"Halloween Isn't Scary, Right?" 

Written by: Gemma Steele

Hard, cut corn stalks crunched under Alfie’s muddy shoes. The field he was in had been freshly ploughed, the corn stalks chopped short and harvested. It left a vacant feeling behind, like something was missing. Corn, he supposed. Though it did feel kind of eerie if he thought about it. A massive empty field with nothing but him, and a couple of tall scarecrows. Watching him, weren’t they? Alfie shook the feeling off. Everything felt creepy this time of year. 

Alfie rolled his eyes at just the thought. This had to be the worst time of year. Everyone obsessing over the weather, and the leaves, and Halloween -

Don’t even get me started on Halloween, Alfie thought to himself, as he continued trekking through the field. He thought Halloween was the most useless of all holidays. And besides, it wasn't even a real holiday, was it? No time off school, so it doesn’t count! But what really bothered Alfie was the whole premise of Halloween. It was supposed to be scary. But nothing about Halloween was even remotely scary to him. Styrofoam graves, plastic skeletons, and rubber arms did nothing to scare Alfie, not even a little. The only good thing about Halloween was the candy. That was something Alfie could get behind. 

But what was the point of a celebration of all things terrifying, when nothing was actually scary? Alfie shook the thought out of his head. Tonight was the 31st, and everyone was out trick-or-treating. Not Alfie though. He was on his way back from school. An after-school band practice had gone extra long, and now it was dusk. 

And it was cold. Alfie wrapped his coat around himself more tightly. The sun was setting fast, and the temperature was dropping rapidly. He glanced up at the sky. 

There was the moon. Already waiting for the darkness to come so it could once again be the star of the night. Alfie quickened his pace. The scarecrows were really starting to freak him out. Their tall, slim bodies were supposed to look human, but they looked alien to him. Their round, stuffed faces were the worst, though. Deep, soulless black eyes stared into Alfie, like they could see right through him. Alfie pulled his gaze away from the scarecrow, realizing he had been standing still, staring at the tall figure. 

Alfie hurried forward. The sooner he got home, the better. He could drop his heavy backpack, and steal his sister's freshly collected candy. The thought made him smile. 

The sun was fully gone now, having dipped below the horizon a few minutes ago. Alfie looked forward, at the forest he was walking towards. His eyes raked the trees for the entrance to the trail that led straight to his backyard. 

There! A little to the right, a small path past the bushes, into the dark, foreboding forest. Alfie adjusted his course slightly, lining himself up with the pathway. 

He was beginning to tire. It had been a long day and his back was aching. He stopped for a second, his hands on his knees. A few deep breaths, and he continued walking again. He glanced behind him, and as he turned back, his eyes caught on the scarecrow he had been looking at before. It had gotten closer to him, hadn’t it? 

Surely that’s impossible, he thought worriedly. Alfie took a shaky breath and sped up. As much as he thought he was imagining it, getting home quicker wouldn't hurt anyone anyway. His footsteps got louder as his speed increased. He glanced behind him again. 

Closer! It was definitely closer than before. Alfie turned around the other way to check one of the other scarecrows. It was closer too. He broke into a run, his backpack banging against his back. His shoes were a blur of brown as he sprinted towards the forest. He glanced behind him and shrieked. The scarecrow had been right behind him. It looked as if it had been chasing him, and stopped just before he turned around. He looked away and kept running. He had almost reached the forest when he looked back a final time. The scarecrow wasn’t right behind him this time. It was at least a few metres away. Alfie let out a small breath. Maybe it wasn’t chasing him anymore. He turned back to enter the forest, only to find another scarecrow, right in front of him, blocking the path. He whirled around, to see he was surrounded by five others. One of them was oddly short.

All the scarecrows from the field but one were surrounding him.

He couldn't understand how this could be. How did they move? They were scarecrows! But it didn’t really matter, Alfie thought to himself. He was surrounded. There was nothing he could do! 

As Alfie turned on the spot, dazedly looking at the scarecrows, he noticed they didn’t move when he looked at them, but seemed to move as soon as he looked away. Maybe he could stop them by watching them? But no, he couldn’t look in 6 different directions at once! Making a split-second decision, Alfie crouched to the ground, covering his eyes. Whatever they were going to do to him, they may as well do it quickly.

He waited for a moment. Another moment. Suddenly his ears filled with laughter. He opened his eyes slowly, one at a time. He looked up at the scarecrows, but -

All their heads were off, held in their hands. In their place were human heads. Very familiar human heads. Surrounding him were his mother, father, and sister. And they were howling with laughter. His father was doubled over, his mother was slapping her own knee, and his little sister was giggling while watching him happily. Alfie paused while looking at her. So that’s why the one scarecrow was a little extra short. Alfie turned around to see the other three scarecrows. His brother and best friends were standing there, grinning. His brother looked like he was about to faint from lack of oxygen from laughing, and his friends were pointing and chuckling at him. 

Alfie glared at each of them in turn. 

“Seriously guys? That was not funny.” he said firmly. His friends and family couldn't stop laughing however, not even long enough to give him an answer. 

“It’s not funny!” Alfie shouted. Slowly the laughing faded as he glared at his family members and friends around him. 

“I'm sorry Alfie, but we wanted you to actually be scared on Halloween for once!” his mother responded, grinning. Alfie rolled his eyes, but he was starting to see the humour in the whole thing. 

He had to admit, the costumes were quite impressive. The overalls and flannel matched the real scarecrow perfectly. The hats were the same, and even the wooden crosses they had glued to their backs, to look like they were hung from a stick in the ground, looked real.

“Are you a little scared of Halloween now?” his little sister inquired, still giggling. Alfie smiled. 

“Sure am,” he said, watching her little face light up. She pumped her fist into the air. Alfie’s father checked his watch.

“Best get going if you still want to hit some houses and get some candy,” he said to Alfie’s sister. She jumped and started sprinting to the other side of the field. 

“The car’s parked over there, c’mon.” Alfie’s mother gestured to the road his sister was sprinting towards. 

The big group of them, still chuckling, walked all the way back through the field. Alfie walked behind the big group of them, still reliving the terror from a few minutes ago. He could’ve sworn it was real. 

Alfie paused for a moment as he passed the real scarecrow in the field. His family was already piling into his mom’s car along with his friends, but he waited a moment. He stared at the scarecrow. It looked so lifeless and plain compared to the animated scarecrows his family had inhabited. Alfie began to turn away, but not before he saw a quick wink. The scarecrow - it winked! Its painted oval eye moved! Alfie choked on his breath. Surely not. He stared at the scarecrow for a few moments more. Nothing.

“Alfie!” his mother called out. Alfie gave the scarecrow one last look. Did its hand just move? Alfie wasn’t staying around to find out. He turned away and jogged to the car, climbing in beside his sister. As they pulled away from the curb, Alfie watched out of the window in horror as the scarecrow turned its stuffed head to watch them. As they drove off, it waved. 

Terrified, Alfie slowly waved back until the field disappeared from sight.