On October 21, for my rhetoric warm up in my English class, I had to write about anything I wanted to write about, so the writer in me decided, “Since it’s been a while that I’ve actually written a short story, I may as well test myself and see what I can come with.”

So I looked around the classroom for two to three minutes, wondering what I should write about. Until when I looked up at the front of the board I saw three images of pumpkins. Then I told myself, “Hey! Since it’s almost Halloween, I should write a short story about pumpkins! But what should it be about? Something scary of course.”

Then I started to brainstorm, after about five minutes, I felt ready to create a well-written horror story about pumpkins. (Also, I suggest listening to this video while you read my story!)

“On October 31st, the night of Halloween, it is always rumored that every single pumpkin comes alive to chase those near it. Nobody quite knows why–nor do they believe it. But once they’ve seen it for themselves, you can instantly tell. Screams of bloody murder would be heard everywhere. Sure it’s just pumpkins, what’s so scary about that right? Well, I’ve heard that once near them, you get shown your worst fear over and over again. The worst part? Nothing can stop it. So if you ever encounter a pumpkin on Halloween, good luck.

One Halloween night, a little boy was wandering around on his bike wanting to pick out a pumpkin for his sister. His sister was extremely sick so the little boy wanted to surprise her hoping to make her feel better, not knowing about what happens to pumpkins during Halloween.

He ventured deep into the pumpkin patch, trying to find the perfect pumpkin for his sister. All of a sudden, a small little pumpkin started to shimmer, almost fully glowing. He didn’t really think of it too much and thought it was kind of cool in a way. He picked up the small pumpkin happily saying, “This is the perfect pumpkin!”

He got back on his bike putting the pumpkin on his lap taking it back to his home, which thankfully wasn’t that far. When he got home, his parents were dead asleep in their room, so he went to his and his sister’s room turning on the nightlight, setting the small pumpkin on his sister’s desk, making a small note that said, “I found this pumpkin in the pumpkin patch! Hope you like it! <3“. He set the note near the pumpkin turning off the nightlight crawling onto his bed falling fast asleep excited for his sister’s reaction in the morning.

The poor little boy didn’t know what type of trouble he and his family got into. The next morning screams of terror were heard everywhere. But there’s something off about this one pumpkin. Did you catch what I put when the little boy encountered it? It started to shimmer, almost fully glowing. Something special this pumpkin can do is that it can show people’s worst fears and MULTIPLY. The poor little boy put everyone in danger by setting his hands on the pumpkin. This is why it is rumored, on Halloween, to NEVER encounter a pumpkin.

Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone. :)”

I haven’t created a short story since middle school. So when I was able to come up with this short story up on the spot, in like five minutes, I was surprised, but also pretty proud of myself that I was able to come up with this short story. I asked two of my friends their opinions on the story and this is what they shared.

My friend, Eli Hammond commented, “After reading this short story, despite how silly it comes off to be, it can actually have a really deep meaning. This young boy had wanted to help his sister feel better, and saw something abnormal. Instead of thinking about it, not thinking there may be a reason as to why the pumpkin is glowing. A glowing pumpkin isn’t normal, and this story can show the consequences of what happens when you make choices without thinking. I personally believe the writing could’ve been slightly better, more detailed as to why the young boy chose the glowing one, what was going on in the boy’s mind, so on. Overall, it has great potential to become a bigger story in the future, but small details could make this story much better.”

My other friend, Grace Wu commented, “I like the wholesome aspect of the little boy getting a gift for his sister, that’s really cute. I think it’s pretty original and honestly I want to know what happened to the little boy and his family after that.”

When I first saw these reviews, it honestly made me feel really relieved knowing that they both enjoyed the story, and I specifically enjoyed the feedback that Eli Hammond gave to me.

What’d you think of my short story? Did you enjoy it? Do you think there was anything else I could do better? Let me know! <3