"Unlucky"


(submitted to Authonomy - FFF - October 14, 2011, not in competition, for inclusion in "Fright Four-Sixteen")

“The dew on my skin, lying under the predawn sky, I waited for the warming sun. A beautiful day lies ahead, amongst my friends, the brisk air and sunshine. I do remember the brief saffron flower that shriveled and swiftly fell away. The open spaces have become cluttered and my family is growing ever faster.”

“Oh, not the evil crows again, to peck and scratch and devour. There must be something out there, to relieve this weary soul. My shiny curves and broad middle will surely please someone, but here, they will not find me.”

“Here he comes, machete in hand, I guess it’s time to go. Brush my bottom, my vine like arms lay wasted. Off we go, I’m so very happy, to the big, wide world. Now I see I’m not alone, ‘hello Fritz and George and Manuel’. Off we go, on a bumpy ride, to where I’m still not certain.”

“One by one, we’re carried away, and put in a disheveled heap. They come and probe and prod us, but we don’t utter a peep. Then up I go, oh joy I’m saved, away from that rowdy bunch.”

“A little boy, named Tommy, had taken me for his own. His sister Lil had cried and sobbed until Fritz was taken too. ‘Hurry now, time is wasting’ I heard a voice behind me.”

“With that voice, a strange satisfaction did come. Quickly, and with precision, the scalpel did its work. In and out, its blade cut repeatedly into my lustrous skin. I felt no pain only pleasure. Then scraping and gouging, my insides were gone. How can I possibly go on?”

“One, two, three … the easy stuff was done, but now for the ragged, jagged number four. Oh, stop, STOP!!! That tickled too much, you must be finished soon. You stepped back and grinned, and the children jump up and down, ‘Light it, please, PLEASE!’ I patiently sit, and watch and wait, to see what’s in the offing. Soon I feel inner warmth and an unnatural pleasing glow.”

“The spooks and hobgoblins did come, the witches and fairies unparalleled. They’d pass and never took notice. My inside is scorched, my eyes grow weary and my smile has dropped to a frown. My skin is dark and puckering, like that of ‘ole man Brown’.”

“Soon I shall be cast aside, as mere garbage; a stinking, rotten shell. But then, what did I truly expect…it always turns out the same…for us, the ‘Happy ‘Unlucky’ Jack-O-Lanterns!!”


© 2011 Gretchen Steen