Happy Hallowe'en
today I have a story for you that was published a couple of years back in Twisted Tales. It is the last Hallowe'en Horror but I will be posting an antidote to Hallowe'en tomorrow so I hope you will join me again -- and maybe even follow me in my own wee Oonahverse for more FREE READS in the future.
No Contest
He
turned quickly on hearing a crash and found the pumpkin staring at
him. It was still wearing the face he’d just carved, but the
expression was altered, and it was not alone. It seemed that every
pumpkin in the patch had arrived at his door.
“How
in the Devil’s name…” he began then stopped.
In
the devil’s name…In the devil’s name…In the devil’s name… His words echoed back.
The
door of his Last-a-Lifetime Security Shed had been ripped off its
hinges. Kit automatically reached for one of his tools from the bench
behind him. Instead of the sturdy wooden handle, his hand touched
something wet and grainy.
“Ugh!”
He shuddered. Looking down he saw the cold innards and seeds, the
open womb of a pumpkin, but it smelled like blood. Hastily he wiped
his hand on his apron.
In the lurid evening light he saw pumpkin faces. He recognised them, every single one, going back years. Competition after competition won. This shed had for years been his trophy house for countless certificates and rosettes, Best Fiery Face, five Bronze and Silver Pumpkin Medallions, The Golden Grin Pumpkin Award and the prestigious Gold Glow. The hobby had become an obsession, the obsession an addiction and the addiction a curse. He had to win and he’d sacrifice anything. He’d put his very soul into growing the best, and attaining the top prize. He tolerated no rivals.
“Remember
me?”
The
voice, mellow and dark, somehow familiar, chilled him, transfixed
him. He turned, this time slowly. It couldn’t be.
“Hello,
Kit. I see you’ve not changed a bit.”
Kit
squinted in the diminishing light. It was indeed his former friend
and one time arch rival, Jim but his head was a pumpkin head, the
very same Kit had stolen from him, the award winning Golden Grin, now
crowned with a halo of candlelight.
“Did
I make a good mulch, Kit?” The pumpkin eyes scanned the trophies.
God knows how many Kit had cheated him out of before the
confrontation that final, fateful Hallows’ Eve. “Seems you did
fairly well out of your bargain with Beelzebub. Hope it was worth
it.”
It
was dark except for glinting eyes that flickered all
around.
“Pumpkindred,”
said Jim in declamatory tone, “Members of the Patch, behold our
tormentor! Kit Karver.”
A
clamour of voices chorused, high and low, remonstrating, hissing,
jeering. And Kit realised, in that moment, where his tools had gone.
They were in the hands of those he’d fed, cared for, nurtured,
killed and mutilated over decades. Medium saws, fine tooth saws,
razor-edged scoops, small, medium and large carving loops for peeling
rind, double sided sculpting tools, pokers, wheels and sharp, heavy
duty drills, hole and circle punchers. Kit was a professional. He
knew their use only too well.
“In
the Devil’s name, Kit?” repeated Jim.
Kit
opened his mouth but found his voice would make no sound but a high
squeak.
“Very
well, pumpkins, let’s to work!”
His
vocal chords were the first thing they cut.
