The Ghost Without a Boo

You’ve heard of Casper, the friendly ghost,
Such a friendly ghost he was;
Did you know he had a cousin,
And that he called his cousin, “Cuz?”


Because cousin Cuz was younger,
He had to learn the ropes;
Casper set out to teach him,
And he almost gave up hope.


Ghosts were intended to be scary,
And Cuz couldn’t scare a fly;
He was sweet and soft like marshmallow,
Instead of “BOO,” he cried out, “HI!.”


“No, no,” wise Casper told him,
“That’s not the way to do;
You’re supposed to be more ghostly,
You’ve got to learn to “BOO!”


Cuz said he would try harder,
He wanted to comply,
But whenever he attempted, “BOO,”
It came out, sounding, “HI.”


“Let’s take one letter at a time,”
Said Casper, “Try a “B;”
Then he showed Cuz how to do it,
“Put your lips together, just like me.”


So, Cuz imitated Casper,
‘Til he finally shouted, “BI!”
What he did accomplish,
Was a “B” tacked on his “I.”


Well, Casper felt encouraged,
And said, “Let’s go for ‘U;'”
Cuz’s “U’s” came out like “O’s,”
So, what could Casper do?


Casper showed much patience,
Said, “Make an ‘O’ sound like a ‘U;'”
Then Cuz, with great excitement,
Began exclaiming, “BU!  BU!  BU!”Ghost


Cuz practiced every night,
And sometimes in between,
He wanted to be ready,
To “BOO” on Halloween.


The big night came … all spooky black,
Bats and witches everywhere;
And pretty soon weird ghostly sounds,
Filled up the black night air.


“BOO-O-O,” wailed the most experienced,
“BOO – BOO,” moaned the rest;
Then, a tiny “HI- HI-HI” was heard,
From a little ghost, distressed.


Caught up in the excitement,
Cuz completely lost his cool;
All he had gained went down the drain,
Cuz simply could not “BOO.”


“HI-HI, HU-HU,” a voice was heard,
Along with “BI-BI” and “BU-BU;”
A comical sound, with cheer abound,
But not a single little “BOO.”


Later, when the kids got home,
From their night out Trick-and-Treating,
One little fellow told his Mom,
About this really neat thing.


“Mom, I wasn’t scared at all,
And I really saw a ghost,
He just kept saying, ‘HI’ to me,
And he stayed by me really close.”


“The other kids were sissies,
They ran away and cried;
But, Mom, when I headed home,
My ghost waved and said, ‘BYE-BYE.'”
~ Virginia Ellis ~
Copyright © 2000