Autumn Carnival part 3 - Tricks and Treats

The family of three continued on their journey to the Western Root. The west root was home to the gift shop and food stands. The smell of cakes and pies filled the area, roasted meat was served on the bone to the more adventurous customers and hot and cold cider stalls were everywhere. Wyatt was still sick from drinking too much cider and didn’t even want to look at another glass of cider. Some of the other food looked good though and he was starting to get hungry. He hoped that eating solid food would help settle his stomach.

 The food stalls were set up on the grass all along the west root’s cobblestone path. They were all fairly small in size and only had the necessary equipment to make one or two dishes. So everything had its own food stand. Apple cider, candy and Carmel apples, fresh pie, various meat dishes and so on. At the end of the cobblestone path was the gift shop “The laughing pumpkin” the only slightly spooky thing in the whole carnival. The laughing pumpkin was a large building that looked like an old fashioned house, almost like a haunted house but with a wooden Jack-o-lantern sitting on the roof. The laughing pumpkin Jack-o-lantern was painted orange and had its mouth open like a laugh, which Wyatt thought looked cool but Felix found it unsettling. “You know sometimes that pumpkin comes down and eats kids” Wyatt told Felix. “S-shut up! I’m not a kid! So it doesn’t matter to me!” Said Felix. Nathan just laughed. The three went into the gift shop.

Inside the gift shop was not spooky at all, in fact it looked like a regular store. The store sold snow globes with miniature autumn settings and red and orange dots instead of white dots, to simulate leaves instead of snow. They were called Autumn Snow globes because leaf globes wouldn’t sound right. Wyatt found a small wooden model of the laughing pumpkin, which looked exactly like the pumpkin on the roof and Wyatt thought he might pick that as his souvenir. Not only was it cool but also Felix was scared of it, Win-win! Wyatt continued to look at the items, laughing pumpkin model in hand.

 Passed the carnival miniatures, the apple scented candles, the autumn landscape pictures and the plush toys of soft animals was a shelf that had an entirely different kind of product. In the back of the store Wyatt stood staring at a sign that said “Ready for Halloween? Come to Hallows end for a night to die for” The sign was hung above a shelf, the shelf was covered in spooky, scary and sometimes disturbing items. Wyatt had found the Halloween section in the gift shop, a section he had never seen before.

He stared fascinated at the Jack-o-lantern models that were painted to look like they were bleeding from their eyes, a painting of witches flying past the moon and a severed hand reaching up out of a potted plant, Orange and Black Candy canes, a mysterious box that screamed when you opened it and a ceramic doll that looked very ordinary but Wyatt was too afraid to touch it and find out why it was on the Halloween shelf.

Nathan found Wyatt at the back of the store. “Come on, champy. Time to go. Don’t start getting too fascinated with this stuff, remember what happened to those two boys Nyx and Poe from Harvest town. Went to Hallows end by themselves and were never heard from again” Said Nathan. Wyatt quickly turned to his father and nodded.

Felix was waiting at the front counter for Nathan and Wyatt. “I found what I wanted to get” Said Wyatt holding up the laughing Jack-o-lantern. Felix squinted his eyes and scrunched up his face to show he was annoyed at Wyatt’s choice. “I thought of something you would like better” Nathan said. “Excuse me miss” Nathan said to the young girl behind the counter. The girl turned to greet her customers “Yes sir?” She said. Her voice was soft, her skin was milky white and her hair was black like raven’s feathers. Wyatt was in love. Wyatt was seventeen and fell in love with every pretty girl he saw, so this was normal for him. Wyatt stared and was unable to talk.

 “I would like that bag of pumpkin seeds. I plan to plant a small pumpkin patch in our back yard” Nathan said to the girl. “Very well, anything else?” Asked the girl. Nathan smiled slyly. “Yes, I also want that seed there” He pointed to a small pouch containing one single seed. The pouch was behind glass and was locked in a box. “Sorry sir, that is the only item in this store that money can’t buy. The owner Mr. Orchard won’t sell it to anyone unless they have the purple leaf.

“Why do we need a purple leaf to buy a seed?” Asked Wyatt who was more curious than nervous. “Well cutie, its because this seed is from the Autumn tree at the center of the carnival. Only someone who has a purple leaf from the tree can buy this very special and very rare seed. Also no one is allowed to climb the tree to get the purple leaf. So they have to just hope the leaf falls from the branches and lands on them. So by getting the leaf, its like the tree chose them” Explained the cute cashier lady. Wyatt was still stunned when the girl called him “cutie” and couldn’t reply.

Nathan smiled “Yes and after coming to this carnival since I was a kid and bringing my kids almost every year when I was an adult, after all of this time, I found it. I waited and the purple leaf landed in my lap. On my face actually” Nathan said and pulled a bright purple leaf from his pocket. It looked like a purple maple leaf and was brighter than any color Wyatt had seen on a tree. The girl looked in amazement. “I thought the purple leaf thing was made up to get people excited” Said the girl. “Well its not, and I think you owe me a rare seed” Nathan said as he bobbed his head side to side in excitement. The girl unlocked glass case and the box the seed was in. She handed Nathan the rare Autumn Carnival tree seed along with the pumpkin seeds he bought. “Don’t leave the carnival until you have had a chance to talk with Mr.Orchard. He will want to meet you” Said the girl. Nathan took the seeds, smiled, nodded and said “Thank you”

Wyatt could hardly believe his Fathers luck. It explained why Nathan stared at the tree for all of those hours while his kids were off playing games. With the seeds safely tucked away Nathan left the store with his kids. “Aw man, I forgot to get a souvenir!” Wyatt said. I got you a souvenir, the tree seed. I got it for you kids. I want us to plant it together and grow it as big as it will get. The tree will belong to you kids and it will remind us of the good times we had here” Nathan said. The two boys were speechless. “So whose hungry?” Nathan said as he slapped his hands together.

Wyatt’s appetite had returned and he was able to enjoy a nice roasted sweet potato with cinnamon sugar. Felix got a Carmel apple and Nathan bought a whole bucket of Maple candies for himself. This trip to the Autumn Carnival was already the best one yet, but the night was still young and the family of three still had one final destination, The Northern Root and the giant Ferris wheel.