The Hayride

“Mom! Can we go to Marco Polo’s Scary Fun House tonight?” Kal and Amira came bumbling through the door excitedly, waiving the flyer in the air.

“Good grief! Calm down you two! Let me see it.” Kal handed the flyer over to his mom and stood anxiously waiting for her response. “Hayrides, pumpkins, free food and fun house...they had me at free food. Sure, let me get my keys.”

“Yes!” They both shouted as they first bump each other.

As they got closer, they could see the tip of the red and yellow Fun House and pressed their faces closer to the window. Their mother pulled into the parking area and they got out. They headed for the entry gate.

“Come one, come all, Welcome to Marco Polo’s Scary Fun House, let’s have a ball!” A large, round man with a Captain Hook mustache, a yellow shirt, red suspenders and blue pants was standing in front of them. He held a sign that said, parents to the left, in his left hand and kids to the right, in his right hand. Their mother looked down at the kids. “Well, I guess you guys will need to meet me back here. Be here at 8.” An excited squeal pierced the air. “Amira! Kal! You guys came too!?” Ruby screamed, running, and leaving her mom behind. “Hey, I said meet back here at 8!” Their mom shouted. “Yes, mom, we heard you!” They said as they ran along with Ruby. They all caught up with other kids but decided to run to the left instead of the right. Their running was stopped as they saw a dead pirate standing there. He had a grey, tattered pirate hat, a bony skeletal face, a beat-up blue pirate jacket, and torn red pants. He was standing beside a hayride resting his boney, skeletal fingers. “How do you do? Would you guys like to go on a special hayride?” He asked with a wide smile. All three of the kids looked at each other eagerly, nodded as they moved towards the hayride and yelled out, “How cool!” Before the hayride started, the dead pirate turned and asked, “Would you guys like some candy apples? I have some in my bag.”

“Of course we would!” Kal yelled. The dead pirate reached into his bag and pulled out three candy apples. As he handed them out, he said, “By the way, my name is Roman the pirate and these candy apples are special. “

“How are they special?” Ruby asked.

“Well, underneath the candy part are pieces of gum, shaped like teeth. So, you get two treats instead of one. Now sit back and enjoy Roman’s ride as I tell you all about my pirate’s life.” Roman steered the hayride down the lonely, dark road, lined with tall trees. Kal and Ruby munched on their apples while Amira watched their surroundings. She noticed there were no other kids or hayrides around. Maybe we were the first to go out, she thought. Or maybe there were other kids up ahead. As she wondered in silence, Kal’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “OUCH! It bit me!” Kal screamed, throwing the candy apple out to the field. Amira whipped her head around and frowned. “What did you say?”

“I said that it bit me! That candy apple bit me, Amira!”

“Kal, candy apples can’t bite anything. You bit your lip on this bumpy hayride. Stop trying to scare us.” Ruby said.

“I’m not trying to scare you! I’m telling the truth, you guys! Look at yours! It has teeth too!”

Ruby poked at the pieces of gum that were supposed to be teeth. “Yes, Roman already said these were gum pieces, Kal. It’s just gum, calm down.”

Kal looked at Amira for help. She shrugged and said, “You must have bitten your lip, Kal. This ride is bumpy.” Amira leaned closer, “Have you guys seen any other kids or hayrides around?” Kal and Ruby slowly shook their heads and quietly said no. Amira sat up straight and said, “Hey Roman...but before Amira could finish her sentence Ruby was pulling her back. “The..The.. There are creepy pumpkins following us.” Ruby pointed behind her and just as Amira was about to lean farther out to check, a cracking sound threw them all to the floor. “Uh oh, are you guys alright!?” Roman asked.

“We’re fine.” Amira answered, checking with everybody.

“It sounds like the trailer caught on something. I’ll be back; I need to take a quick look.” Roman said. As Amira turned to Ruby, Kal was pulling her arm and saying, “We have to run! Run now!” Ruby turned back to look in Kal’s direction and saw the creepy, disturbing pumpkins. They had wide grins and sharp, triangular eyes. They were speeding towards them. Ruby climbed off the hayride in a panic, eyeing the creepy pumpkins. She yelled, “There’s gotta be at least thirty of them!” Amira was too stunned to move, so Kal pushed her off the hayride and yelled, “We have to run! Now!” As Kal jumped off, Roman popped his head up and said, “Hey guys! Where are you going? I’ll have this fixed in no time!” It was too late. Kal, Amira, and Ruby were already long gone. They jumped over huge tree stumps, running down the dark, lonely road. No matter how fast they ran, they could still hear the disturbing rolling pumpkins behind them. Kal and Amira gained distance, but Ruby kept looking back. Every time she looked back, her pace slowed. It slowed so much; she didn’t notice the candy apple that Kal threw out, was rolling close up to her heels. It chomped at her shoelace. She lost her balance, screamed, and fell right on top of the rolling pumpkins. As Ruby screamed again, the rolling pumpkins carried her in the opposite direction. Amira and Kal raced towards her and as they got a few feet from her and the rolling pumpkins, a tall figure appeared right before their eyes. It was thin with a black cloak and had a pumpkin for the head. Its eyes had the same deep triangular eyes and wide, frightening grin the rolling pumpkins had. It reached out to its head and tilted the crown on its head. Then it reached its crown, through its head and plucked a piece of paper out. The figure with a wide grin and tilt of its head, held the paper out to Kal and Amira. Amira was too stunned to move. Kal stepped forward and took it from its skeletal fingers. The figure raised his crown, turned toward the rolling pumpkins, and let out a roar. The pumpkins rolled faster and continued carrying Ruby off. She was squirming and trying to break free, but the pumpkins had connected their wiry, green vines all around her. She was helpless. As Kal stood watching, speechless, Amira shook him and said, “Let me see the paper!” He turned to her and opened the paper.

“Do not shout, do not rouse, if you want her back, meet at the funhouse.”

“That’s where we we’re going!” Amira shouted.

“So, we just keep running, it can’t be that far!” Kal said.

“How is this even happening!?” Amira shouted while pacing. “How is this real?! How is a pumpkin moving? I mean, what was that thing, some sort of pumpkin king?”

Kal put his hands on her shoulders, “Look, sis, I don’t know how any of this is real, but it is. We have to get Ruby and get back to mom. We’re never going to a funhouse again!”

Amira looked at Kal then looked around at the quiet, lonely road. “So, we just keep running? Ok then. Amira looked at the ground, sighed, and started running. Kal and Amira ran for what seemed like hours. They raced down the dark, empty road until they came to a fork in the road and a ditch to the right. As they stopped to take a break, they heard fast footsteps in the distance. They looked up to see someone running towards them, waving their hands. Then they heard an ice-cream truck. It was plowing behind the figure. As the ice-cream truck jingle grew louder, the figure came into full view, screaming, “The ditch! Jump in the ditch! He’s coming!