The One Who Couldn't Scare
We prepare all year for this one night — to shine, to scare, and to prove our place in this world.
Because those who step out of line don’t belong.
It is just before midnight.
Pumi, the little pumpkin, is getting ready for school. Like every day, he packs his schoolbag carefully.
His thoughts are already on the lesson ahead.
His teacher will probably be disappointed again.
For weeks, they have been practicing the same thing in class: the perfect scary grimace.
And Pumi still cannot do it.
“Eat your snack before you go!”
His mother’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts.
He knows he should eat, but he doesn’t feel hungry. Just like every evening before school, his stomach hurts again.
His mother barely takes it seriously anymore. She has heard his complaints so many times that maybe she thinks he is exaggerating.
Pumi forces himself to take another bite before leaving.
Outside, everything is dark, cold, and covered in fog.
Just like every night.
But somehow, tonight feels heavier.
Pumi’s world is not like yours.
Here, young pumpkins, vampires, and witches are trained for one purpose:
To scare humans on Halloween.
Once a year, a bridge opens between their world and the human world.
The pumpkins cross over to do their duty — to frighten humans and create fear.
Because fear is their energy source.
Without it, their world would not survive.
But Pumi has never understood it.
Why would anyone want to scare others?
Why should making someone afraid be something to be proud of?
And yet, that is exactly what he is expected to do.
There is just one problem:
Pumi cannot create a scary grimace.
The other pumpkins laugh at him.
Every single time he tries.
Instead of looking frightening, he only looks strange.
Slowly, he has stopped looking into mirrors.
Because every time he does, he hears their laughter again.
Not long until Halloween.
The others are excited.
The parents are proud.
Everyone is ready to prove what they were born to do.
Except Pumi.
He only hopes the night will be over quickly.
After Halloween, there will finally be a short break.
The others meet outside, practice their grimaces, and play together in the graveyard.
Some pumpkins even have vampires as friends.
Those pumpkins are considered the most popular.
Pumi wishes he could join them.
But nobody invites him.
Nobody asks where he is.
His parents believe he spends time playing with the others.
But they don’t know the truth.
Most of the time, Pumi is hiding somewhere nearby, quietly watching them.
“Almost there…” he thinks as he walks down the hill toward school.
He is always early.
That way, he can choose a place before anyone notices him.
Once, he arrived late.
Everyone laughed.
Since that day, Pumi has made sure he is always the first one in the classroom.
