Halloween Hijinks

• Zoe Fletcher, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2015

This year I decided to make my own scarecrow. I asked my dad to give me some old clothes and my mum to get me some straw. I decided to put it right in front of my window so I could always see it when I look out my bedroom window.
One night I heard rustling outside. I looked out my window and the scarecrow wasn’t there. I walk down the hallway and out the door. It was fairly windy outside and I could hear all the leaves moving around. I look around the area where the scarecrow was and it’s definitely not there. I start looking everywhere but it’s nowhere to be seen.
Finally after an hour of searching. I see it leaning against a tree. Its eyes glowing red. Then it started chasing me towards the house. I run inside and I swear the scarecrow was chasing after me. The mud is still clinging onto my clothes and the sweat and rain is dripping down my forehead. I burst into my parent’s bedroom and a shiver runs down my spine as I exclaim to my parents. My parents stared at me in complete disbelief. I’m as stiff as a board and I’m breathing heavily. I look out the window to see if the scarecrow is still out there. My stomach lurches as I hear the words, “Turn around.” I slowly and cautiously turn around and realise my parents have disappeared. Then finally I hear the words, “Two gone I to go.” My heart stops. I run as fast as a pack of cheetahs out of the house and towards the tall, towering wheat fields and I just run. I don’t know where I’m going or when I’ll see my house again. I can feel the scarecrow behind me. Then I think. Maybe I should just stop, turn around and face the scarecrow. I quickly stop and swivel around. The scarecrow ran right past me. Then as I look at the scarecrow, I realise the scarecrow has Nike shoes on. I walk towards the scarecrow. It was still facing the other way. I pull on the shirt of the scarecrow and it came off. Hang on a second. It was my uncle dressed up as a scarecrow. This was all a joke. My mum, dad and aunty came out of the bushes with a video camera. “HaHaHa. Jokes on you!!!” yelled everyone. Then they all told me how my aunty and uncle hid the scarecrow, put a speaker in my parent’s room and when I looked out the window they snuck out of the room. They said it was the best Halloween prank ever, but I disagree.