It was a dark and stormy night. Up in the attic of an old house, its lone occupant, middle-aged Jonathan was working on his Halloween decorations. The rain was beating hard on the window. A single incandescent light bulb barely provided enough light. After some final touches, Jon laid down the knife and held up his masterpiece in admiration.
There you go! Bet you will give everyone a good fright, Jonathan thought. Let's call you… Jack!
Suddenly, the window broke free from its latch and a gust of wind tore through, bringing in the rain. Jack the pumpkin started to vibrate in Jon’s hands. He dropped Jack on the table and backed away. In the tense moment, he forgot about the chair, so he tripped over it and fell on the floor. Fibrous strands and seeds gushed out of Jack’s carved mouth and eyes. Splotches after splotches splat on the floor. Fiery flames burst out of Jack’s eerie eyes and mouth.
Jack let out a chilling groan as a new strand of vine extended from its stem. Instead of refreshing green, the vine was withered and brown. More vines branched out to form a grotesque, thin body with flailing limbs. At the end of the limbs, tendrils split and intertwined to form crooked fingers and toes. It let out a deep, maniacal laugh. Hunched, Jack stumbled towards Jon. With each step, it gained in strength and looked more threatening.
Jon was rooted to his spot, immobilised by fear. The menacing silhouette of Jack loomed above him. Flashes of lightning illuminated Jack, revealing more terrifying details. Jack let out another bout of laughter and raised its hand to strike. In one swift movement, it brought its hand down with the intent to rip Jon’s head off. In a last effort to save himself, Jon raised both hands to cover his head and braced for the blow. With his last breath, Jon closed his eyes and screamed.
The story continues after the break…
Jon stopped screaming. He always thought death came together with excruciating pain but there was none. Relieved, he opened his eyes. He was at peace and knew he was at a better place with angels, rainbows and puffy white clouds. Instead, he was back in his room of terror. Another figure stood between him and Jack.
The similarly deformed, vine-stick figure was Joe, a watermelon that Jon had experimented on earlier before he tried his hands on the pumpkin. Joe’s hand had pierced through Jack’s mouth. Red, hot lava oozed out of the wound. Flames engulfed Joe’s hand before it turned to ashes. In its place, new vines grew to replace it. Jack attempted to swing its hand at Joe but missed. Joe raised its leg and kicked Jack across the room.
Jack crashed and splintered Jon’s bed. It managed to rebound immediately and lunged at Joe. The melon side-stepped and grabbed Jack’s disfigured head with one hand. Joe gripped the stem with its other hand and pulled it out from the pumpkin. Jack’s body shrivelled and crumbled. Joe stared at the pumpkin in its hand. Jacked hissed. With a loud howl, Joe crushed the pumpkin. Liquid lava splattered all over Joe. Its body burnt. There was too much damage to regenerate.
Briefly, Joe stared at Jon and saw his gratitude. It turned and leapt out of the window. It burst into flames the moment it cleared the window and exploded. A ring of energy expanded outwards and sent a shockwave that shook the surrounding structures. The shockwave cleared the storm clouds if only momentarily, revealing clear skies above. Then, the clouds merged again and the storm returned, washing away any remnants of this tale about a scary pumpkin.
-The End-
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