The Midnight Armadillo of Amarillo

Halloween in Amarillo wasn’t just about costumes and candy corn.
Every kid in town grew up hearing about The Midnight Armadillo—a glowing critter said to roll through town at the stroke of twelve on Halloween night.
Some folks said it brought good luck.
Others claimed it led people to buried treasure. But no one had ever caught it.
Except maybe… Big Boots Billie.
Billie was known for two things:
wearing the biggest boots in all of West Texas and never backing down from a good mystery. She’d heard the stories from her grandpa since she was knee-high to a grasshopper.
And this year, she wasn’t just going to listen to the tale—she was going to live it.
She and her sidekick, a talkative coyote named Dusty Joe, set up camp near the old water tower. Midnight crept in like a whisper, and the town grew still.
Then--zing!—a streak of golden light zipped past them.
Billie’s eyes widened.
“Dusty Joe, you see that?”
The coyote gave a dramatic yelp.
“Yup, and it wasn’t no tumbleweed!”
They followed the glowing armadillo as it rolled down Main Street, past the abandoned feed store, through the prickly pear patch, and over the railroad tracks.
Billie’s boots thudded against the dry dirt as Dusty Joe howled behind her.
The armadillo didn’t slow down.
It zigzagged like it was playing a game.
When it reached the edge of town, it paused beneath an old oak tree—one so twisted and gnarled folks said it’d been there since the first cowpoke rode through Amarillo.
The glow brightened, almost blinding. Billie raised her hand to her face, and just like that… the armadillo was gone.
In its place lay a shimmering silver horseshoe, still warm to the touch.
​Billie picked it up and felt a jolt of warm Texas wind sweep through her braids.
She wore that horseshoe on her belt from that day forward. And you better believe the next year, every kid in Amarillo wanted to join her Midnight Armadillo hunt.
Some say if you listen close on Halloween night, you can still hear the soft clink clink of a glowing armadillo rolling down the dusty roads, searching for the next brave soul to chase it.