It's in the eyes. Always the eyes.

Chapter Twelve| The Spooky Spirit

          Penny stepped outside, squinting in the bright mid-morning sun as she finished tidying up the last of the breakfast dishes. The air was crisp with the first hints of autumn, and she was looking forward to a peaceful day, perhaps working on her embroidery or spending time with Coco in the workshop. But the sight that greeted her on the front lawn made her stop in her tracks.

The usually serene Bandicoot household had been transformed into a chaotic scene of Halloween madness. Bright orange pumpkins with jagged-toothed grins lined the path to the front door. Cobwebs, seemingly spun by some giant, eerie spider, clung to every available surface. Plastic bats dangled from the rafters, swaying in the breeze and casting strange shadows across the porch.

In the middle of it all was Crash, struggling mightily with a life-sized skeleton decoration. The skeleton was twice his height and seemed to have a mind of its own, wobbling and twisting as Crash attempted to secure it to a hook on the side of the house. His tongue poked out in concentration, but the skeleton refused to cooperate, its bony limbs flailing in all directions.

Nearby, Coco was carving jack-o'-lanterns with the precision of a surgeon, her hands deftly moving the carving knife to create intricate designs. She had already completed several pumpkins, their faces ranging from spooky to comical, and now she was balancing giving directions to Crash with her pumpkin artistry.

"Crash, no, the skeleton needs to be higher! It's supposed to look like it's hanging, not just standing there like it's waiting for a bus!" Coco called out, not looking up from her pumpkin.

Penny took another step forward, her brows furrowed in confusion. She had never seen anything like this before. The strange decorations, the pumpkins with faces, the skeleton that Crash was wrestling with—it all seemed so bizarre, yet oddly intriguing.

"What... what's going on here?" Penny asked, her voice tinged with curiosity as she approached Coco.

Coco looked up, her face lighting up with a smile when she saw Penny. "Oh, hey Penny! We're getting ready for Halloween!"

Penny blinked, the word unfamiliar. "Halloween? What's that?"

Crash, who had finally managed to hang the skeleton in a precarious position, looked over at Penny with wide eyes, his hands gesturing wildly as he tried to explain in his usual gibberish. But seeing Penny's still puzzled expression, Coco quickly jumped in.

"It's a holiday where people decorate their houses to look spooky, dress up in costumes, and sometimes go around asking for candy," Coco explained, a hint of excitement in her voice. "It's supposed to be fun and a little bit scary, but not too scary, just enough to get into the spirit of things."

Penny looked around again, taking in the odd assortment of decorations with a new perspective. The plastic gravestones in the yard, the inflatable ghosts, the creepy cobwebs—it was all starting to make a little more sense. Still, it seemed like a lot of effort for something she'd never heard of before.

"People like to celebrate being... scared?" Penny asked, trying to wrap her head around the concept.

Coco chuckled, finishing the last few cuts on her current jack-o'-lantern. "Kind of! It's more about having fun with the idea of being scared. It's not real fear, just a playful kind. Plus, it's a great excuse to get creative with decorations and costumes."

Crash bounced over, nodding enthusiastically, clearly agreeing with Coco's explanation. He motioned for Penny to follow him, leading her around the yard to show off the various decorations he had been working on. With each stop, he made exaggerated spooky noises, his eyes wide with mock fear, and Penny couldn't help but laugh at his antics.