Halloween Mystery

• Lewis Grice, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2017

“Arooowwww! Arooooow!” Ear-piercing howling filled the Halloween Night Festival fun park. Everyone stopped what they were doing. The pumpkin juggler stopped juggling. Everyone just stood there, waiting for the sound to continue. For three minutes there was silence. Then the noise came again, but it seemed louder than before. A dark shape came riding through the trees. A pumpkin appeared, flying through the forest. ‘That could only belong to one thing’ Jack thought. The Headless Horseman!

The Headless Horseman came galloping through the trees with a pack of wolves at his heels. Jack grabbed his mother’s phone and dialed in the numbers: 000. “Sorry, we’re trying to catch a criminal that robbed jewelery from a shop near you, but we’ll be there ASAP.” The police said through the phone. Meanwhile, at the fun park, the Headless Horseman was causing chaos inside the jack-o-lantern stall. He was frantically snatching jack-o-lanterns from every shelf. Decoration jack-o-lanterns, dress-up jack-o-lanterns and even ones with sweets inside! While Jack was looking at a ride, a scarecrow grabbed him! "It’s just a prop. It’s just a prop," Jack thought over and over again. He was never a fan of spooky stuff! He couldn’t even stand a costume of a werewolf! He couldn’t also stand a fake vampire!

The sound of a siren filled the air. The police were finally coming! The police wafted titanium handcuffs in front of the Horseman’s face so he knew he was in trouble. The police nervously and carefully removed the pumpkin in case there was actually no head under the helmet. They unmasked the man and it is… The Red Shirt crook?! He escaped from jail for the third time! The police handcuffed him and shoved him into the police car.

Then suddenly, Jack’s father’s car came driving in the car park just as the police car drove (with the crook) back to jail. Jack told his dad that he had missed out on all the fun and he should come next year. “That would be lovely.” Jack’s Dad replied happily as they drove back home.