Joseph and Jaye save Autumn part 1 of 4

            Joseph Stephens sat on a large rock in the middle of a field. The field was covered in green grass that was slowly changing shade from the cold autumn air. The wind blew through the field, shaking the grass and mess up Joseph’s hair.

            Jaye Williams walked through the field wearing a thick fall jacket that was gun metal gray and had too many pockets. He made his way to the rock where Joseph sat. the last few rays of sunlight shone down on the field as the day gave way to night. The air was crisp and the lingering smell of wood smoke wafted through the air.

            Joseph wore a slick rain proof green jacket and sported a pile of messy brown hair on his head, bushy eyebrows and brown eyes that showed ages of experience. “Hey Poncho man Jones” Said Jaye as he approached. Joseph’s contemplative look faded into a grin “What IS up, Jim Jams the Jam man?” Joseph shouted into the air without turning to greet his friend.

            Jaye laughed then sat down on the rock next to Joseph. The two friends sat back to back on the rock. “So why are we here?” Jaye asked, trying to shout over the increasingly loud wind that blew past them. “Usually weird stuff finds me when I try to live a normal life. THIS time, we are out to find something weird first. Then we can get more normal life stuff done without the distraction. Make sense?” Joseph explained, shouting into the wind and still face away from Jaye. “No it doesn’t, but I like the part where we find weird stuff. I got a few ideas already. Eheheheh” Jaye said with an alarmingly evil chuckle. Jaye patted the breast of his coat. Hidden away in the inside pocket of his coat was a surprise that he kept with him in case of emergencies or weird events, or when he was bored.

            The two friends talked by facing away from each other and shouting into the wind, this strained their voices and hurt their throats. But instead of turning around and trying to save their voices, they ignorantly continued shouting like apes.

            As the two baboons howled into the wind a streak of light was seen flashing across the sky. It was a bright green light and only was visible for a second. Then a few seconds later the light was seen again but closer. The light grew closer and closer until the two friends realized the source of light was hurling towards them like a meteor from space.

            Though they weren’t smart enough to save their voices, they were smart enough to move away from the impact zone of the green light meteor. The light shot straight at them. The two friends ran for cover and escaped just in time to watch a blast of green light hit the rock they were sitting on and explode into rubble.

            The ground shook and a large locked treasure box rose up from the crater made by the green light. Green wisps burst from the ground and surrounded the treasure chest. They wisps carried the chest to solid ground then dropped it with a loud thud. Then the wisps swirled around like a mini tornado until they formed a human shaped creature made of green light.

“I’ve seen weirder” Jaye said casually. “No way yo-“ Joseph started to say, then remembered that they both had seen weirder things in the past. The two friends stood up from behind the mound of dirt they were hiding behind and approached the green light being. “I got a letter telling me to come here, it was signed a ‘friend’. Is that your doing?” Joseph asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the letter?” Jaye asked faking a sad expression. “Would it have changed your decision to come to the field?” Joseph asked. “No, probably not. I didn’t have anything going on and my favorite show “baby clubbers” isn’t on till tomorrow night” Jaye replied.

The green being spoke, its voice was soft and quiet. It sounded completely harmless and a little silly. “Listen you guys, I’m very serious about what I am about to tell you. Like really really serious. So listen” said the Green light being in his silly little voice. Jaye and Joseph tried not to laugh.

“I sent you the letter because the spirit of autumn is being attacked in his own land. In the spirit world we all have a little kingdom of our own design, its really really cool you guys. Anyway the elemental brothers Ignitious and Glacious are wreaking havoc in the autumn lands. They are spirits of fire and ice and I guess they got into a fight with the spirit of autumn over a card game or something” the green spirit explained.

“I don’t normally like helping but I see you have a treasure chest. Maybe you could use that to bribe us with?” Jaye said bluntly in his best attempt to be subtle. He failed at subtly. “Y-yeah man, totally. I was actually already going to give you the stuff in the chest. Just slow your respective rolls, if you please” said the green spirit, its tiny voice trying to sound serious but worked as well as if a kitten tries to act tough.

“Since the autumn lands are in huge disarray I took several of the Fall relics and brought them here so they wouldn’t be destroyed” Explained the green spirit. The humanoid green light pointed at the treasure chest, its hand broke off from the writst, turned into a green light wisp and went into the keyhole of the lock. The lock broke open and the treasure chest creaked as the lid was floated open by the wisp which was now in a hand shape again. “Still not the weirdest thing” Jaye muttered.

Joseph ran over to the treasure chest and looked inside. The relics of the autumn land included the following: A golden maple leaf the size of a catchers mitt, a pumpkin the size of a base ball, a staff made from the branch of an oak tree with orange, red and yellow leaves decorating the top of the staff, and last was a leather water skin filled with warm liquid. Joseph gathered all of the items into a large sack and walked to the green spirit. “This is great, but what does this stuff do?” asked Joseph.

The spirit replied in a very excited soft little voice. “The golden leaf can create a temporary shield of wind that can block most physical objects. Anything that can be swept away but a rushing hurricane wind will be repelled by this wind shield. The staff can shoot fire, send out controlled bursts of earthquakes and send out blasts of wind that can send spirits and creatures flying. Both the leaf and the staff will tire you out to use. They are magic and drain your energy. So don’t use them all the time or you will be too tired and warn out to fight. The Pumpkin doesn’t consume your energy but it can turn into armor or a weapon at will and the Water skin has a hot beverage that keeps you warm against even the harshest cold” The green spirit explained.

“Dibs on the destruction staff!” Jaye shouted. “NO!” Joseph shouted back in alarm. He didn’t want to think what would happen if Jaye got something that could shoot flames. He would probably burn down the forest then exhaust himself and collapse before they even found the elemental brothers.

After several games of rock-paper-scissors and much arguing, Joseph ended up with the Staff and the flask and Jaye took the pumpkin and leaf. With their equipment settled and the two ready for adventure the green spirit opened a gateway to the spirit world. A literal metal gate appeared out of thin air. The metal was polished steel and the gate was about three feet tall and had a swinging door. It looked like a little steel garden fence. “This is it? To the spirit world?” Joseph asked hesitantly. “Of course!” Said the spirit in a pouty voice “Come ON guys this is serious business. Like super serious you guys!” The spirit added.

The two friends tried not to laugh as they delicately opened the swinging gate door and stepped through it. Adventure, battle and autumn scenery lay ahead of the two friends. All they would have to do is fight and stop two ancient elemental spirits set on destroying everything. Luckily they have a small pumpkin and a leaf.

Halloween Carnival part 2

  The day of the Halloween Carnival had arrived, it was a cold autumn night, the invisible face of the moon stared down at the earth below. On the border of the Autumn Forest and the Haunted Forest was a clearing, on the clearing was the site for the exciting and new Halloween Carnival.

 

            Lights beamed into the air signaling all to come and join the fun, giant black metal gates surrounded the carnival and only had one entrance through the front. People slowly and cautiously approached the new carnival. Music played, ticket sellers waited in their booth by the front gate and Charles Orchard was in his human form yelling into a cone that amplified his voice. “Welcome, ladies and Gentlemen! Children and pets! This is the first annual Halloween Carnival, where scares and fun wait around every corner. The Carnival may seem spooky but this is a safe, family friendly adventure. If you loved the joys of my Autumn Carnival, try the scares of my Halloween Carnival” Charles shouted, his voice echoed through the clearing. The carnival was new and strange but seeing Charles Orchard there made the people feel more at ease. His Autumn Carnival was a yearly tradition and many residence of the Autumn Forest knew him personally.

 

            The large gates opened with an eerie creek that echoed through the clearing. No one said a word and the whole clearing was dead silent, then suddenly a marching band came pouring out of the carnival to greet the guests. The loud band music broke the silence with a sledgehammer as the band danced, marched and shot confetti out of their instruments. Most of the band members appeared human, but some were a little strange looking, so strange that the locals just assumed and hoped they were wearing costumes. Most notable band members were a goblin hopping along cheerfully with a baton, a horse headed man in a tuxedo playing a trombone, and ghost of a woman who wore old style clothing, had a knife sticking out of his back and played the trumpet.

 

            The crowded seemed to warm up to the strange marching band and some were even dancing along with the spooky scary skeletons that danced along behind the band. Charles beamed with pride as it seemed his plan was working.

 

            The inside of the carnival was filled with creepy rides and fun Halloween themed treats. Snack stands were placed at the entrance to entice people to part with their money in exchange for purple slime apples, which were just caramel apples with food coloring, or Devil sandwiches, which were spicy meat sandwiches with a tangy-sweet sauce on a red tomato bun and little toothpicks sticking out to look like horns.  The stands also had various kinds of candy, apple cider, and fruit punch with fake eyeballs floating around in each glass.

 

            At the center of the Carnival was the Pumpkin Tree. Charles Orchard took a seed from the magical Autumn Carnival tree and planted it in soil from the Haunted Forest, the result was an autumn tree that grew pumpkins from the branches, like an apple tree, but instead of apples this tree was filled with small pumpkins with glowing Jack-o-lantern faces. The pumpkin’s faces glowed with green, purple, blue and red light and were most certainly not edible.

 

            If you traveled further into the carnival you wound find rides of all sizes. There was the dead drop ride where people are lifted into the air slowly, then suddenly dropped causing fear and shrieking from the terrified patrons inside the box. There was also a towering set of metal beams with a Jack-o-Lantern at the top. Guests would get into a little lift at the bottom and then brought up into the pumpkin, then the pumpkin head would spin around super fast, insane laughter would echo out of the Jack-o-Lanterns mouth as the people inside the pumpkin screamed. Lastly an actual haunted mansion was at the Carnival, it was a huge house filled with things that would scare even the bravest of souls. Charles found lesser creatures from the Haunted Forest and trapped them in the mansion, but put up a spell to protect the customers.

 

            The carnival also had rides for kids and the faint of heart. The Bat flight ride would let people soar over the carnival while riding on a giant mechanical bat. The Bat even had a cartoon-ish vampire voice that recommended food and rides to people new to the park. The Kids of the Autumn forest enjoyed the bouncy pumpkin, which was a giant inflated pumpkin that had bouncy floors and a ball pit to mimic pumpkin guts and seeds.

 

            Games dotted the carnival, such as Halloween hunt, where you shoot a pellet gun at incoming Halloween themed monsters. The carnival also had a game called Cat claw machine, where you control a claw that looks like a black cat, with each claw hook being a cat let. Kids would hover the cat over spooky treats and small stuffed animals like plague rats, skeleton mice and poisonous frogs.

 

            Charles wished there were more rides and attractions but he was on a deadline. He hoped this Halloween his carnival would be a huge success so he could keep adding things and make a new one every year.

 

            While the crowds of people laughed, ate and screamed in terror a familiar face was walking among the humans. Pumpkin Jack, the man with the carved face walked through the Halloween Carnival and smiled at all the good cheer toward Halloween. He spotted Charles and patted him on the back “Good work Chuck, you did good” Said Pumpkin Jack, who was dressed in all orange and black as usual. His jagged pumpkin-carving sword was strapped to his belt, but everyone assumed it was fake or didn’t seem to notice.

 

            Charles could feel the joy and entertainment that the park was bringing everyone and it brought a warm smile to his face. Then a sense of dread over took him, he looked toward the Haunted Forest and saw an uprising of shadow fiends, ghosts and spirits gathering behind the Carnival. Charles looked at Pumpkin Jack, who also saw it. The two ran along the outer gate of the carnival, they ran as fast as they could in hopes that they would be able to intercept the shadow fiends before they reached the carnival.

 

            When Charles finally reached the group of spirits and fiends he noticed the Czars already standing between the fiends and the carnival. Pumpkin Jack and Charles quickly went to join their friends. “You won’t stop us human!” shouted a towering shadow creature carrying a black hammer. The shadow hammer had runes written into the side and Charles knew right away what they were. The shadow hammer was forged with shadow magic and physical magic, letting the wielder attack any ghost, spirit, shadow or human with crushing force. “Whats going on? We had a deal! Don’t you already feel the fear from the scary rides in my carnival?” Asked Charles. The leader of the small army laughed. “You promised a feast of fear and so far we’ve only had a snack. There isn’t enough fear to satisfy all of us. We all helped build your human entertainment and now we want the feast we were promised” said the shadow fiend leader. “Gentlemen, it doesn’t matter the size of your meal, this is a guaranteed yearly meal that you wouldn’t normally have. This is one meal you don’t have to hunt for, one meal that is delivered right to you. You all did a wonderful job helping build the rides, but now you have infinite years ahead of you of annual free meals. A month of work and now you have guaranteed fear to eat every Halloween. This carnival will go on for as long as I live and I plan to live a very long time” Explained Charles calmly. Some of the angry spirits and shadow fiends seemed satisfied with that for an answer. “ALSO if you go any further I will put every one of you whimpering spirits so far in the ground you won’t ever see the moon again!” Shouted pumpkin Jack who was holding his jagged pumpkin sword. Jack’s blade was also able to cut and destroy any ghost, shadow fiend, monster or human. Pumpkin Jack was older than most of the creatures in the haunted forest and the power of his sword was a product of absorbing years of dark energy from Hallows end and the Haunted forest.

 

            Between the rational explanation given by Charles and the convincing threat from Pumpkin Jack, the majority of the shadow fiends and ghosts decided to slink back into the Haunted forest and enjoy their free meal. The shadow leader and his closest followers decided to press the issue. “You don’t scare me, Pumpkin boy. My hammer can kill anything, no matter how old you claim to be. So I think its time to feast on those humans. Their pure fear will taste even better than this manufactured fear you are feeding us” Said the Shadow Leader as he began to march forward.

 

            Nyx and Poe, the Czars of Halloween, pulled their weapons out from the straps on their back. “I was hoping not to mess up my suit” Said Poe as he brushed his black and white suit with the back of his hand. “I was hoping to mess up someone’s face, so this works out” Said Nyx with a creepy smile. The Czars of Halloween, and Pumpkin Jack all charged forward with their weapons ready to strike. Charles stayed back and began to chant. After a few seconds Charles was able to create a barrier around the Halloween Carnival. The barrier let humans come and go, but anything supernatural couldn’t pass through into the carnival, the barrier also hid the fighting that was about to ensue outside.

 

            Pumpkin Jack charged forward and slashed like a maniac at the Shadow leader, Pumpkin Jack used to be a human sailor at one point in his life, he had sword skills, grace and a peaceful mind, now he had the mind of an animal and went berserk whenever he was in a fight. The shadow leader was able to block each sword strike with his shadow hammer but he was having a difficult time keeping up. The giant shadow monster swatted his large hand at pumpkin Jack then used both hands to slam his hammer into the ground. The ground shook and spirits rose up from the ground and began to latch onto Jack, sapping his strength with their supernatural powers.

 

            Poe ran toward Jack and swung his Axe scythe. The great blade sliced through the air, sending a spirit blade forward at Jack. The spirit blade went through Jack but only made contact with the summoned spirits. The Spirits all cried out as Poe’s special ability forced them back into the earth from where they came. The shadow leader melted into the ground and reappeared behind Poe, striking him in the head with a quick but deadly punch. The force of the punch sent Poe stumbling sideways before he crumpled to the ground. Nyx shouted in anger and alarm and rushed toward Poe. Nyx and Jack pulled their swords out and attacked the shadow leader at the same time. The force of two pumpkin swordsmen attacking at once was too much for the leader. Each strike of either sword left a trail of fire and burning wounds. The shadow leader tried to block with his hammer but the force of the sword strikes were too much and ever time a sword struck his hammer, the shadow hammer would shake and start to crack.

 

            The two swordsmen attacked with the force of an army of wild animals. The shadow hammer began to glow orange-red as it heated up. Poe finally stood up with a determined and deadly look in his eyes. He charged forward and swung his axe with all of his might, straight down at the shadow leader. The leader blocked and the force of Poe’s strike broke the already weakened hammer. The shadow leader flew backward as his hammer exploded.

 

            “uh…huh, fine. You win. But you can’t kill me. No matter how much I am sliced. Only a shadow fiend can kill another shadow fiend” Said the Shadow leader. Just then Pumpkin Jack realized he hadn’t seen Charles. The group of friends looked around only to see Charles in his true Shadow fiend form. A hulking shadow monster was ripping ghosts and spirits apart with his bare hands, then eating the ones who weren’t completely destroyed.

           

            Charles had been fed so well over the years from the Autumn Carnival that his true for was as big if not bigger than the shadow leader, who was an older shadow fiend than Charles. “You dare attack my carnival? You attack MY PAYING CUSTOMERS?!” Charles shouted, his voice shook the ground. Charles jumped in the air and landed next to the shadow leader. Charles had horns, glowing yellow eyes and jagged teeth inside his giant mouth. Purple and black swirls moved through his whole body as if he was a liquid, a smoke and a solid all at once. The shadow leader melted into the ground to escape but Charles reached into the ground after him and pulled the leader out, lifting him up in the air.

 

            Before the Shadow leader could beg for mercy Charles took a big bite out of the leader, crunching off his head with little effort. He dropped the leaders body in a slump, which quickly melted away. Charles opened his mouth, pulled the leaders head out of his mouth and held it up in the air. The leader’s head was still alive, losing his body didn’t seem to slow him down. Charles summoned a pumpkin out of this air and smashed the leaders head into a pumpkin. A face appeared on the pumpkin, it wasn’t carved but instead it looked as if it was painted on by glowing purple paint. The spirit paint appeared in the grim visage of the Shadow fiend leader. The spirit of the Leader was now trapped in this special pumpkin for all eternity, as long as no one smashed it open. Charles stashed the pumpkin away in a pocket that he seemed to open up out of the air.

 

            The Czars of Halloween seemed shocked and surprised, Pumpkin Jack looked like he had seen this kind of thing before and was unimpressed. “Well I am glad that is over” Said Pumpkin Jack. “Yes, me too! Thank you so much for your help. It may have seemed like I had everything under control but I certainly couldn’t have done it without you. The shadow leaders hammer alone would have put me down for the count” Said Charles as he slowly morphed into his human form.

 

            The customers of the Halloween Carnival had no idea that their lives were in danger and if asked they would say that they had a great time and looked forward to going again next year.

Autumn Moon

Far away, out into space sits a large ball of rock that floats around our planet. It is called the moon. It is not magical or mysterious, it doesn’t even produce its own light. Yet, when I hear the word moon look at the moon my mind races with scenes of fantasy.

Joseph stared up at the full moon in the night sky. It was bigger than he had ever seen it and had an orange tint to it. Joseph was mesmerized by the sight of this glowing, light orange ball floating in the black sky, surrounded by millions of sparkling lights. A cool wind blew through the neighborhood and Joseph shivered. His mother told him there was going to be an autumn moon tonight and he rushed out to see it, forgetting his jacket.

Many of Joseph’s friends wouldn’t have cared about such a thing and many adults didn’t either. They couldn’t see the magic of it, they couldn’t see the mesmerizing beauty of a full moon. Whether its silver or light orange, it invokes a sense of wonderment and mystery. Moonlight shined down and the light bounced around through the fog of the cool autumn night. It was far from Halloween, but this was the kind of feeling Halloween always gave Joseph. The feeling that maybe when the lights go out and on a full moon anything is possible. The dull traffic and bright sunlight is gone and people are home, winding down for the night or resting in their beds. The world seems quiet and beautiful for a few simple moments.

Joseph wished people could see the world as he did, that they could see how much joy simple things could bring, The cool autumn air, a rainy day, a quiet foggy night,  or even a harvest moon.