There’s a witch named Donna Bella that lives in my town. Well, really it’s more of an intersection in Indiana called Cornville and she lives down an old dirt road in the woods between blood creek and old man Riley’s farm.
When I was a kid I had a run in with her one time. I was riding my bike and crossed the road in front of her old pick up truck too close, and she honked her horn at me and yelled something out the window. So being the little brat that I now admit I was at that age I gave her the middle finger. She slammed on her brakes and stuck her gray haired head out of the window of her truck and said: “Little Jimmy Jones, you’re gonna regret giving me the finger one day!” I laughed and asked her what she was going to do about it and she replied: “I’ll have that finger of yours for my cauldron. And you won’t tell a soul.” She then drove off laughing maniacally.
After that I thought she was insane and kinda felt sorry for her. After all, she lived in that rickety old cottage alone on the property that used to be her grandfather’s farm about a hundred years ago. Now it’s just weeds and trees. Even his old barn fell down from dry rot a few years back.
I never really spoke to her until last October when my mom asked me to go buy a pumpkin for Halloween. She was getting into dressing up the front yard for the kids and wanted me to buy and carve the Jack O’ Lantern. She gave me some money and lent me her car for the task.
It was rare that I got to drive her car alone so I headed over to my buddy Nate’s house to show off. His mom let me in and showed me to his room. Inside he was screwing around with a magicians kit he had ordered. He was trying to learn some tricks for the upcoming talent show at our school.
“Jim!”, he exclaimed, “It’s good to see you. Are you ready for a demonstration of the magical prowess of Nate the Natural?”
“Nate the Natural?”, I laughed. “Is that your stage name?”
“You don’t like it?”, he asked. “Never mind, I’ll think of something better later. Right now I need you to put something in my hat. Something of yours so you know it’s not a trick object.”
I was laughing and wanted to see his trick but I didn’t want to hand over mom’s car keys or my drivers license. I really didn’t have anything else in my pockets. “I don’t know Nate, what about some money? I’ll get it back after the trick right?
“Of course Jimmy my boy, I’m a magician not a conman.” He pointed his magic wand at his hat, which sat on the desk in front of us bottom side up. I dropped the money my mom had given me into the hat and Nate poured some dust in the hat and then threw a match in there which caused a huge flame up.
“Dude what the hell?”, I exclaimed.
Nate waved his wand over the hat and said “Wallah!”, then he turned the hat over and out fell several pieces of burned cash and a bunch of ashes. The pieces weren’t big enough to use and there wasn’t even enough left to tape a single dollar together to try to pass off at the store to some halfwit employee.
Nate looked confused. “Wait a minute. I think I was supposed to put the special fluid in the hat after the money and then the dust was supposed to go…”
I interrupted him. “Seriously this better be part of the trick. It is part of the trick, right Nate?” He said nothing and just kept shaking his head and flipping through the instruction manual. “Nate!”
I left there short $30 and one best friend. Nate did offer one suggestion since he had no money and his mom would just call my mom to ask why I was trying to bum thirty bucks off her if he asked her for it. And that suggestion was to go ask old Donna Bella if I could have one of the pumpkins she had growing in her yard. Even though I hadn’t spoken to her in years, I figured she probably wouldn’t hold a grudge from my childhood so what the hell.
She laughed and said no when I asked her and then told me to to leave because she had to go into town. She was so rude about it that it made me angry and I was bitching out loud when I got back in my car. Before I could start the car she tore past me on the way to town cackling like a traditional Halloween witch.
“Christ” I thought, “she’s got so many pumpkins back there she wouldn’t even know it if I took one.” So I did just that.
Halloween came and I set about to finish the job. While carving it, I accidentally nicked myself with the knife on the middle finger of my right hand. A drop of blood seeped out of the wound and fell inside the pumpkin through the open top I had cut. It was a small cut so I just licked it and kept working. I didn’t want to scare the little ones when they came to the door so I carved a face that had a silly smile to it and kind eyes.
I’m generally lazy so I decided to light it with a small light bulb through the back instead of a candle so I could put the candy on the inside and have the kids reach into the mouth to get their loot. I set it up on a chair by the door with sign on it that informed the kids to only take one piece.
I kept the screen door closed but the inside door open and sat next to it to monitor the candy situation while I watched tv.
A few kids had come and gone and all seemed to enjoy putting their hand in the mouth of the Jack O’ Lantern to get their candy. It was a neat idea and I was surprised that to my knowledge, no one had thought of it before. It was about 8:30 when I found out what a bad idea it really was.
Jenny Mason was at the door with her mom. She was dressed as a princess. I casually waved at the mom through the screen door. I knew her from a part time job I’d had a year earlier. Suddenly Jenny screamed and started crying.
“What happened?” I asked in near unison with the mom.
Jenny looked up at her mom and said “It bit me.”
I got up and opened the door to see her hand as she showed it to her mom. “Honey there’s no marks. Does it hurt?”
Jenny shook her head ‘no’ and said “It did when it bit me but not now.”
Her mom looked at me. “Is this some kind of trick pumpkin Jimmy?”
“No mam. It’s just an ordinary pumpkin. It couldn’t have bit her.”
The woman examined Jenny’s hand and then took a closer look at the Jack O’ Lantern. “Oh. Well, a child can have a vivid imagination.”
They both left and I went back to watching my show. Then about a quarter til 9 it happened again. This time I examined the pumpkin for myself. I thought it must have been bit of bare wire from the light giving the kids some kind of shock, so I unplugged the light.
It was about 9 when Billy Jameson and his mom came to the door. Once again the kid yelled that the thing had bitten him. I went outside and apologized to the woman and her son and examined the thing very close this time - inside and out. I couldn’t find anything that could be pricking a finger or any bugs that could be biting. I had no idea what was going on.
They left and I set my chair outside next to it. I was going to watch next time and see for myself if I could tell anything. When the next child got her hand bitten, my life changed forever in that one single moment because I was watching close that time. I was staring right at her hand going onto its mouth and the mouth did indeed chomp down and bite the kids hand.
I made an excuse that it was supposed to be a joke Jack O’ Lantern and it must be broken. The woman was nice about it and left without causing a fuss. As soon as they were gone I took that damn thing out back and cut it into pieces into an empty trash can.
I was still reeling in disbelief and casually glanced back down at the thing in the bottom of the can. There it was - reconstructed. It had somehow put itself back together again, only this time the face wasn’t smiling. It had an evil expression with sharp teeth and angry eyes. There was also a dim glow coming from inside as if it was lit by a small candle.
I started trembling. I looked around as if to see if there was someone somehow controlling this with - I didn’t know - some sort of device or something. Of course there was no one around. Confusion quickly turned to fear and fear to panic. I was so disturbed I didn’t want to be near that thing but I had to do something. I still had my moms car keys from borrowing the car earlier in the day, so I put a lid on the can and put it in her trunk. I knew I might get in trouble for using her car without asking, but I had no choice. I had to get rid of it. So I started up the car and began backing down the driveway.
I noticed that another couple of kids and their mom were at the front door but I didn’t have time to stop and explain to them why there was no candy. Then I heard one of them scream. I focused on the kids at the door and there it was. The Jack O’ Lantern was back at the door, on the chair, and displaying that horrid evil facial expression. But it was in the trunk. I knew it was. I put it there myself. I quickly put the car in park, opened the trunk, and got the can out. I took the lid off and sure enough the can was empty.
I briskly walked to the front door and tried to explain to the woman while she consoled her children. She glared at me.
“Melanie Hanson told me about this and I didn’t believe her. It’s all around town Jimmy. I don’t know if you think this is funny or what but tomorrow I’m talking to your mother about this and maybe the police.” She was visibly angry.
“I’m sorry…”, I had to think of something. “It just keeps uh…. malfunctioning.”
“Then put it away already Jimmy! Why would you leave it out when it’s biting the kids? What were you thinking?” She stormed off in a huff with her two little ones holding their hands.
This had to be the work of Donna Bella. Perhaps her witchcraft was real after all. I turned the porch light off to indicate we weren’t giving anymore candy out and draped a sheet over the Jack O’ Lantern. Then I went inside and looked up Donna’s phone number. I dialed it and she answered.
“Hello?” she said.
“Donna, this is Jimmy. We have to talk.” I didn’t know what I was going to say.
“Oh Jimmy. I’ve been expecting a call from someone. It was you huh? Stole one of my pumpkins? I noticed it missing some time ago. Did you make a Jack O’ Lantern with it? Or perhaps a pumpkin pie? Hmmm?” Her voice contained a hint of glee.
“Yeah, I made a Jack O’ Lantern with it. I’m sorry I took it but I lost the money my mom gave me to buy one with and I was afraid to tell her, so I took one of yours.” I thought at this point honesty was called for.
“Well you should have told her, after all it was her money not yours.” She had a point and I couldn’t deny it.
“I know but now… the pumpkin is…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. It was too insane.
“Is what Jimmy? Are you feeling regret for stealing something you shouldn’t have?”
“Yes. And I don’t know what to do now. It’s not about me. I deserve it but the kids are getting scared and….” I just couldn’t say it outloud.
“And you want to get rid of it? I don’t think you want to get rid of it bad enough Jimmy. Not yet. Bring it round tomorrow morning if you’re ready to do anything to dispose of it by then. Otherwise keep it. I don’t care.” She laughed maniacally again and then hung up the phone.
Tomorrow morning? I gotta sleep with that thing on the porch all night? I set my alarm so I could get it out of there before my mom got up in the morning. Luckily she had already gone to bed for the night.
I had just faded off to sleep when I was awoken by a deep voice speaking. It sounded like a person talking backwards so I couldn’t tell what it was saying. I sat up and looked around my room but I didn’t see anyone. Then, there in a dark corner of my room a dim red light appeared. I positioned myself to get a better look. I swear my heart skipped a beat when I saw that face glowing back at me. That twisted, evil grin. The damn thing was in my room now.
Inside its mouth was a fire. Not a small candle flame but a raging fire. It was as if a huge forest fire had been reduced in size somehow and put inside this pumpkin.
My stomach was in knots and my hands began to tremble as my muscles all over started to randomly quake. This was a kind of fear I’d never known. Then I heard it; it was quiet as if far away but coming from the Jack O’ Lantern. It was deep guttural laughing. Just one voice laughing from the recesses of that forest fire somewhere. As I stared at the thing frozen and paralysed in terror, I saw something moving in there besides the flames.
It was along the bottom of the cavity in front of the fire. I forced myself to scoot forward a couple of feet so I could see it. My god. It was a person in there. A tiny person running along in front of the fire. I recognized this person. It was me! I had a terrified look on my face as if running from something. Then a blazing branch fell down onto me from above and started me on fire! The little me that is. The one inside the lantern.
I sat and watched as this little version of me burned and writhed in pain. I was trying to get up and run out of the room but I couldn’t move a muscle. Eventually the tiny version of me was nothing more than a lump of charred ash. The laughing started up again and I literally just passed out.
I woke again and it was still dark. The lantern didn’t seem to be there anymore. I got up and turned on the light to my room. It wasn’t there. Had it all been a dream?
I searched my room and closet to make sure. Where was it? I went out to the front porch to make sure it was still there but it was not. Maybe some kid had stolen it in the night and what I saw was actually just a nightmare. Maybe I was rid of it.
I had almost convinced myself this was the case as I walked back to my room. But when I walked passed my mom’s room, I noticed her door was open a few inches. That was unusual, so I peeked in and there on her nightstand, glowing it’s heinous expression over my mother’s bed as she slept was the Jack O’ Lantern.
A thousand scenarios raced through my brain. What if she saw it? What if it showed her things like it did me? What if it…. bit her or worse? I couldn’t stand the thought of her having to go through that. So I quietly snuck into her room and tried to pick the damnable thing up. It wouldn’t budge.
At that moment my mom woke up. With half shut eyes and a low tone she spoke. “Jimmy? What are you doing? Why is that thing in here? It’s not funny. Go away.” She rolled over to go back to sleep. Maybe she’d be spared the dreaded visions after all.
Just then a flame belched out of the things mouth and singed the back half of my mother’s hair. She didn’t move. I freaked out and quickly patted her head with a pillow to make sure nothing was on fire and wadded a blanket up between her head and the pumpkin. Looking around quickly I found a sheet metal tray my mom used to put food on once in a while and I also put that between the thing and my mother’s head. Then I ran to the kitchen and got a pitcher of water out of the refrigerator and ran back to the room with it.
First I tried to move it again, and again it wouldn’t budge nor would the lid come off. So I started splashing water in through the mouth cupped in my hand, to try to douse the flames, but instead of being extinguished the fire acted as if I were throwing gasoline on it, flaring up with each try.
Just then my mom sat up in bed and started feeling her hair. A look of shock flashed across her face and she focused on me. “What did you do? Jimmy my hair!”
“I’m sorry ma.”, I said. Before I could say more a huge blast of flame shot out of the grimacing gourd like a blowtorch and started burning my mother. Her hair and nightgown blew back while the unholy wind of fire did its damage.
I threw myself into her to try to knock her back out of the path of flame but she was stuck there solid as a rock. The heat hurt bad and I was suffering but my mom was too, only worse than I was. She was screaming and I tried over and over to knock her away and I held up the tray but it blasted even harder and knocked me over onto the floor.
Black smoke was pouring off of her and filling the room from the ceiling down. I was crying and screaming when her screams stopped. The fire kept blasting and in a few seconds she was just a charred statue of her former self.
The blowtorch in it’s mouth turned off and all was quiet. I sat there still for a few seconds feeling totally helpless then the deep distant laughing began again.
I was dizzy from lack of sleep and so I started to crawl back towards my room but I didn’t make it to the door before passing out. When I woke next the sun had come up but my mother was still charcoal. I stood up and picked up the Jack O’ Lantern whose fire had now gone out completely. I carried it out of the room. Time to take it over to Donna’s house.
I glanced back into my moms room one more time and now she was fast asleep with a full head of hair like nothing had happened. But I still had burns on my arms. I tossed the demon in the backseat of my moms car and drove over to Donna Bella’s house. She was sitting waiting for me on her front porch sipping a cup of tea or coffee.
I hauled the bastard Jack up to her porch. She smiled. “Oh. I see you’ve had enough of ol Jack.”
I nodded and set the blasted thing down on a small table next to her. She looked at it and then at me. “Tell you what Jimmy. You put that middle finger of yours. The one on your right hand that you used to give me the bird. You put that right inside ol Jack’s mouth. He’s gonna bite it clean off for me and then I promise you’ll never see ol Jack again as long as you live. You’ve got my word on that. And I always keep my word. Always. Or you can keep ol Jack and see what other games he’s got in store for you. Doesn’t matter to me either way. You decide.”
“What will I tell people when they see my hand?”, I asked.
“You’ll think of something Jimmy. No one will believe you if you tell em what happened that’s for sure.” She had a gleeful smile on her face, the old bitch.
That was the day I decided to never carve Jack O’ Lanterns again. I also decided to never again give anyone the middle finger. But if I do, I’ll have to use my left hand.