Ghost Mouse Is Scared: a gentle Halloween bedtime story

High on the hill stands the Mouse Castle. Witch Mouse lives there, and Pumpkin Mouse, Lantern Mouse and Ghost Mouse. And two little bats, who like nothing better than sleeping upside down in a dark corner all day.

It's Halloween. Everyone is busy. Witch Mouse is looking for her pointy hat. Pumpkin Mouse is choosing the finest pumpkins for the party. And Ghost Mouse? He has the finest ghost sheet in the whole castle. White and freshly washed, with two round holes to peek through.

As the sun sinks behind the hills, the sky turns pink and orange, and then slowly dark blue. Inside the castle, everything slowly turns grey. And then dark.

Ghost Mouse starts practising in the hallway: Booo! Boo!
And then in the hall where the fire is burning: Whooo-ooo!

It's quiet. But then Ghost Mouse hears:

"whooo-ooo"

very softly, far away. What's that? Boohooo, he calls.

boohooo!

comes the soft reply. Bravely he shouts: BOO!

boo

he hears again, further away … How can that be? Is there a ghost out there?
"Oh no," he trembles. "There really is a ghost!"
He has completely forgotten that he is a ghost himself.
Suddenly he sees a long shadow by the stairs.
Something creaks by the window!
And something is fluttering over there … did you see that?

He runs up to his attic room and quickly crawls into bed, deep under the covers.
There he stays. Very still. As still as only a mouse can be. Quiet as a mouse.
He hears no more boo, no more whooo …

Down in the great dining hall, Lantern Mouse notices someone is missing.
"Where's Ghost Mouse?" she asks. Nobody knows.
She picks up her lantern and goes looking. Through the corridors. Past the stairs. Through the hall with the fire, where Ghost Mouse loves to haunt. Her little light swings to and fro: tick, tick, tick.

At last she reaches the tower room, where Ghost Mouse sleeps. In the corner where the bed stands, she sees a big lump under the covers. Carefully she lifts the blanket and looks into two big, frightened eyes.
"Heeey," says Lantern Mouse softly. "What are you doing in there?"

"There's a ghost," whispers Ghost Mouse. "In the hallway … in the hall, by the fire. I heard it myself!"
Lantern Mouse sits down beside him. She holds up her lantern. "Shall we go and look together?"

She shines it on the stairs. There's only Witch Mouse's broom, making a long shadow in the lantern light. She shines it on the window. A twig from the tree is tapping on the glass. Tap, tap. And then she shines it up high. There hang the little bats, upside down, giggling sleepily: "Hello, Ghost Mouse! We've only just woken up!"

Together they go to the hall with the fire. "This is where I heard boo!" he says. And he shows her: BOOOOO! …

booooo, comes the sound from far away.

Lantern Mouse starts to giggle. Wheee-hee! she calls. wheee-hee, comes the sound from far away. Echooo! echooo …

"That's no ghost, silly. That's the echo!"
Ghost Mouse laughs with relief. "The echo?"
"Yes, the echo," says Lantern Mouse. "The castle has thick walls, and sometimes the sound bounces around a bit. Nothing to be scared of!"

Outside in the castle garden, Witch Mouse and Pumpkin Mouse are waiting. The moon hangs above the hills. And next to the moon the stars come on, one by one, as if someone is switching them on.
The garden is beautifully decorated, with lights in the finest pumpkins. Coloured lanterns hang in the trees.

"May I hold the lantern for a bit?" asks Ghost Mouse.
He may. He holds it very carefully. And wherever he walks, the warm light shines all around him.
That night Ghost Mouse goes to bed tired and happy. He lays his sheet over the chair. Lantern Mouse puts the lantern beside his bed. "Goodnight, Ghost Mouse."
"Goodnight," he says. And then, very softly, just once more: "Boo."

Click. Lantern Mouse switches on the lantern.
And Ghost Mouse? He's already asleep …

After the story

Switch off the big light together and switch on a small one. What can you see on the wall now? Who's hanging upside down, and where is the moon? That's how the dark becomes a game.

Ghost Mouse, Witch Mouse, Lantern Mouse, Pumpkin Mouse and the bats also live on the Mice and Ghosts wall decals. And if you look closely at the Mouse Castle lamp, you'll find Lantern Mouse in the tower room. She's still looking for Ghost Mouse. Can you find him?

A little light of your own for the nursery? With our nursery lamps, just like with Lantern Mouse, the story really begins when the light comes on.

Make your own lantern, just like Lantern Mouse?

Hylkia drew a lantern with four windows and four Halloween drawings to colour in yourself. Add tissue paper behind them, pop in an LED light and click: the colours shine through the paper and the mice appear as silhouettes in the windows.

Download the lantern craft kit for free, in English, German or Dutch. What you need and how to make it together: Halloween lantern craft.