It’s hard to believe this happened five years ago. Every time Halloween rolls around and I see the flood of pumpkins in stores and on porches, I’m reminded of the strangest night me and my brother experienced.
My mother left my father when I was around ten or so. I was never upset over that. Even at that age I knew we were better off not having him around. It took her six years to find another partner and he came with a son. A new step brother three years younger than myself. I struggled to find things in common with him. He liked video games, I liked sports. He watched flashy cartoons and I went to parties. I did like him but any time we spoke it was hard to keep a conversation going.
He started to draw which extended into pumpkin carving. He also wanted to dress up as one of the characters in his shows. Something Japanese with a weird outfit and a wig he styled himself. I thought it looked kinda lame but never would say that to his face. Whatever made him happy I was glad to support. A few days before Halloween I was on my way out to class and I saw something sticking out of the trash in the grey morning light. I also didn’t see the pumpkin my little brother carefully carved some sort of cartoon animal into. I lifted the trash lid to see his wig and costume sitting on top. That worried me. It worried me a lot. The cardboard sword he made snapped in half and stained with trash but I could save the rest of the costume.
I gathered it up and went inside, my parents in the kitchen about to head to work. They saw the costume in my hands and knew something I didn’t.
“Colin is in his room. He says he’s not feeling well and we’re letting him stay home today.” My mother explained.
I set the costume down on the table and knew I was going to be late for school. I honestly didn’t care. I might not be good at being a big brother yet, but I needed to try. I went up to his room, his door still covered with mini posters of his favorite characters. I knocked but let myself in, spotting my bother hiding under the covers.
“Hey buddy. I heard you’re not feeling good. Do you want me to get you something?” I offered.
“Don’t you have school?” He said from under his blankets.
“I can skip a class. Or a whole day if you want.” I said hoping for a good answer.
“No. It’s fine.”
I stood awkwardly in the doorway looking at the figures and plushies he carefully collected with his hard-earned pocket money. Aside from how the girl figures were dressed, I didn’t see anything wrong with him liking this stuff. I did try watching some of his shows but I just didn’t understand the appeal. And really, what was with the girls in those shows having so much cleavage? Wasn’t that a bit much for a cartoon?
I walked over to his bed and sat down knowing someone needed to talk to him about the missing pumpkin and costume issue.
“Why was your costume in the trash?” I asked gently and waited. When he didn’t answer I kept going. “Did someone tease you for it?”
A slight nod came from under the blankets.
“Jason. He smashed my pumpkin too. I can’t prove it but who else would have done it?” My brother said, his voice sounding like he might cry.
“Listen, Jason is an asshole. We both know that. Do you really care what a jerk like him has to say? His opinion doesn’t matter.” I told him.
“That’s pretty easy to say but it still hurts.” My brother brought up.
Yeah, that made sense. It was hard to just ignore someone saying cruel things and destroying something you spent a lot of time on. I sat trying to think of something to help him feel better. I’ve never been bullied before. I’m sure people tried, but I never cared about what they said. Colin was a bit more sensitive and honestly too nice for his own good.
“Yeah, it is easy to say. But saying it is the first step of making it true, right? Listen, this year might be the last one you can go Trick or Treating and I want you to go with the costume you made. I’ll go with you so if Jason tries anything I’ll kick his ass.”
Colin poked his head out from under the blankets, eyes and cheeks red. I loved this kid I’d only know for a few years. I just didn’t know how we could fully connect like brothers should.
“My sword is broken. I… got upset. Besides, don’t you work?”
I did have a part time job to pay for my car the moment I could drive. I still shouldn’t be driving on my own yet but I looked old enough and was careful so never got pulled over. Halloween was a very busy day and I could get a load of tips but I could work next year. We might not get another year of me being able to take him Trick or Treating.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll buy you a new sword tonight and I’ll get you a pumpkin. We’ll keep it inside until Halloween so no one touches it. We’ll get the best pumpkin, not a lame one from Walmart. One you’ll pick out from the Harvard’s patch like you wanted.”
The Harvard pumpkin patch was a bit of a drive out of town. It was the reason why Colin got a pumpkin form the store instead of making an event of picking one out. Both of our parents worked and I didn’t have the time to get one with him early in the season. I swore tonight we would get the pumpkin the way he wanted.
“Thanks Harvey.” Colin whispered from under his blankets.
At least he sounded a bit better. I don’t think I really solved the problem, but this talk helped a little. I patted his blanket and got up to head to school. I was only a little bit late any my teachers didn’t really care. My brother stayed home from school that day and I didn’t blame him. I had no idea how long he was bullied. The pent-up emotions that caused him to rip his hand-crafted sword and toss his costume might have been building up since the start of the school year. After tonight and getting his choice pumpkin I needed to talk with my parents to see what else we could do for him.
My job kept me late because I told my boss I couldn’t work on Halloween. Other people could cover me but no one worked as fast as I did. As punishment I was forced to stay an hour later even though I couldn’t prove that fact. It was already dark by the time I got off work. I rushed home, still in my uniform. Colin finished dinner and he sadly said it was fine and we didn’t need to go anywhere that night. I did what any big brother would. I picked him up and carried him to the car pretending like I was kidnapping him.
We went to the party shop first for a new sword because it was going to close in ten minutes. He picked out a plastic one that I thought looked pretty neat. He said it wasn’t a katana but was close enough. I didn’t know the difference between the types of swords. Colin gladly explained it to me on the way to the pumpkin patch. I felt happy he finally cheered up a little and nodded along to a lot of Japanese names I didn’t understand.
We arrived to Harvard’s the parking lot empty and store front dark. I cursed under my breath, wondering what to do. If the place was closed, I didn’t know when we could come by again. I suppose on Halloween after school worked. But I knew it took Colin hours to carve his pumpkin. I wanted to give him time to make what he wanted and not rush his carving to have it done. I looked at my mirror and spotted Colin’s defeated expression. This would not do at all.
“Come on. We’re getting a pumpkin.” I told him and got out of the car.
“But! That’s stealing!” He protested and followed me.
“It’s not stealing. I’ll pay for it. I’ll slip the money under the shop door or something. Don’t worry about it. Even if we do get caught, I’ll take all the blame.” I explained as started to walk towards the tall stone wall the enclosed the patch.
I think the wall was more to creep people out inside of keeping anyone out. The iron gate opened with no issue and I winced at the noise. I expected the owners to come rushing out but nothing happened. I did have enough money to pay for whatever we took. I didn’t see anything wrong with what we were doing. My little brother tagging along with an extremely stressed look on his face. For some reason he kept his fake sword in hand as if it was some sort of comfort.
I led him deeper into the patch because most of the good pumpkins were already picked for it being so close to Halloween. I used my phone as a flashlight for us to see. I kept asking my brother what one he wanted and he just shook his head. His smile from before not returning.
A few feet away from the wall, I spotted a decent sized pumpkin and one pretty well formed. Perfect for carving.
“How about this one? It looked pretty nice. Some good area to carve.” I said getting down low to shine the light on it to get a better look.
“Yeah. It’s good. We should get it and go.” Colin replied, a nervous tone in his voice.
“I told you; it’s not stealing. We’ll pay for this. Here, Hold my phone.”
I handed over my phone so I could try and remove the pumpkin from the vine, finding it kind of hard to do so. The vine thick and rough against my hands, I didn’t want to snap the stem off either. The stem added character. I kept twisted and pulled. I put all my strength into trying to snap it off and did the one thing I didn’t want to do. I snapped the stem off too close to the pumpkin ruining it. I cursed, my voice echoing through the dark field.
“We’ll find another one. I’ll figure out how-” I told Colin, my hands raw from the failed effort.
When I looked up to take back my phone, I was shocked to see tears in his eyes.
“It’s alright. You don’t need to do any of this. I know wanting a pumpkin is childish. And I know you don’t even like me.” The last words were choked out in a sob and I almost didn’t make them out.
I stayed on my knees and went over to him. My hands on his shoulders and chest aching. I really did a terrible job these past few years if this is how he felt. How long did he let that idea sit and eat away at him? Was it the entire time we’ve known each other?
“Buddy… Hey. I like you. I do. Just because I don’t really get that stuff you like doesn’t mean I don’t like you. I really should have put more of an effort into getting to know you even if your things aren’t my things. I never should have made you feel the way you do. I’m… not really good at this older brother thing. It just sort of happened and I let myself get busy with work and school. I should have focused more on you because you’re-”
My words got cut off by a sudden loud snapping sound that blasted through the field. The ground under our feet shook and I wrapped my body around Colin expecting something to fall from the sky. The sound loud enough to move the leaves and impact my chest. My ears slightly rang for a few seconds afterwards. We didn’t dare more for a while, both scared to death. I pulled away but still kept Colin in my arms.
We both looked around trying to figure out what the hell just happened. An explosion? No. I didn’t smell smoke or see any signs of damage.
“What was that?” Colin asked, his small voice scared.
“I have no idea. Let’s leave and find out later.” I told him.
I took back my phone, the screen dark. So much for calling for help. We took a few steps forwards and my foot caught on something. I tugged on it only to get caught again. With another tug I found I couldn’t get it free. Colin saw what I didn’t. A small strangled noise coming from him. With the bright moon I could see a vine wrapped around my ankle. I was confused on how I stepped in a way to get my foot tangled up in a vine.
When the vine started to curl around my ankle, I didn’t think of anything. I just picked up my brother, tore my foot free and then started to run. I jumped over pumpkins, and dogged vines trying to grab us. This could not be happening. I didn’t understand how any of this was real.
The leaves and vines in front of us bunched up, and started to rise. We need to run around it only to have more of those shapes appear. To my horror, a tangle of pumpkins and leaves stood up, looking a hell of a lot like a seven-foot person. Colin screamed and I held him tighter.
“It’s the curse!” He said, and wrapped his arms around my neck so tightly I almost chocked.
Curse? Thinking back to it, I heard about a few different local legends of this pumpkin patch. All of which were a bit different. Most of them had to do with the patch becoming some sort of creature when a virgin disturbed their slumber on a full moon night. The monster made a swipe for us and I got a lucky dodge. I didn’t care about curses or anything like that. I just needed to get Colin out of there. At least disturbing these monsters confirmed nothing happened at the only party I ever blacked out at. Here I thought I got lucky back then.
With so many more of the pumpkin creatures getting up I doubted we had much of a chance of getting free. Some looked like people and others were massive snakes. The sounds of the leaves rustling put me on edge. We were so close to the wall but our path got blocked. Without any other options, I did the only thing I could. I tossed my brother though the only opening to let him land near the wall. He might have hurt his elbow and knees on the landing but at least he didn’t get caught.
The large hand of the monster wrapped around my chest I could not nothing as it lifted me into the air.
“Colin, run!” I shouted at him before the monster cut off my air.
I watched completely helpless as my little brother tried to run along the wall towards the gate but got cut off. One of those snake creatures in his way. He needed to climb the wall but his small body wasn’t able. He desperately tried grabbing the bricks to lift himself up. If I was there, I could have easily lifted him over. I felt tears stinging my eyes. My regret of not being a better brother flooding in. The vines wrapped around my body tighter and the creature started to drag me away. My mind raced through all the tales I heard as a child trying to figure out what it would do to us.
Eat us? Plant us? Make us become one of them? I wanted none of that for Colin. I put all my strength into trying to get free. The grip of the monster slipped for only a second to release the crushing press on my ribs. I took in some air ready to shout out to my brother. In that moment I wanted to tell him how much I loved him. The horrible truth coming to me when I realized not once since we knew each other I’ve said those words to him.
The large hand came around my chest again, and this time it pinned me to the ground. My body pressed do hard into the dirt. Fear over took me as I saw myself starting to sink into the ground. I struggled and prayed to whoever would listen to just let my brother lived. And if possible, let me say those few words to him. Soon my head was the only thing above ground, my body cold and in pain from the dirt being pressed around it.
I wanted to cry when I saw one of those monsters about to reach Colin. I begged for someone, anyone to save him. And by sheer luck, my prayers were answered but by someone I never would have expected.
A small body came over the wall, landing gracefully on the ground in front of Colin. The hair so white it shone through the darkness. The person stood about as tall as my brother and I wondered why a child so suddenly appeared in the middle of this mess. I guessed it to be a boy. He quickly grabbed the fake sword from Colin’s hands. The moment he took it, a silver light overtook the cheap plastic. Without any hesitation, the boy swung the sword, sending out a blinding flash of silver light through the field. It over took my vision and I passed out unable to stay awake through the wave of odd light.
When I woke up, I was on my back covered in dirt. My bother crying over my body convinced I died. The boy who saved us standing off to the side, I sat up, entire body in pain but accepted a hug from Colin. I whispered how much I loved him and how sorry I felt it took me this long to say it to get him to calm down. When we were both able to stand up, we looked around the now completely empty pumpkin patch.
“What the hell happened?” I questioned; shell shocked.
“It is… A bit difficult to explain in a way humans can understand. This land stands on a flow of magic.” The boy started.
The fake sword we bought earlier in his hand but now transformed into something bright and real. His eye somewhat hidden under wavy white hair but I noticed they were red. His adult tone of voice and red eyes freaked me out but Colin looked at him with stars in his eyes.
“Like a ley line?” Colin offered.
The boy nodded. Yet again, I had no idea what that meant.
“On occasion the magic snaps and overflows into this world. It can mingle with the will power and thoughts of humans to create something you saw here. The magic fused with the years of rumors of this field and made what you witnessed. I was lucky to be in the area and take care of this in time. I cannot give back the sword I took, but I’ll pay you back for it in some way.” The child explained.
I tried to let this all sink in. I really didn’t want to believe any of this, but as long as Colin was safe it didn’t matter.
“Sorry you didn’t get a pumpkin buddy.” I told him with my hand on my brother’s back.
“Oh, I’ll take care of that.”
A new voice came. When I turned to see the source of it, I jumped and nearly picked up Colin again to make a run for it. Another bundle of leaves appeared, a dark opening for the face with glowing yellow eyes set inside the darkness.
“This is a servant of mine. I called them in order to regrow the patch. I do not wish to cause a scene so cannot leave this crop empty.” The child said and walked over to the new monster.
Servant? Really, what was this kid? Colin should be scared but he looked to be really enjoying all of this.
“Do you have a crush…” I whispered to tease him.
It was what older brothers were for after all. I got a few punches to the gut which I gladly took. We watched the boy and the plant monster make an exchange. The boy gave the creature a strand of his hair, which the thing happily ate. My shoulders crawled from the sight. The monster then shoved its plant hands into the ground and for a moment nothing happened. Then, the ground rumbled slightly. Before our eyes, the entire patch grew from the ground, pumpkins sprouting so fast they sprayed out dirt when they broke free. Within seconds the entire field was covered with massive leaves and plants everywhere.
“Uh… I hate to point this out, but won’t this cause more of a problem?” I asked staring at the full field.
When we arrived, the field wasn’t this full. I doubted it looked like this at the start of the season. With so many new pumpkins I bet the owners would think they had a weird miracle on their hands.
“Do… You two want to bring some home?” The boy said, his tone much like a child he was and face slightly red from embarrassment.
It very clear they weren’t expecting the patch to grow this much. We agreed to take some with us and ended up with my car so loaded I didn’t know if it would run with all the extra weight. Colin sat in the front with a few pumpkins in his lap, the fear of the night faded into a weird excitement.
“What about the rest?” I asked the boy.
We didn’t even make a dent in the patch. He shrugged looking out into the still full patch. The plant monster from before sitting off to the side shoving a poor helpless pumpkin into where the face should be. I hoped it could eat a few thousand before the sun came up.
“I’ll call in a few others to help move them.” He said, not as worried as before.
“Let me guess, you don’t want us to ever tell anyone about this night or else you’ll kill us?”
The boy raised his head to meet my eyes confused. He shook his head as if I was crazy.
“You can tell anyone you want. I mean, who is going to believe you? Just stay out of trouble. It appears you two were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I doubt you’ll ever encounter something like this again. It’s best you get going. It’s a school night, isn’t it?”
I smiled at the fact a child was worried about us getting up for school the next day. I really hoped we never came across anything like this again. Colin might have gotten as many pumpkins as he wanted, but we nearly died for them. My brother rolled down the car window to say good bye to the boy before we left.
“Do you want to go Trick or Treating with us?” Colin offered.
The boy paused; his face red again. He did his best to keep his mysterious air but failed.
“No.” He lied.
He really, really wanted to go. We gave him our address and the time we would be heading out on Halloween if he was able to make it. We then left the pumpkin patch without any clue how to explain our bounty to our parents.
We ended up giving away a lot of the pumpkins to others and I think Colin got a few new friends because of it. I kept my word and took him out on Halloween. A few kids I’ve never met before going with him. I think that Jason kid was tempted to mess with him but saw me trailing behind the group so didn’t bother. This was only a temporary solution to the bully problem but at least my brother got one fun night and he now knew how I felt about him.
We were about to head back home and was on the last few houses when someone joined the small group. A kid about Colin’s height wearing a plastic Jack O lantern over their head. I stayed back and let them go up to a few houses together. Then the boy went off, waving at us in a silent thank you for letting him join and be a kid even if it was only for a few minutes.
After that night, we never came across anything weird. I carried on working and Colin started doing art and things online to save up enough money to get into collage for animation. We both got busy with life but made a point to hang out on Fridays. He even got me into a few of his shows. I turns out I really like those slices of life romance ones because the plots are easy to follow. Even if the names are still pretty confusing.
I hope with Halloween coming up you all don’t get into the same situation we did. Be careful out there because you never know when you’ll be in the wrong place at the wrong time.