Each fall, when I was little, my mother would make Halloween costumes for me and my brother.

One year, our aunt dropped off a large box at our house. Taped to it was a note that said, "Here are some costumes that our kids have outgrown."

Mom has happy because she was not going to have to sew for us that year.

Eagerly, my brother and I gathered next to Mom as she opened the box.

At the top of the box of costumes was something made out of gray furry material. When she lifted it out we saw large, roundish ears, whiskers, and a long tail.

Mom said to my brother, "This looks like the right size for you! You can be a mouse!"

The costume fit my brother perfectly and he looked so cute.

I was next.

I thought to myself, "Oh, goodie! I'm probably going to be a kitty cat!" Obviously a cat would go with a mouse.

Mom reached down into the box.

She pulled out some folded cardboard that was painted orange, and some dangling orange stockings. Tights, she called them.

"What's this?" I asked, helping unfold the cardboard.

We wrestled with the parts until we had them together.

I looked at my costume, aghast.

"Oh, isn't that sweet," said Mom. "It's cheese."

"Cheese!" I said, "I don't want to be cheese. I don't want to be any dairy product for Halloween!"

My Mom pleaded, "Just try it on."

I slipped the cardboard over my head. The eyeholes kept slipping around to my ear, and I couldn't bend my arms, so accepting candy would be a challenge.

Worse yet, I couldn't bend my arms, so I stood there with them spread out like bird wings-or bat wings, given the holiday.

Anyway, those were our costumes that year: My brother, the mouse, and me, the cheese.

Lots of people liked our costumes.

Not me.

— Linda Book

PS: The song "Halloween" is on my CD Someday I'm Gonna Have A Horse. You can buy it from CDBaby or from iTunes.

PPS: Click on the cheese (that's me!) to find out more about my music!