Cackle . . . the Spooky Black Cat October 28, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Fiction, Humor, Word Play, Writing & Writers.trackback
On a dark gloomy night in a gloomy dark wood
A black cat rapped as he prowled his hood
“Don’t mess wit me . . . cuz I’m all that!”
“They call me Cackle . . . the Spooky Black Cat!”
Trolling the corner of Cauldron and Newt
Cackle bumped into a chick in a witch’s suit
Raising one finger to the wart on her nose
Winnie applauded with glee, as Cackle froze
Cackle hissed and growled, arching his back
Winnie laughed at his antics, “Enough of that!”
She waved her wand with a “Zim Zither Zee”
Cackle’s hackles melted, “You’re THE witch for me!”
Join Susanna Hill’s 3rd Annual Halloweensie Contest ~> No tricks. Just treats.
Related post: Halloween Drives Me Batty * Halloweensie Contest 2013 Winners! (Cackle => “Most Original Format” . . . for his Rap!)
Spirit Lights The Way 
I love this. Perfect Halloween poem.
Thanks, Deana. Susanna’s contests are always FUN ~ especially at Halloween. 😯
Haha…fun poem…!
Thanks, Shree. Care to play along? Susanna’s collecting submissions til midnight on Halloween.
Ah…would love to but I’m not too sure I have any ideas! Hehe. Thank you though! 🙂
You can do it! Come join the fun! 🙂
Put on your witch’s hat . . . I mean, um, your thinking cap . . . and see if that sparks your imagination, Shree! 😛
Winnie is adorable! Love your poem…looks like Winnie has things in control!
Thanks, Suzi! She makes an appearance every fall at the street’s potluck. She’s a class act!
What a wickedly fun poem, Nancy! And I love the accompanying illustrations! Winnie is all that! 🙂 Thanks so much for entering and helping spread the word! 🙂
You’re welcome! Thanks again for hosting this annual event and gathering up such great prizes. I’m looking forward to reading all the entries.
Fabulous, Nancy!
Thanks, Catherine. I decided to write a prequel to last year’s submission ~ Halloween Drives Me Batty. Now I know how Cackle and Winifred got together in the first place.
Fantastic fun with your entry, Catherine.
LOVE the last line ~ Hocus Pocus, I must focus!
[…] I’ve renamed the cat ~ from Ebony to Cackle ~ to tie in with the 2013 Contest. […]
What a fun and Halloweenishly delightful poem! 🙂 It’s wonderful, Nancy.
Thanks, Cheryl! I love participating in Susanna’s contests ~ they are always terrific FUN. Especially at Halloween. 😯
So true! 🙂
This is fantastic! I, too, used Cackle as a name in my story (which will be posted on Wednesday) but I assure you it is very different, and was written before I read yours!
Yours is so cool — makes me cackle with glee!
Thanks, Beth! Glad it gave you a cackle!
Great minds think alike, eh? Especially when Susanna points us in the right direction.
Love your story, Beth ~ Cackle the BRAVE cat!
Love ‘Cackles hackles’!
Thanks, Julie. Participating in Susanna’s challenges is such FUN. With only 100 words at our disposal, we must tighten and streamline, which often creates a few word play surprises. 😀
I am so scared I haven’t even started writing yet!
If your past efforts are any indication . . . you’ll blow Halloween out of the water with your tale of a black cat.
Cackle-doodle doo
Your poem is so YOU!
This is a lot of fun!
Thanks, Kirsti! Hope you’ll dive into the pool and share a Halloweensie story in the contest.
You did! A cat with a hackling cackling cold. Perfect!
What fun! I especially loved the cat’s dialect, “Don’t mess wit me…cuz I’m all that!” I could hear the voice perfectly inside my head.
Thanks, Heather Anne! I expect a rapping cat might sound just about like that! 😉
Fun poem! Can see Cackle “trolling the corner.” And love a persnickety cat!
Thanks, Stacy! Cats are purr-fect strollers, trollers, heel-draggers, and patrolers!
Especially black cats that fade into the dark and gloomy. 😯
[…] writer Susanna Leonard Hill is running ‘The 3rd Annual HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST‘, and Nancy Hatch suggested I should join her in going for […]
Yay! Col played! 😀
Ha ha! You really caught the spooky spirit of Halloween.
Thanks, GM. I have a few more Halloween themed posts for this week ~ the spookiest/ creepiest story will air on the 30th.
I look forward to them.
So glad you decided to play along too!
Love at first cackle! That cat can really bust a rhyme!
Thanks, Lauri. Cackles is a rapping happening cat!
Very FUN story, Lauri! I’m glad that the white cat found her forte!
[…] Cackle . . . the Spooky Black Cat (nrhatch.wordpress.com) […]
Your dance party is FUN, FUN, FUN!
Fun poem! Love the first line. :0)
Thanks, Donna! I had to twist that line around a time or two before it landed in the right groove.
CHOMP! Excellent twist to your tale too.
Fun poem/story. Made me smile! Cackle is such a cool name for a cat…
Thanks, Janna. Cackle, Black Cat, and Spooky are the only words you need to use if you decide to play along.
{{hint hint}}
Yay! You played!
Did Cackle think of pouring a bucket of water on Winnie? That’s what my dogs would have arranged. 🙂
Dogs are far more protective. Cats tend to be self-centered beasties . . . that don’t like being around water.
One raindrop and their fur sizzles, “I’m melting!”
Zim Zither Zee… great poem from thee!
Just up my street this, Nancy… just up the road from Cauldron and Newt! 😀
I’ve checked out the first dozen or so entries. Cackling with cackles. Are you planning to play along?
I’ll have to see… I’m a little short on time at the moment, and running out of time at the same time. How many times could I get ‘time’ in then?
Well if you find the time to put in the time you might find that time is time well spent.
The contest certainly fits in with your month-long theme.
Love this … especially Cauldron and Newt! A lot of fun. I really like the decorations too.
Thanks, Stacy. Halloween decorations can be bright and cheery or dark and frightful . . . or just delightful.
I enjoyed your entry ~ FUN story. As much as I love veggies, on Halloween I want CHOCOLATE! 😀
Who doesn’t love a rapping cat? 😉 Well done!
Thanks, Deborah. I always enjoying Susanna’s contests ~ win, lose, or draw. 😀
I love it.
But.
(Why does it have to be me that spots these things?)
I thought you’d exceeded the speed limit, and in fact my word counter has it at 105. Prune it before they get looked at!
Thanks, Col. Your word counter must be counting words that don’t count ~ the poem proper has just 99 words.
You are absolutely right, and I am flummoxed. In great concern, I did I phyisical count of mine, and they are spot on with the counter. Yours, however, comes out at 105 every time, even though it is not. Utterly illogical, and it bugs me that I can’t find any kind of explanation.
I bet your word counter counted the “. . . ” as 3 words in both the 1st and 2nd lines ~ my word counter does that so I take them out, get the word count, and then add them back in.
NOW you tell me! I came back triumphantly to tell you that after several trips across Death Valley and back, I had discovered that the Word Counter counts spaces rather than words – and you had the answer all along! *exits, muttering* 🙂
Thanks for your efforts on my behalf, Col! Counting up to 99 on my fingers and toes is a bit dicey. 😉
A rappin’ cat–how cool is that?! And Cackle’s hackles is perfect! 🙂
Thanks, Cathy! Susanna has garnered a bumper crop of FUN entries for her Halloween contest this year. I need to swing around and read a few more.
Loved your take off on The Raven ~ you had me at Suzuki!
Oh this cat is way cool, dudette! What a fun read! Glad I stopped by!
Thanks, Pamela! Hope you enjoy all the FESTIVE entries that Susanna’s contest has garnered.
Love this so much, Nancy! Nice twist with the cat, who is oh so cool, choosing the witch.:) Susanna’s Halloweensie contest brings out the best in us.:)
I can hear Winnie cackling at Cackle as she says, “Enough of that!”
Fantastic, Nancy! What a delight. 🙂
Thanks, Debra. Are you tempted to play along? You can share the treats of your word tricks with your granddaughters. 💡
The visuals of the witch raising one finger to the wart of her nose made me chuckle out loud. Enjoyed reading this! 😀
Thanks, Marie! Poor witches get a bad rap . . . even when adopting rapping cats!
Festive Halloween fun!
Thanks, Pix. We’re planning to head to St. Armand’s Circle for Fright Night on Thursday. It’s SPOOKY. 😯
Fun, fun, fun, Nancy. Cackle’s personality shone through perfectly. Very creative!!!
Thanks, Penny. Cackle and Winnie = Purr-fect Together!
Och, the wee beasties, ghosts, goblins, and ghouls with glee will howl out: Hat, Cat, Bat.
I’ve always said, everyone needs their very own witch. 😉 Love how that cat prowls his hood!
Thanks so much, Michelle. Black cats love to prowl and growl.
So glad you entered in! LOVE this! 🙂
Thanks, Clar! Susanna’s contests are the best. I’ve had a chance to enjoy the first 19 entries. Plan to head back around soon to read the rest.
Loads of fun–this makes me want to go out to the corner of cauldron and newt and look for Cackle!
Yes! Who needs “Hollywood and Vine” when we can hang on the corner of “Cauldron and Newt”? 😉
Love the sounds in your poem, especially:
They hear a cackle! A spooky shriek!
A dark door opens with a creak.
Cackling here. Winnie is wonderful.
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it, Joanna. I do love writing rhymes for little ears. Especially at Halloween!
Fun poem . . . and loved your Zebra Header, Miss Marple.
Fun fun poem! I love this part: Raising one finger to the wart on her nose. So cute!
Thanks, Margaret. I had great fun writing this rhyme time for Susanna’s contest.
This is so cute! Well done!
Thanks, Rachel! The Halloweensie Contest is always a BLAST!
Love your poem.. 🙂
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it, Catherine! Thanks for stopping by. 😀
I love this! It’s so much fun!
Thanks! I’m glad you found it FUN . . . it was certainly FUN to write.
It sounds like true love. What great names you gave to the streets in this poem!
Thanks, Laura. I enjoyed naming them . . . but don’t think I’d buy a house with either as the address. 😛
Haha, perfect! Cackle is a great name for a witch’s cat.
Isn’t it? I’m glad that Susanna included that in the words that had to be used. It seemed to fit to purr-fection.
Well done! Love your witch 😉
Happy Halloween.
Thanks, Tok. She makes an appearance at the Halloween Potluck every year. And always makes me grin.
Lovely 🙂 Black cats have a special charm, don’t they?
I still hope Clive reappears one day. What a solid chap!
Very cute!
Thanks, Pam!
Fun story! I love the idea of the rapping cat, and the ‘corner of Cauldron and Newt’ is great!
Thanks, Carrie! I’ve been delighted with the entries Susanna received. She’s going to have a tough time winnowing the pool down for the vote.
Funny AND spooky. . .all in one!
Thanks, Jarm! Glad you enjoyed.
this was great, love the action sounds that put so much motion in the poem
Thanks, Patricia. I’m not envious of Susanna’s job at this point . . . narrowing down the pool so we can vote on the finalists. She garnered a bumper crop of Halloweensie posts!
Cute story! Cackle is a good name for a witch’s cat. 😀
Thanks, Meg! I bet that’s one reason Winnie adopted him!