The Pumpkin Patch Phantom

Sarah's affection for Halloween had always been strong, but this year had a unique vibe. While she roamed through Miller's Pumpkin Patch at twilight, looking for the ideal pumpkin for carving, a creepy mist started to spread over the field.

Feeling cold, she wrapped her jacket closely around her. It was strange to see the place so empty on a Friday evening right before Halloween. Sarah spun around, her heart pounding, as a twig broke behind her. Zero. Only lines and lines of pumpkins extending into the darkness.

"Pull yourself together," she whispered as she reached for a pumpkin that caught her eye. When her fingers made contact with its surface, a cold hand grasped her wrist. Sarah let out a loud cry while pulling her arm away and tripping over the rough terrain. She fell heavily, the air forced out of her chest.

Panting, she gazed upwards and saw... a leering scarecrow standing above her, its sackcloth face mere inches away from hers. Scarecrows remain motionless, don't they? Its eyes shone with an eerie glow while its arms made of straw attempted to grab her.

Sarah quickly moved back, her fingers sinking into the muddy ground. It stumbled along behind her, its motions awkward yet unwavering. She tripped as she got up and sprinted, her boots making a squelching sound in the muddy ground.

She broke out of the pumpkin patch, her lungs on fire, and ran onto the dirt road ahead. Sarah took a quick look behind her and noticed that the scarecrow was no longer there. In the deepening darkness, all she could make out were still lines of pumpkins.

Breathless, Sarah rested on a fencepost. Is it possible that she had created it in her mind? I wonder if this is a prop that was left over from the haunted hayride at the pumpkin patch. As she gasped for air, she sensed a faint scent of straw and heard the sound of old bones creaking in the cold October breeze.

Sarah sprinted back to her house, leaving the pumpkins – and any hidden dangers within them – in the distance. She concluded that it was best to not follow certain traditions.