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<v Speaker 1>Monster Mash Bash The Monster Mash Bash began every Halloween

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<v Speaker 1>when the moon touched the Spooksville clock tower. Lily arrived

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<v Speaker 1>dressed as a ghost. Leah wore a pirate coat and

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<v Speaker 1>carried a wooden sword that squeaked. On stage, skeletons tuned

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<v Speaker 1>their ribs. Werewolves hummed. The Pumpkin King raised both leafy hands.

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<v Speaker 1>The moon touched the clock. The band played One Note. Boing!

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<v Speaker 1>Something purple bounced from the drummer's instrument and vanished beneath

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<v Speaker 1>the crowd. Every trumpet, fiddle, and bone went silent. The

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<v Speaker 1>bead escaped, groaned the bandleader. Without it, skeletons tangled their feet.

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<v Speaker 1>Mummies unwrapped in the wrong direction. The werewolves could sing

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<v Speaker 1>only very slowly. The band tried borrowing a tick from

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<v Speaker 1>the clock, but it was too small. They tried the

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<v Speaker 1>Pumpkin King's marching step, but he had two left boots.

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<v Speaker 1>A vampire counted everyone in, reached seven, and forgot what

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<v Speaker 1>came next. The escape beat did not remain quiet. It

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<v Speaker 1>made the candy apples hop from their tray in perfect rows.

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<v Speaker 1>It sent a witch's hat tapping across the square. For

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<v Speaker 1>ten seconds, it hid inside the Pumpkin King's cape. causing

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<v Speaker 1>him to dance while insisting he was standing still. Lily

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<v Speaker 1>saw a purple bounce beneath the candy apple stall. Leo

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<v Speaker 1>heard a faint thump inside an empty barrel. They followed

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<v Speaker 1>it through the party. Each time they drew close, Leo's

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<v Speaker 1>squeaky sword frightened it away. It bounced through the storytelling

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<v Speaker 1>tent and made every ghost hiccup at once. It rolled

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<v Speaker 1>beneath the pumpkin carving table where twelve carved faces began

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<v Speaker 1>chomping in rhythm. Then it sprang into the costume parade

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<v Speaker 1>and set a row of capes flapping like wings. Lily

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<v Speaker 1>and Leo cornered it beside the werewolf choir, but the

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<v Speaker 1>singers tried to help by howling. The beat shot from

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<v Speaker 1>voice to voice until every werewolf was singing at a

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<v Speaker 1>different speed. Leo climbed onto a hay bale to watch

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<v Speaker 1>the movement below, while Lily listened for the one rhythm

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<v Speaker 1>that stayed the same. There, she cried, as three empty

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<v Speaker 1>broomsticks began tapping against a wall. They followed the tapping

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<v Speaker 1>into the dance tent. The beat bounced beneath shoes, between

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<v Speaker 1>chair legs, and through a line of skeletons whose knees

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<v Speaker 1>clicked whenever it had passed. He tucked the sword into

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<v Speaker 1>his belt, Lily spread her ghost costume across the mouth

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<v Speaker 1>of the next alley like a soft net. The beat

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<v Speaker 1>bounced toward her, thump, thump, thump, then changed direction and

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<v Speaker 1>sprang onto the costume contest stage. There it hid among

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<v Speaker 1>tap-dancing vampire shoes. Lily watched carefully. The beat was invisible

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<v Speaker 1>except when it made something move. Don't chase it, she

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<v Speaker 1>told Leo. Match it. Their first rhythm was too fast.

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<v Speaker 1>The beat shot beneath the stage. Their second was too slow,

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<v Speaker 1>and it fell asleep inside a tuba. Lily remembered the

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<v Speaker 1>exact three bumps it had made when it escaped. She

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<v Speaker 1>tapped it again, softly this time. Leo answered on the

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<v Speaker 1>wooden stage. The hidden beat paused. They repeated the pattern

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<v Speaker 1>without moving closer, and it began bouncing toward them on

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<v Speaker 1>its own. Leo tapped the stage. Thump! Thump! Thump! The

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<v Speaker 1>vampire shoes answered. The skeletons clicked the same rhythm. Werewolves clapped.

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<v Speaker 1>Soon the entire square repeated it. The purple beat bounced

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<v Speaker 1>into the middle of the stage, delighted to hear itself everywhere.

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<v Speaker 1>The bandleader lowered an open drum over it. Boom! Music

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<v Speaker 1>rushed back into every instrument. The monster mash began at

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<v Speaker 1>twice its usual speed. Mummies spun, skeletons rattled. The Pumpkin

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<v Speaker 1>King danced so hard that his crown rolled into the

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<v Speaker 1>punch bowl. At the final note, the beat stayed safely

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<v Speaker 1>inside the drum. Will it escape next year? Lily asked.

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<v Speaker 1>The bandleader tightened the lid. From inside came a quiet thump, thump, thump.

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<v Speaker 1>Leo's wooden sword squeaked the answer. The End As always,

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<v Speaker 1>visit us at ReadTheTale.com for all your favorite tales and stories.