The Scarecrow

My father has a strict rule when it comes to the farm at night.

Never go outside after midnight on the farm.

I thought this was a joke. I assumed he was purposely trying to scare me, so that I wouldn’t go hang out with my friends so late at night.

I attempted to ask him, but he refused to tell me.

“Why, Dad? Why can’t I go outside past midnight?”

He stared down at his beer as if he was questioning the contents of what he was actually ingesting within the bottle for the first time.

“It’s best if you never know. Just promise me, Shane. Promise me you won’t ever go outside past midnight.”

“Sure. I guess.”

My father nodded and went back to his drinking.

Our father and son bond wasn’t exactly the best.

My dad would hide himself behind a bottle. He always did this when I was very young. He would drink all night, mumbling to himself. He would always sit on a rocking chair positioned in front of the living room window.

All you could see out there was the field and the scarecrow my dad had set up to scare away the crows. It worked I guess, because no bird ever went near that thing.

Despite my crappy life, I at least had my friends. David and Josh were my best friends, and they were always there to cheer me up.

We would talk about what guys like to talk about, video games, board games, etc.

And how excited we were to watch the next horror movie in theaters.

My friends and I liked to test how scared we could get. To see who the biggest wimp was out of the three of us.

Then once I mentioned the crazy story my dad told me about never stepping on the farm after midnight, they couldn’t resist.

“Do you think there is some kind of…I don’t know…ghost?,” David said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Or some kind of crazy animal?” Josh chimed in.

“I don’t think it’s something like that. My dad looked pretty out of it when he was telling me. He was drunk when he told me, remember?”

David and Josh both smiled at each other.

“We should totally wait and see what happens,” David said with a smirk.

And that is what we did.

We waited in David’s truck, watching the time go by on our phones.

Then once it struck midnight, Josh released a scream.

David and I jumped, dropping our phones. Josh was sitting in the back, and he was pointing straight at the front windshield of the truck.

David and I looked up in fear, but there was no one there. Then we heard Josh laughing hysterically.

“You asshole,” I muttered.

Josh was shaking his head, struggling to breathe. David punched him on the shoulder.

“The hell was that, bro? That wasn’t cool, man.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it, guys. Oh man, that was too good!”

David continued to swing playful punches at Josh as I studied the area. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary on the farm. Nothing at all. We were parked directly next to the field, on the road.

We didn’t dare park near where my house was. The last thing that I needed was for my dad to find me out here at night and come after me and my friends.

However, I don’t think it would have mattered, because he was too busy drinking himself to death.

Josh fidgeted around in the seat.

“Hey guys, I gotta go take a piss.”

David turned around to waggle his eyebrows at him, a neat trick he started to irritate Josh and me.

“Careful out there. Something could be waiting for you.”

Josh flipped him off before exiting the vehicle. Then Josh walked in front of the truck, spreading out his arms. As stupid as this sounds, Josh resembled an angel, with the only streetlight by the field illuminating my friend.

“You think I’m a pussy? I’m gonna go into that field to take a piss. Right, where that creepy scarecrow is at. I’m gonna piss right in front of that dude, and come back to rub it in your faces.”

David and I stifled our laughter.

“I dare you,” I mouthed to him.

Josh flipped us both off this time. Then he disappeared into the field.

David and I both waited in the truck, listening to music from David’s phone on Spotify.

“Hey, Shane. Don’t you think that Josh is taking too long?”

“Come on, man. He’s probably doing it on purpose. Any second now he is going to pop out and — ’’

We both jumped when we heard a loud scream in the field.

“I’m going to kill that piece of shit! That asshole got us again!” David yelled, slamming his fists on the wheel of his car.

I had both hands on my chest, willing my heart to calm down.

“I’m with you on that one. What a dick move.”

David pointed at the field.

“And look! That dickhead took off your scarecrow from the freaking pole!”

David was right. The scarecrow was gone. Only the pole remained.

“Wow. I can’t believe he actually did that. If my dad finds out, he’s going to be pissed.”

“Dude, what if he takes it a step too far and actually takes a piss on the scarecrow instead?”

“If he does that, I’m going to beat the shit out of him.”

“I’m betting fifty bucks you can beat his ass.”

David and I high-fived. Then we both relaxed and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

“The hell?”

David checked his phone.

“Josh has been gone for an hour.”

“Bullshit. There’s no way.”

“I’m being serious. Is he waiting for us to leave the car to go look for him?”

“Why would Josh do something like that? That’s weird. He’s an asshole clown, but he would never go that far. That’s insane, man.”

“I’m calling him.”

David picked up his phone and dialed Josh’s number. We heard something outside. David pulled down the car window. We could hear the phone ringing in the distance. We waited a bit more, but Josh never appeared.

“This is weird. This is way too weird. Josh would never stoop this low.”

I could see the fear form on David’s face.

“Do you think something happened to him? Do you think…a person saw him…or an animal…”

I opened the car door without hesitation. David quickly followed. He called Josh over and over, as I used my phone flashlight to lead the way. The ringing of his phone led us to the clearing where the scarecrow used to be.

The phone was in front of the scarecrow’s pole, the screen showing Josh’s stupid picture we took of him when he was falling asleep one time.

David looked around.

“Where the hell is he? This ain’t funny, JOSH!”

We waited once again, but there was no response. Only silence.

David then cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling with all his might. I no longer cared if my dad could hear us. We both continued screaming until our throats were raw.

Nothing.

“Where’s Josh? Josh, this better be a fucking joke!”

David kicked at the ground and swung his fists in anger.

Tears stung my eyes.

“David, I think we should call the police. Something is wrong here.”

David looked back at me, his face covered in snot and tears.

“Do you…do you think that Josh is back at the truck? Waiting for us?”

“I don’t think so, man. I really don’t.”

David released a loud sob.

I reached out for David, wanting to comfort him, but then we heard a rustle nearby. It came from behind us. David and I both whirled around, ready to let Josh have it, but there was no one there.

The rustling continued from somewhere in the stalks.

“Josh? Get your ass out here! This isn’t funny anymore, you asshole!” David yelled.

No answer.

The rustling didn’t stop. It now sounded like someone was walking, but they were barely making a sound.

“Josh?,” I whispered.

The footsteps continued. It felt like it was now heading towards us. David and I looked at each other. We instantly bolted out of there.

David had always been the faster out of the three of us, and he disappeared within the stalks. Tears stained my cheeks as I felt the stalks slap against my face. I could faintly hear footsteps behind me.

They were so gentle on the ground. The person behind me wasn’t wearing shoes. It sounded strange. If I knew better, it sounded like bits of straw grazing against the grass.

My legs and chest were on fire. I didn’t slow down, in fear that whoever it was would grab me from behind. As if my prayers were answered, I burst into the clearing where the truck was.

David was waiting for me, the engine on. I threw myself into the backseat of the truck, and we hightailed it out of there. I sobbed like a baby as David made the 911 phone call.

He sounded hysterical on the phone as he explained the situation. We parked at a gas station and waited patiently for the cops to arrive. We then led the police to the field. My father was waiting for me.

My father stumbled on his feet and slurred his words as the cops investigated the property. One cop stayed with my father, sitting him down on the ground. He kept repeating over and over to himself:

“Not again. Not again,” as the cops continued their search for Josh.

David and I waited by the truck with a cop by our side.

The cops returned to us, their faces grim. One of them had a pale face, like that of a ghost. David and I kept asking the cops questions, but they wouldn’t answer us. An ambulance was called.

The cops had to hold me and David back as we saw a huge lump under a black blanket being led out of the field on a stretcher. David and I both started screaming out Josh’s name, the truth hitting us like a ton of bricks.

David didn’t stop screaming as the world suddenly became black. I knew no more when I hit the ground.

Josh had been murdered.

I didn’t find out the details until much later. It was too horrible to even explain what happened to Josh. It pains me to think that the scream that me and David heard was most likely Josh screaming for his life.

I will never forgive myself for that.

I remember reality hit me right in the face when I woke up in another ambulance. David was by my side when I woke up. Cops interviewed me and David, asking us about the full story.

We told them everything. I could tell that David also felt guilty about Josh. We should have followed after him. We should never have let him wander on his own. If we had gone with him, Josh would have been with his family.

Josh still would have been alive.

His phone had been confiscated for evidence, but nothing was found on the phone. Once the news announced this story the next day, the media went crazy. Some assholes were posting online that maybe Josh was killed by a creepy dude on my farm.

David told me to ignore it when I called him, crying.

“They didn’t know Josh like we did,” David said softly.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I wondered if that was what happened to Josh that night. The damage that had been done to Josh’s body was going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

David and I stayed on the phone, both of us shedding a lot of tears. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to us after this. I wasn’t sure whether I cared or not. It wouldn’t be the same without Josh.

I never once mentioned the scarecrow part. That was the only thing that didn’t make any sense to me. I wonder if Josh did remove the scarecrow to scare us, but we noticed it after he screamed.

Was the scarecrow already off its pole?

Where was the scarecrow after Josh was killed?

These were questions I couldn’t bring myself to mention to David. I knew I would sound crazy, and I did not want to harm us even further. Who knows what our friendship will have in store for us?

I guess as the saying goes, time will tell.

Unfortunately, I never got the chance to know that.

David moved away from the town with his family. We only got to tell each other goodbye through a phone call. Then we never spoke again. Then months passed. Everything passed by very normally.

The media gave up on Josh’s story.

Josh’s family continued fighting, begging the public and authorities to continue the investigation. I never bothered going by anymore. I could see it on their faces, that they blamed me for his death.

The eyes of his parents said it all.

It broke me to see them look at me like that. If only I could tell them that they didn’t have to blame me. I knew I was responsible for his death.

I should have gone with him.

Why we didn’t move away from the place where Josh was murdered destroyed me. I no longer wanted to step out onto that farm ever again. Once I turned 18, I was going to run away and never come back.

I didn’t bother to acknowledge my dad that much anymore. He could drink himself to death if he wanted to. I eventually did speak to him again when I saw something strange.

During this particular night, I was going to head back up to my room, until I saw my dad wiping away his tears. It was the first time I had ever seen him cry. I walked over to him, and my dad spoke.

“I know what happened to Josh.”

“What?”

He pointed at the window.

There was a new scarecrow back on its pole. Something wavy was on top of its head and was blowing in the wind. From this distance, it resembled hair.

“Dad…when did you…I thought you didn’t go out to the field anymore.”

“I didn’t.”

“What?”

My dad shook his head back and forth.

“It’s not a new scarecrow. It’s the old one. It takes a long time before it comes back.”

I stared out the window, watching the scarecrow.

“Dad, what do you mean?”

He raised the bottle to his lips.

“Every time it kills, it takes on the form of its last victim.”

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn