's?"
Sasha appeared hesitant. "Uh, I don't know..." She gasped when Skully hooked his arm around her shoulders.
"Now, now! I insist." He grinned his empty smile, making Sasha nervous. "It's better than sitting around being bored!"
"That is a good point." Sasha admitted. "Alright, let's go."
"Goodie! Step inside, Sweetie." Skully kindly walked Sasha into the closet and closed the door behind them. Sasha was starting to get nervous, standing in the dark with a living skeleton was causing tingles of fear to race up her spine.
"S-So, how to we get to Scary Godmother's house?" Sasha murmured. She flinched when Skully grabbed her shoulders.
"It can be a tricky procedure." Skully said. "Unless of course, you're friends with a monster or two. First, open the door and close your eyes."
Sasha closed them right away.
Skully opened the door. "Step on over to...the Fright Side!" Sasha opened the eyes, amazed to see Scary Godmother's living room.
"Wow!" Sasha said as she and Skully walked out of the closet and into the house. "Pretty cool!"
"Skully? Is that you?" Sasha heard the sweet sound of a good Halloween witch. Scary Godmother flew into the room. "Sasha! What a nice surprise!" She gave the human a big hug. "What brings you here?"
"She was home alone so I brought her here!" answered Skully.
"Hmm..." Scary Godmother rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I know! Perhaps you can help me with a little chore, Sasha?"
"Sure." Sasha said.
The witch's bat wings flapped in excitement. "Good! Follow me!"
Sasha and Skully followed Scary Godmother to a room. She opened the door and when they walked inside, Sasha gasped loudly and hid behind Skully. The room was so thick with cobwebs it seemed like spiders have decorated for a party.
"What's wrong?" Skully asked, concerned.
"T-T-There's webs everywhere!" Sasha squeaked. And surely those webs must have come from a lot of spiders that were probably hiding somewhere.
"I know, I knitted them myself!" Scary said proudly.
Sasha cocked her head back. "You...knit spider webs?! I thought only spiders make them! What are we doing in this creepy room?!"
Skully blinked his eye holes with realization. "Oh! That's right! Sasha's afraid of spiders!"
"How do you know that?!" Sasha asked.
"I'm the keeper of all the secrets, remember?" Skully said knowingly. "And believe me, people have got a lot of secrets!"
Scary Godmother smiled. "Now, Sasha. All I need you to do for me is knit a few spider webs while I clean all my cauldrons."
"What?! I can't knit spider webs!" Not only did Sasha had no knowledge of knitting, she did not want to make icky spider webs.
Skully patted her on the back. "Don't worry, Sweetie. I'll teach you!"
"That's right! Skully will teach you everything he knows! Good luck you two!" And Scary flew out the door in a flash.
Skully clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's get started!"
Sasha nervously looked around for spiders. "Um, sure..."
Seeing Sasha so nervous, Skully couldn't resist giving her another scare. He gasped and pointed at the ground. "Sasha! A spider!"
"AAAAAAAAAAH! GET IT AWAY!" Sasha practically jumped three feet in the air. She stumbled and fell right onto a pile of sticky cob webs. "EW! GROSS!" Sasha squealed. She tried to get out of the webs, but it only made her stick more. "Skully! Help!"
"Don't worry, Sasha! I'll save you!" Skully hurried out the room and came back with some scissors. He was going to cut Sasha free when he paused, Sasha was trembling and a tear started trickling down her cheek. "Sasha, what's wrong?" Skully cooed as he wiped her tear away.
"I wish I wasn't such a chicken." Sasha sobbed. "I got into this mess over a spider that probably wasn't even real!" She glared at Skully, who sulked with guilt.
"I'm sorry, Sasha. I didn't mean for all this to happen." He smiled as he tucked her hair behind her ear. "You're not a chicken. It's okay to be afraid of something, everyone is."
But Sasha huffed and turned away from the skeleton. Skully had to do something. And he knew what. "I think someone needs cheering up." he sang.
Sasha's eyes bulged out and whimpered. "Oh, no..."
Skully held up his hands and wiggled his fingers at her. Sasha closed her eyes, bracing herself. Skully lifted Sasha's shirt and let his bony fingertips wiggle on her sides. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo!"
"Heeheeheeheeheeheehahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Sasha giggled as she squirmed around. "Skulleeheeheeheey! Stop!"
"It's like my hands are tickling spiders, aren't they?" Skully teased.
Skully was right. His bony fingers were crawling all over Sasha like crawling spiders. When he worked on her stomach, Sasha screamed with laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHO SKULLY!"
Her laugh made Skully laugh. "It's no secret this is your tickle spot!" His evil fingers tickled Sasha silly all over her stomach. "Tickle, tickle, tickle! Tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle!"
"HEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Cut it out, Skully!" Sasha begged, no matter how much she squirmed, the webs kept her in place.
Skully stopped tickling, giving Sasha a break. While she was regaining her breath, the mischievous skeleton was getting a devious idea.
Sasha wondered why Skully was so quiet. She looked at the skeleton and saw him lift up his finger and wiggled it into Sasha's belly button.
"Ah! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Skully!" Sasha whined, moving around to get the tickling digit out of her belly button.
"Better not wiggle around so much." Skully warned as he kept tickling.
But Sasha was determined, she squirmed and wriggled and laughed, trying to get away.
If only she didn't.
SNAP!
Sasha froze. She looked down and saw Skully's finger came right off. Sasha stared in shock until the finger began to wiggle on it's own!
"AAAAAH!" Sasha screamed. "EHEHEHEHEHEW! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sasha was grossed out and tickled at the same time.
"I warned you, didn't I?" Skully winked.
"G-G-GET IT OUT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT TICKLES! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sasha laughed, the wiggly finger was driving her mad.
Seeing that she's had enough, Skully took the finger out of Sasha's belly button and put it back on his hand. He took out his scissors and clipped through the webs. At last, Sasha was freed. Sasha breathed deeply as Skully wrapped his arms around the tired girl. "Are you alright, sweetie?" Skully asked.
"Yeah, a bit." Sasha said, a bit breathy.
"I'm sorry if I got a little carried away." Skully apologized. "Tell you what, I'll knit the spider webs myself later. Right now, let's have some tea and enjoy your company."
Sasha yelped when Skully lifted her in his arms and started carrying her downstairs, which amazed Sasha since skeletons don't have muscles to carry her. Once they were downstairs, Sasha was finally enjoying her visit. She, Skully, and Scary Godmother were having tea. Before she knew it, it became an all out tea party! They all wore funny hats and accessories, chatting all about their interests, favorite activities, and stories of the past. But mostly just being goofy all day!
Seeing Skully acting all silly was really helping Sasha see him in a whole new way. Skully was scary when he wants to, but he's really just a sweet, lovable, funny guy.
Hours later, Sasha realized she had to be getting home. Sasha gave her goodbyes to Scary Godmother before she and Skully returned to the Grant Mansion the same way they came.
Sasha gave the skeleton a big hug. "Thanks for an awesome day, Skully!"
"My pleasure, Sasha." Skully returned the hug. "And remember-"
"Sasha! We're home!" It was Rachel's voice.
Sasha and Skully looked at each other, then smiled.
Rachel headed upstairs and saw her sister waiting for her in the hallway. "Hey, girl! I missed you!" They both hugged. "So, how was your day? You weren't bored, were ya?" They pulled apart and Sasha just smiled at her sister very knowingly, confusing Rachel.
Suddenly, Rachel felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned, right into the grinning skull of Skully Pettibone.
"BOO!"
Rachel yelped and jumped right into Sasha's arms. Sasha laughed as she and her sister fell down together.
"Gotcha!" Sasha and Skully said together.
Rachel gave her sister a glare. "I assume this answers my question?"
Sasha smiled as Skully helped both girls up. "Yup."
All of a sudden, Skully was pounced on by Blitzwolfer. "Stay away from the girls!" the Loboan growled warningly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's okay, Blitz! He's our friend!" Sasha said.
Blitzwolfer arched his brow, then turned to Skully. The nervous skeleton nervously smiled and chuckled a little. Blitzwolfer sniffed Skully's face before giving it a good lick. Blitzwolfer smiled, "You taste pretty good!" Then he began slobbering all over Skully.
"Ahahahahaha! No! Stop! Bad doggie! Hahahahahaha!" Skully laughed as the Loboan tasted his face, underarms, and ribs.
Rachel and Sasha laughed as well, but stopped when Blitzwolfer began gnawing on one of Skully's ribs.
"No! Blitz! Off!" Rachel yelled as she and Rachel finally prided the wolf away from their friend.
Blitzwolfer was feeling regret and guilt. "Sorry, I couldn't control myself."
"Are you okay, Skully?" Sasha asked.
Skully checked himself. "Hmm, just a few bite marks and lots of drool..." He wiped some saliva of his face. "Nothing a glass of milk can fix, it's good for the bones they say."
"To the kitchen!" Sasha said. The gang headed down for some refreshing milk.
It was certainly an unusual day for Sasha. But it was one of the best she's ever had.