Staging the Spooky Tale

I laid an open, blank notebook flat across the wooden study desk to serve as our grand storybook stage. With both hands, I rolled my clove-faced clementine right into the center, propping the little pine-needle broomstick securely against its orange peel. Then, picking up the black thread of my napkin ghost, I hoisted the fluttery phantom so it hovered directly above the spicy little pumpkin. Under the warm, focused beam of the desk lamp, their silhouettes stretched out into long, delightfully eerie shadows across the paper. Standing proudly beside my finished cast, I took a deep breath and whispered the opening line of our Halloween tale!