Hollow's Eve

The photo here is most humiliating, but I assure you there is a tale behind it. I know that I vowed I would speak no more on the subject, but today’s events have forced me to recount the unimaginable. In fact I find it very befitting since today is the day of Hollow’s Eve (which of course is an extremely pagan celebration in which I would never partake.) On such a day in year’s past, I recall during my reign in Miamishire that the common folk did some of the most barbaric acts by parading about the town in rather nonsensical dress. I suspect this is why the majordomo has several capes and an eye patch (to which I have referred earlier), but as a member of my court he must never admit to such overt displays of heathenism Oddly enough, here in my newfound land, the day is not even honored by the people. Rather they celebrate El Día de los Muertos, or our equivalent of All Saints Day, which is the subsequent night when families crowd the cemeteries to sleep next to the graves of their deceased beloved--a bit macabre for my tastes, but I digress.

Midday here had been particularly dreary, and I decided to retire to my chambers to take afternoon tea. All was unusually quiet (Burgeoning must have slipped into some post-dining coma), and then suddenly in mid sip, I heard a large thunderous clap overhead. My vision became cloudy, and I could only distinguish shapeless phantom-like figures creep under the door. The next thing I recalled, I was being whisked out of my room, up the narrow staircase and into the dreaded tower. And there it was. The long knobby arms of the bogeyman, my nemesis, had come alive, and in his hands was a lone hardened mango. Oh how he mocks my rule!

What followed I have no idea. I imagine several hours had transpired. The next thing I remember, I came into consciousness surrounded by my court. When I looked down at my paws, not only did I find the fibers of a stripped mango, but I had been dressed in this absurd costume. I suspect a couple members of the court carried their traditions from Hollow’s Eve into my new kingdom, and they thought they would have a bit of fun at my expense. The jester had a culpable smirk of self-amusement across his face (I must remember to send him to the block for solitary confinement). Looking back on what happened, I think it is odd that the devil had spawned one fruit out of season, but I now realize that my enemies will present themselves at any time of the year. If you look closely at the photograph, you can see the haunting orange glow of the mango in my pupils.