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Literature Text
Outside the air was growing colder, the leaves had changed and fallen and frost was starting to cover the ground in the mornings. It was well and truly Fall, the long halcyon days of Summer were long past, and the nights were growing darker earlier and the air was crisp with the change of seasons. Fallen leaves drifted lazily with the cold breeze that blew in heralding winter's return, scattering like little birds across the grey roads and collecting in gutters and piles. It was the perfect weather to decorate, which was what Stede was now doing.
His cream fur was growing in thicker now, getting ready for the long cold nights to come. He had traded his thin cotton shirts and shorts for thick woolen sweaters and puffy sleeved jackets. Stede had never minded winter, it was the perfect excuse to stay inside for long stretches of time and work on his sewing. He enjoyed when the leaves began to turn, he loved collecting them into piles and jumping into the soft, crunchy dusty leaves. He loved the way they smelled- slightly musky and dry, but still with hints of their lush summer greenness. He'd finished gathering most of the leaves that had fallen from the trees around his little house, and now he was decorating in anticipation of one of his favorite Fall-time holidays, the Long Night.
Stede had been looking forward to the Long Night all Summer. It was a holiday he prepared for months in advance. His little house was the perfect size for quaint holiday decorations. He loved to string dazzling lights around the eaves and around the bushes that bordered his little patch of property. The lights came in many colors. Dazzling greens, eerie purples, bright crisp oranges, and many more. His favorites were the ones that twinkled in time to music. He'd gotten one of his friends to program a set of lights to a playlist he blasted at all hours of the night. An eerie soundtrack of spooky noises and ambient music. It set the tone nicely, and Stede purred in satisfaction once all the lights were set up the way he liked them.
Next came the lanterns. He'd carved many of them himself from pumpkins he'd grown out back in his little earthen patch of garden. He'd spent all summer lovingly tending to each and every pumpkin. Watching them grow from beautiful large yellow flowers into huge gourds that now decorated his front lawn. Each one he'd carved differently. Some with bright, friendly grins, others with terrifying fangs and grasping claws. In each pumpkin he'd placed a candle. Many different colors now glowed brightly from his front lawn, lining the walkway up to the very front of his tiny green painted door.
He'd spent more time collecting fabrics and making small decorations all during the summer. Now his house was lined with tiny white ghosts that hung from the eaves and dotted the lawn. He'd made tiny witches and bats, all strung up among the lights. Some loose cotton had been stretched along the bushes, resembling the webs of a massive spider. And he'd been adding a few cardboard teeth to the front of his overhanging porch. With some eyes in the two top windows of the house that faced out, the house now looked as if it was alive and waiting to devour anyone foolish enough to wander too close.
Stede stood back and surveyed his work proudly. He'd managed to make a beautiful display, and he was excited to show his friends when they came over to party during the Long Night. With that in mind, he headed inside and began preparations for his guests who would soon begin to arrive.
