BOOlia's Tales of Horrors 9

Housebroken: Pet Cemetary

It was Halloween and the pets were all gathered together for their therapy session. Some of the pets were dressed in their Halloween costumes. Honey was dressed as a pot of honey, Elsa as the Queen of England, Diablo as a taco, Max as a British royal guard, Chico as a pumpkin, and Nibbles as a fire truck. The others weren't dressed up.

"As you pets know," The poodle began. "It is that time of year again, the day that our owners dress as in ridiculous costumes for their amusement and hand out candy to kids. And as always, I must remind you, no matter what, no matter how temping they might be, do not, and I can't stress this enough, do NOT eat the candy, especially the chocolates." She looked at the mixed-breed terrier. "I'm looking at you, Diablo."

"What?!" Diablo asked as he looked at his friends. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

"Because we are concerned about you the most."

"Why? I promise not to eat any candy this year, especially the chocolates. I know that stuff is toxic to us dogs."

"You may say that." Elsa, the corgi said to him. "But we know you. Once you see a piece of candy, you can't help yourself, and despite the dangers, will eat it any way."

"I promise this will be different. I have you know that as my owners have brought lots of candy, getting ready for the kids, I haven't had a single one, and I plan to keep it that way until the last piece is gone and for the times after that."

"Are you sure about that?" Shel asked. Diablo looked at the tortoise.

"Yes, Shel, I'm sure, 100%."

"I think we should put that to the test." He looked at Honey. "Honey? What do you think?" Before Honey could respond, he looked at Tchotchke. "Tchotchkes? If you please, grab one of Honey's candies that her owners got out one of the baskets." Tchotchkes nodded and the slow lois jumped off the couch that he was sitting on, drifting down the floor with his cocktail umbrella.

"Oh, you don't have to do this."

"Diablo's right." Honey agreed. "This is unnecessary. Diablo doesn't have to prove anything. Can't we just go by his word and continue on with the meeting?" Once on the floor, Tchotchkes scampered over to one of the candy filled baskets by the front door, "Tchotchkes, come back here, Tchotchkes!" But it was too late. The slow lois picked up one of the many candy bars, went back to the group, and placed it on the floor by Diablo.

"Go on, Diablo." Shel challenged the dog. "Prove to us that you can resist that piece of candy." Diablo began to sweat.

"Oh no."

"Diablo, don't do it." Honey warned him. "Be the bigger dog here."

"You can do it, Diablo!" Chico urged. But Diablo was shaking all over.

"Oh no." He repeated. Every one of his friends urged him and told him not to, but the temptation proved too strong for Diablo and the little dog tore open the packaging and ate it right up. Tabatha, the Persian cat rolled her eyes,

"Typical dog." She observed in her thick Russian accent.

"Oh, Diablo." Honey said to herself. Diablo looked at everybody with shame.

"Sorry." He apologized. "I know I shouldn't every time, but I just can't help myself. It's like they're saying my name 'Diablo, eat me! Diablo, go ahead, I'm delicious!''

"We know you can't help it." Honey told him. "Chief has the same problem. But that is why we are here. That's why this group exists, to help you so you can be better in the future so it doesn't happen again."

"Oh no!" Diablo said to no one in particular. "Here it comes." Honey noticed that he was about to vomit.

"Not here, Diablo!" She yelled. "Not on Jill's carpet; do it on the floor!" Diablo ran to the floor and just barely made it in time before the puke came out. All of the pets cringed with disgust.

"Well, Jill will be mad." Honey pointed out. "But she would be more mad if it got all over her carpets and rugs. That's why I told you to run to the hard floor instead, easy for her to get the vomit out. Are you okay, Diablo?"

"Yes." Diablo answered. "I'm feeling much better. Sorry about Jill's floor."

"It's okay." She assured him. "Although she'll probably blame Cheif or I again on the mess, that's the price I have to pay for throwing all of these secret therapy sessions here." Shel sighed, hanging his head in shame,

"It's my fault." Shel said. "I should have known better than to peer pressure Diablo." He looked at the dog. "Sorry, Diablo."

"It's not totally your fault." He told the tortoise. "True, you pressured me, but I'm the one who did it. I didn't have to, but did. I should have been the bigger dog like what Honey said."

"This is good." Honey observed. "Making up by talking about it and admitting your wrongs."

"My third grade teacher would be so proud of you two right now if she saw this." Nibbles agreed with a sigh. "She always love it when her kids make up. Just then Chief came in through the doggy door. The St Bernard was dressed as a bumble bee. He smelled the vomit.

"EWWWW!" He cried out. "What is that horrible smell?" He saw the vomit and was disappointed. "Aw, man, did I miss something?"

"Diablo ate a candy bar." Chico told him. "And he vomited on the hard floor."

"Honey told him to do it on the floor instead of the carpet and rug." Max added.

"Good call." Chief said. "Jill hates it when vomit or spills gets in the carpets. It takes her a long time to clean."

"I still feel bad that she'll have to blame you guys for it." Diablo said. "I mean, it isn't fair. It isn't your fault. You shouldn't get the blame every time on our messes."

"Like I said before." Honey put in. "It's a price I have to pay. It might not be fair, but if it means that you guys can keep coming here, it's a sacrifice worth making even though it sucks."

"How did you get your paws on a candy bar?" Chief asked Diablo. "Don't you know chocolate is bad for us dogs?" He then noticed the baskets sitting on the end tables and panicked. "Oh no! It's not the day I think it is, is it?"

"It is." Honey told him. "It's that day our owners dress up and hand out candy to kids at night."

"Didn't you notice the signs?" Max asked him. "All of the spooky decorations inside and outside the houses and our owners getting all of the candy from who knows where? Them dressing themselves and you guys up?"

"The day we all pets love and hate at the same time," Cheif said. "I blame the candy. Why make them so dang delicious? I hate how they mock us like that, it's not nice. I mean, our humans don't eat our food, so why can't we fight the urge not to eat theirs?"

"Well, some humans eat our food." Tabatha pointed out. "And some even like it believe it or not."

"Humans sure are strange like that." Chico put in.

"But just like animals will be animals." Shel added. "Humans will be humans. We just have to live with the crazy quirks that we have."

"True that!" The Gray One agreed. "The many cats I live with, each one of us may look the same on the outside, but the inside? Man, each one of us is a different unique story." Chief tried to fight it, closing his eyes tight,

"Must…not…think,…of...candy!" He told himself. "Must…fight…urge. These are for Jill to give out to kids. These aren't for us. They're toxic to us. Must…remember that. Come on, Chief, you can do this. Don't be your dumb dog self. Listen to your gut. Listen to it well." His friends all urged him on as well.

"Oh, I can't do this." Chief told everyone. "Sorry, but the candy temptation is too strong for me." He looked back at the candy. "Candy, I don't know how you did it, but. you won me over once again. I'm coming for you!" He was about to dive in, when Honey stopped him.

"Hold it right there, Chief!" Chief stopped and looked up at her. "You have made too many stupid decisions in the past, and I'm not going to let you make another one."

"She's right." Diablo told him. "Do the thing that I couldn't do and be the bigger dog."

"Show the candy who is boss." The Grey One added. "And make them see that they can't rule your life!"

"You know what, guys?" Chief said to his friends. "I will." He looked at the candy again. "Sorry, candy, but your bullying has come to an end, You don't tell me what to do. I'm in charge of my own destiny and life!" The other animals cheered.

"Good for you, Chief." Honey said to him. "I'm so proud of you right now."

"Thanks." Chief said. "I'm so proud of me too. I really showed them. They can't control me."

"So, are we going to go back to the meeting?" Tabatha wanted to know.

"Oh, yeah." Honey said. "We are. Okay, everybody back into the liv…"

"We are really going to continue our meeting with that putrid smell?" Elsa wanted to know. Honey sighed.

"You're right." She agreed, "We can't continue this meeting with that smell distracting us. What do you think we should do? Cancel the rest of the meeting and resume next week?"

"No. We can continue. Just somewhere else, somewhere far away from the smell."

"Where?" Chico asked.

"Don't know." Elsa admitted. "But we can discuss this outside." Honey nodded.

"Okay, Elsa." She looked at the other pets in the room. "Okay, you all heard her. Let's go outside and discuss the spot for the rest of our meeting tonight." The other pets got out and up from their spots and headed for the doggy door.

"What about me?" Bubbles, the goldfish asked from inside of her fish bowl as the other animals walked out of the doggy door, Honey looked back at her.

"Sorry, Bubbles." She apologized. "You have to stay here, It's too risky to move you. You know how it is."

"Oh, boy, do I ever!" She agreed. "But whatever. Go have your meeting."

"Sorry about this, Bubbles." She left.

"Cheer up." Chief said to her. "You don't have a nose, so this is no big deal for you. You're very lucky on that part." He left as well. Bubbles sighed.

"Right. I'm very lucky all right."

"Hey, guys!" Raccoon said as the he saw them all outside.

"Oh, hey, Raccoon." Honey greeted back. She looked back at the group. "Ok, where do you want to resume the meeting?"

"Hold up." Raccoon interrupted. "But don't you guys always hold your meetings in this house? Why not there? Why the sudden change-up?"

"I threw up in there." Diablo said, "And because of it, we have to meet somewhere else."

"Why?"

"Go on in and just smell it." Elsa told the mammal. "Then you'll see why." Raccoon shrugged.

"Okay. If you say so." He went inside through the doggy door. Seconds later, he ran back outside.

"You're right." He said to Elsa, "No one should ever enter that place ever again." He calmed down. "But I know where you can continue your meeting, And since, the humans are calling this 'spooky season', I know the perfect place."

Raccoon led them to a pet cemetery. The animals were confused about this new place that none of them had ever ventured to before. Honey looked at the racoon.

"Racoon?" She wanted to know. "Care to tell us what this creepy place is?"

"A crow told me once that this is a pet cemetery." Raccoon explained. "Where humans bury their dead pets." Chief shivered. No wonder it gives me the heebie jeebies. He thought to himself. He then realized something and looked at Honey.

"Hey, Honey?" He asked. "Is this where Big Cookie went?" Honey was shocked that this was asked.

"I don't know." She admitted. "Maybe. She could be here I suppose. It's possible."

"Are we really going to have our meeting here, Honey?" The Grey One wanted to know.

"Yeah." Chico added. "Being surrounded by dead pets is creepy beyond belief." He shivered. "I'm shivering even thinking about it."

"Um…" Honey began to think.

"We don't have to." Shel said to the poodle. "We can go and have the meeting somewhere else. Somewhere less spooky."

"Yeah." Elsa put in. "This was just a suggestion by Raccoon. I'm sure he won't mind if you skip this and we go somewhere else."

"She's right." Raccoon agreed. "Basically, I don't care where you have your meeting. I was only trying to help. But considering this is Halloween as the humans call it, this might be a great opportunity to. No pressure."

"So, what is your response?" Tabatha questioned.

"Uh…" Honey stuttered, still thinking.

"Honey?" Diablo asked. "What's your decision? I promise not to puke this time."

"Hopefully!" Max put in. "If there's no chocolates here, right, Diablo?"

"Uh, right." Honey did a deep sigh.

"It is getting late." She noted. She looked at Racoon. "Ok, Raccoon. Thank you for telling us about this place. We'll have our meeting here." Her friends were surprised.

"Really?!" Nibbles wanted to know. "It literally can be anywhere else. How do you know that it's getting late?"

"Because the sun is going down." Shel explained to the classroom pet. "And it's getting dark. I say that's a good indication if any, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh, yes, I suppose. You guys are outside more then me, so I trust you." Shel smiled and nodded.

"Yes, it's good to be trusted."

"It is."

"Okay." Raccoon stated. "I'll leave you animals to it then. Later!" He ran off.

"Wait! " Honey called after him, but he was already gone. She sighed and looked at her friends. "Come on. Let's give this place a try. It might not be as bad as we think." She went in. The animals were still uncertain, but followed as well.

"Okay." She began as soon as she and the others found an area in the graveyard where they could continue the meeting. "Now where were we? Who wants to share?"

"Before you begin, Honey." Chief said. "I'm going to go exploring." Honey looked at him.

"You're a grown dog, Chief. You can do whatever you want. You don't need my permission."

"I'm just telling you so you don't get worried."

"Okay. Thanks. You can go now."

"I will." And with that, Chief left to explore.

"Sorry to interrupt." Diablo put in. "But are you sure you want to do the meeting here? This place is giving me the creeps. I might puke again."

"Why?" Max wanted to know. "You ate another piece of candy that we don't know about? You should really stop doing that. I know it's tough, but it's for your own good."

"No. I might puke in fright."

"I don't think you can do that." Chico put in. "Puke because you're so frightened. Animal or human, I don't think that's possible."

"Well, I don't want to stay to find out and I don't think you should have sent Chief out here in the dark. Something bad could happen to him."

"It's quite alright to be afraid." Honey said to Diablo. "But in order not to be scared by whatever you're afraid of, you need to face it head on, and that is exactly what you're doing by staying here with us. And don't worry about Chief. There's no one here except us. He can handle going out by himself. Do you understand, Diablo?"

"I guess so."

"Good. We're your friends; we won't let anything hurt you. We're all in this together." Diablo smiled with a tail wag.

"Thanks, I'm feeling much better now."

"Good. I'm glad."

"I have something to share." The class pet spoke up. Honey and the other pets looked her way. Nibbles took a deep breath and let it out. "I absolutely hate the costume that I am wearing. The teacher said not to put the costume on me, but the children dressed me in this ridiculous costume anyway for their amusement. A few of them gushed at me and said I was cute. One of them took a picture of me with her phone."

"I understand your frustration." Tabatha agreed. "My pets wanted to dress me as well. But I was not going to let them. They tried, but I refused, so they gave up. That's how you do it. You show the humans who is boss. Let no one force you what you don't want to do."

"Wish I thought of that."

"Well, now you know for da future."

"You may hate what they dress you in." Honey put in. "But sometimes that's the price you have to pay to make them happy. You have to make big sacrifices."

"I guess.: Nibbles said. "They were all quite happy. And once the teacher saw what they did, she scolded them, but did nothing about it. I think she was secretly happy just as much as the kids were."

"If you hate it so much,…" The Gray One started telling her. "…then why are you still wearing it? They are not here anymore, so why not just take it off?" Nibbles looked at him.

"I guess it's been on so long that I haven't really been bothered by it. I'm used to it at this point."

"That's right." Honey put in. "We all might have hated our costumes at first, but after a while, you get used with them on. As long as they aren't hurting or suffocating us, it's not that big of a deal."

"I guess that makes sense." The Gray One said

"And they're only for one night a year." Elsa added. "And maybe some other days, depending on what the humans want, so it's not forever."

"Thank goodness for that."

"But you won't see me in these stupid outfits." Tabatha stated. "Ever!"

"Okay, Tabatha, we get it." Chico said. "You will never wear a silly costume." She scoffed and sat up straight.

"You're darn right I won't!"

Chief went all over the cemetery. The dog was confused to why there were a lot of stones (tombstones) at the cemetery. Are they having a stone party? He wondered to himself. If so why are some of these more fancier than others? Stones can't have those green paper things like humans do, do they?

He was pondering this when suddenly he heard a voice.

"Go away!" It said. "You aren't welcome here!" He stopped in his tracks, looking left to right, wondering where this mysterious voice was coming from. "I said, go away! You and your friends are disrespecting the graveyard by being here. Go away!"

"Hello?" He asked. "Are you talking to me, mysterious voice? Hello?" He walked around.

"What part of 'go away' do you not understand?!"

"Uh, all of it? Why do you want me to go away?"

"I already told you! Because you aren't welcome here."

"No, I got that. But why am I not welcome here?"

"Because you're trespassing."

"Trespassing? But there's no one here."

"Yes there is. There is a whole bunch of us here."

"Where? I don't see you or anyone else here. Show your face."

"Are you sure you want to see my face?"

"Yes, I want to know everything about you, mysterious voice."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure. I'm bored and need someone to talk to…and to see their face."

"I'm going to warn you right now. You're going to wish you hadn't, not here anyways."

"Why?"

"Because,….I'm done talking to you, dumb living dog. Here I come. I warn you! Here all of us come!" Chief got excited about this.

"Oh boy; playmates! I'm ready to play, mysterious voice!" Suddenly, ghost animals started rising from their graves. But Chief wasn't scared one bit; he didn't know that these pets were deceased.

"BOOOOOO!" A ghost bulldog screamed into his face, but Chief stayed in his place, leaving the ghost dog confused. "You're not scared of me?"

"No way!" Chief shook his head. "Not of you, mysterious voice. Why should I be scared of you?"

"Because, um, I'm a ghost? You know, dead, deceased, passed on, no longer living. My friends are like that too. Didn't you see us all raising from our graves?"

"Yeah, wait, those stone things are graves? How did you all do that?"

"Because we're ghosts. Once we die, we can do that." Chief got excited.

"Can I do that?"

"Once you're dead, sure." Chief saw the ghost was in the air.

"And are you floating in the air? Oh… my… gosh; that's so cool! Can I do that?"

"Uh, again you do that when you're dead."

"Cool! What else can you do that I can't?"

"I can go though you,"

"You can?! Can you do that right now? Because that'll be awesome if you do!" The ghost grinned. Surly, this'll scare this dog.

"Okay!" He went right through him. "Huh?!" He did this and again. Cheif did not flinch one bit. This angered the ghost. "What's wrong with you?! Why aren't you afraid of us?!"

"I don't know. So, what else can you do that us living pets can't?"

"We don't have to go to the vet."

"You are so lucky. I hate that place!"

"I did too when I was alive. And I notice you are in costume. It must be that time of year again. Ugh; it makes you look ridiculous!"

"No, it doesn't. Well, I don't know since I can't see myself in it, but it makes our human, Jill, happy, and whatever makes her happy, makes me happy."

"Well, to each their own, I guess. I just couldn't handle a costume. My owners tried fitting me in one a couple times, once when I was a pup, and then again when I was older."

"Okay." Chief then had an idea. "Hey, how about I show you to Honey and her friends? They will love to meet you I'm sure." Once again, the ghost dog grinned.

"I'd love to. Lead the way."

"Alright; follow me then!" And so, the ghost followed Cheif, as well as the other ghostly pets.

"By the way, I never got your name."

"It's Bones."

"I'm Chief. Bones, what a nice name for a dog. Reminds me of a nice, juicy, bone. You got me hungry for bones now, Bones."

"Oh, goodie!" Said Bones in a sarcastic tone. :Got me hungary every time to. Must have been funny to my master and that is why he named me that, so I was always hungry for bones."

"Guys, guys!" An excited Chief shouted, bounding up to where the group was having their meeting. The pets stopped and looked at him, Honey glared at the Saint Bernard dog.

"What, Chief?" She asked. "Can it wait until after our meeting?"

"Sorry." Chief apologized. "I know you and your friends are busy, but I like for you all to meet my new friend that I made here, Bones!" The animals were all confused. There was nobody besides them.

"Is your friend a tortoise like me?" Shel wanted to know. "Because then I completely understand why he's not here yet. I think you were just a little too over excited for us to meet him that you beat him and it'll take a while until he gets here."

"Oh no, he's a dog."

"Then where is he?" Tabatha asked. "This 'dog' you claim as your new friend is nowhere in sight."

"He's probably just shy." Chief suggested. He then turned to where the ghost dog was following him. "Hey; Bones! Come on over! It's all right; my friends won't bite." He turned to Honey and the group. "Will you guys?" They all shook their heads. Chief looked back and was confused. "Now that's strange. I could have sworn that he was following me." Just then, pets raised in front of their graves synonymously and the ones not by their graves just appeared out of thin air. All of the live pets except for Chief screamed. Bones then materialized.

"BOOOOO!" Bones shouted in their faces, making them all scream again. "BE GONE; LEAVE THIS PLACE!" The live animals all ran. Chief was puzzled by this.

"Honey?" He questioned. "Why are you guys running?" Honey and the others stopped and looked at him.

"You're not scared?" Honey wanted to know. "How come you're not scared?"

"No. I don't see any reason as to why I should be."

"Maybe it's the fact that it's a ghost." The Grey One spoke up. "You know, dead, deceased, no longer living. All of these pets are ghosts."

"I still don't see the connection to why I should be scared."

"You aren't freaked out by the fact that they are no longer living?" Nibbles asked Chief.

"Nope!" Chief answered. "Dead or alive, I don't care. He's my friend and he can be yours too once you get to know him. What do you say?"

"Well, I suppose Chief has a point." Shel pointed out. "We perceive ghosts as evil for some reason, but that should be true for all of us when we die. So it's like we too will be bad one day when we're gone. And we will die, it's just the fact of life."

"A sad one." Chico agreed. "But true nonetheless. Shel has a point. Why must we be bad when we're gone? I say we give these ghosts a chance and prove to humans that ghosts are just misunderstood."

"You got that right, Chico!" Chief cheered. "I'm glad you get it." He looked at the others. "Guys? What about you all? Please, give these ghosts a chance! I'm begging you!"

"Chief," Bones began telling him. "I am not your friend and I never will be, nor I'll make friends with your other friends. It's out of the question." Chief looked at him in puzzlement.

"Why?" He wanted to know. "Do you not like me? Because I like you."

"My friends are here, in the graveyard. I have millions of them."

"Well, you can have one more then! The more, the merrier, right?"

"Chief," Honey said to the St. Bernard. "He clearly doesn't want to make friends at the moment. I think you should respect his wishes and all of us can get out of here."

"But, Honey." Chief said to her. "Aren't social reactions good and healthy for you? I thought that for sure the topic will be one of the things that was talked about in therapy."

"It was." Honey agreed. "And it is good and healthy to make friends. The more friends you have, the happier you'll be. But I was talking about live friends, not dead ones."

"And is it also true that it's wrong to discriminate?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Isn't this discrimination in a way?"

"Chief is right." Max pointed out. "This is a form of discrimination if you really think about it."

"There's a true story that has a lot of discrimination in one of the books my classroom reads every year." Nibbles pointed out. "It's based on a true story, so it's shocking that all went down with the humans too." Honey thought about this and sighed.

"You're right." She agreed. "It is, and like all discrimination, it needs to stop." She looks at Bones and the other ghosts. "I'm sorry."

"That's nice and all," Bones said. "But you still are not welcome here."

"You're not discriminating by telling my friends that they are not allowed here, are you, Bones?" Chief asked him.

"That's another thing that went down in the book." Nibbles spoke. "Some humans couldn't go to places where other people were allowed to go. It makes no sense now and it made no sense the first time I heard it."

"You guys aren't allowed here because you guys are trespassing and having a stupid therapy session here." Bones told the living pets. They all gasped.

"How do you know that we are having a therapy session?" Honey wanted to know. "And how do you even know what that is?"

"Because that is exactly what Big Cookie does with the ghosts here." The poodle was shocked by this,

"Wait a minute, did you say Big Cookie?" She asked.

"That's right. Ever since she died and came to our graveyard, she started hosting these sessions. It's downright stupid if you ask me, spilling out issues and your personal dark secrets to others. She keeps persuading me to join, but I'm not. I don't need it, nor will I ever need it. I can handle my own problems by myself, thank you very much."

"But it's always good talking about these things." Said a voice. Everyone looked and saw a ghostly form of an Afghan Hound hovering their way. Honey's jaw dropped.

"Big Cookie?" She questioned. "Is it really you?" Big Cookie looked at the poodle.

"Oh, hey, Honey." She greeted. "It's been a while. How are you doing?" Honey went back into reality.

"I'm doing really good, Big Cookie!" She answered.

"I'm doing really good too!" Chief blurted out. Big Cookie smiled.

"That's really good to hear." She looked at the shaking terrier before her. "And what is your name?" Diablo was shaking so much that it was hard for him to speak.

"I-I-I-I-I'm-I…" He stuttered.

"This is Diablo." Honey introduced him, coming to the poor dog's rescue. "He joined the sessions when you left." She then frowned. "Sorry about that. It had to be done. Hope you aren't too mad."

"Why should I be mad? I died. You guys have to move on, I get it." Honey sighed with relief.

"That's a relief to hear. I'm glad you understand. Anyways," She looked at Bones again. "As I was saying, it's good to talk these things over with animals that you know. That's why I really think these therapy sessions will be good for you. It'll make you feel less alone." Bones puffed out his ghostly chest.

"And I keep telling you that I don't need it, nor do I want it. Why can't you just accept that?" Big Cookie sighed.

"Still stubborn as always. Fine, I know I can't force you, but you don't know what you're missing out on."

"I don't join Honey on her sessions." Chief exclaimed. "I'm my own dog. I do what I want when I want. Scratch that, I do listen to Jill and okay. But the point still remains; I'm my own dog and I'm proud of it."

"See?" Bones stated. "Dumb dog gets it."

"Why, thank yo…" Chief realized something and glared at Bones. "Hey!"

"Although like you, Big Cookie,…" Honey began telling her. "I would like nothing more that Chief joins our meetings, but I'd leaned to accept his decision. And you should too. Let him make his own life…err, afterlife decisions. You can't force these things."

"I suppose you're right." Big Cookie agreed. She sighed and looked at Bones. "I'm sorry, Bones. You're your own ghost. You can do whatever makes you happy." Bones smiled at this.

"I appreciate this very much, Big Cookie. Thank you." Big Cookie smiled, but immediately frowned. Bones noticed this and frowned as well.

"What?"

"If I learn to accept your decision, you should be able to accept Honey's and all of her friends'. It's only fair."

"What decision os that?"

"The decision for Honey to conduct her meeting here with all of her friends." Honey and the live pets were shocked at this.

"Aw, do I have to?"

"Are you serious, Big Cookie?" Honey asked her. Big Cookie looked at her and nodded.

"On one condition."

"Sure. What condition is that?"

"If my friends and I can join you."

"Really? You want to join us?" Big Cookie nodded.

"I do. It's been a long time and I think it would be a good chance to catch up, plus since some of us have been dead a long time, to learn the problems of the living and have that nostalgia feeling of what it was like." She looked at her ghost friends. "What do you say guys? Want to join Honey and friends for tonight? I can't force you so speak up now if you don't want to." All of the ghost pets nodded. Big Cookie smiled. "Ok then. That settles that. We will all join in on Honey's meeting." Honey looked at her friends.

"What about you guys? Do you want Big Cookie to join us with the other ghosts?" Her friends all nodded.

"Why not?" Diablo said. "It's not everyday that we get to have ghosts in our meetings."

"That might not be true." Chico told him. "Remember, ghosts can be invisible so they very well could be anywhere without our knowledge. So it's very likely that they could've been in on our meetings before."

"Don't scare him." Max told him. "I don't think these ghosts need to see the reason why we came here in the first place."

"You got that right!" Tabatha agreed with an eye roll. "I think we all can agree that no one needs to see that, living or dead."

"And while they all have their meeting," Chief said to Bones. "I can hang out with you." Bones sighed with dread.

"Oh, lucky me!" He said in a sarcastic tone.

"Bones," Big Cookie said to him. "Remember, it's his decision to be with you."

"And what about my decision for him not to hang out with me, huh?"

"Come on, Bones. It won't kill you to be friendly."

"Yeah, because you're already dead!" Chief pointed out. Bones grumbled to himself.

"What was that, Bones?" Big Cookie asked.

"Nothing." Bones lied. "Nothing at all. Come on. Let's get this over with."

"That's the spirit, Bones!" Chief said. "Get it? 'That's the sprit' because you're a ghost? Of course you get it, let's do what you said and get this over with as Honey and her friends, plus Big Cookie and all of her friends do theirs." As Big Cookie and the ghosts listened on to Honey and her friends' problems, Chief and Bones took a stroll through the entire graveyard under the moonlit sky.