It was Abby's third Halloween, but the first time she had lived among so many humans, in houses crowded close together. Born on a remote mountainside far away, she and her housemate, the tall, blue-eyed longhaired boy named Beau, had been moved to this hot, noisy, crowded place only a few weeks ago. It was called "texas", or "back in civilization", but they didn't think much of it.

The human Abby and Beau lived with didn't stay home any more. She ran out the door nearly every morning and didn't come back until dinnertime. They were closed up in the house the whole day, and they weren't used to that. How Abby missed the cool woods she used to run around in, and the screen door of their old house with its tattered screen that she and Beau used to sail right though when they wanted in or out. She was an accomplished escape artist, but she had combed this small house for an escape route and hadn't found one.

Every evening her human let her out on the stone porch, where they would sit and talk together just as they used to. Sometimes Beau sat with them, but more often he was sleeping off a big dinner. There was an encouraging nip in the air on this evening. Maybe it wouldn't be so hot. Her human spoke to her of promises, of "a safe yard in the country" and "go back home someday". This time her human also mentioned "halloween tonight" and "had to buy candy", and laughed. So what's a halloween? Abby wondered. And they went inside early.

She soon found out. The doorbell rang over and over, and strange, frightening beings stood on her porch, yelling and dipping into the candy bowl. Her human called them children. Abby had never seen a children before, and she didn't like these. They smelled like humans, but were they? They wore such strange coverings! Not human dresses like her own wore. As the hour grew later, the childrens grew larger. Now some of them looked like men humans. Beau had been hiding under the bed for hours and Abby was really agitated by then.

She looked out the window into the porch light, and was horrified to see two of the larger beings, with sheets draped over them, tossing something back and forth. It was a kitten! She yowled, and her human opened the door to look out. Then the screen door opened, as her human shouted to those beings, and Abby went streaking through it. She reached the sidewalk just as they dropped the kitten on it and ran off. She wanted to attack the beings, but no, she must see to the kitten.

Abby had had kittens herself, back on the mountainside, but her kits had been torn away from her when they were barely weaned and strangers took them away, just before she herself was moved from there to here. This little kitten looked like one of hers, mostly black with white rings around his eyes, like he was wearing little glasses. Just a little guy. Abby was washing him when a couple of the smaller childrens came running across the street. What were they saying? "Our kitten", and "we left him outside", that's what. Abby glared at them. No, they would not have this kitten. It was hers.

Her human went across the street and brought a recognizable human lady back with her. Yes, that was their kitten, the lady said, and Abby's own human had quite a bit to say, too. Then she picked Abby up, as the other picked up the kitten, and they parted. Abby was taken back in the house and given a lovely treat and called "brave." It wasn't the last time Abby would be called brave. But that's when she decided she wanted nothing to do with "halloween."

Abby was a simple country cat who did not yet know the many things she would learn in her long life. She lived to be almost 20 years old, an awesome cat of unmatched bravery, wisdom and understanding, with a huge, loving heart.

Beau was a gentle soul, sort of a feline spirit of his mountainside, who could not understand this new life in a hot, noisy land. He disappeared before another Halloween came.

"Abby" was my mama and "Beau" was my papa. That's how I know the story.