The Halloween Carnival part 1

        The night air was crisp and cold, each gust of wind howled and the full moon hung in the sky as it stared down at the world below.  

            Deep in the haunted forest was the Halloween loving town of Hallows End. Anyone inside the borders of Hallows End would see monsters for their true nature. No ghost could stay invisible and no shape shifter could hide their identity. Villagers of other towns would come to Hallows End for a yearly Halloween party and anyone who knew the magic of the town would be unsettled to see that the moon had a menacing grimace and eyes that fixated on the earth at all times. Many decided to believe it was the magic of Halloween playing tricks, but the creatures of Hallows End knew that they looked upon the moons true face. 

            Charles Orchard, the owner of the Autumn Carnival made his way through the Haunted Forest. The Haunted Forest was full of wild spirits, screaming pumpkins and gray, leafless trees that oozed green slime when injured. Charles Orchard had determined eyes and strode through the dangerous forest with purpose in each step. The man wore a black suit with a bright orange shirt, black top hat with a black and orange striped band at the base of the hat and a purple leaf sticking out of the side of the hat. Charles walked with a cane decorated with a silver pumpkin for a handle.  

            Soon Charles reached a clearing that lead to the ever-popular Hallows End. It was a week before Halloween and the town was lit up with orange, yellow, red and purple lights, brightly lit signs, and lanterns with green flames and Jack-o-lanterns on every corner and by every house.  Charles took one step into Hallows End and his appearance immediately began to change. His clothes stayed the same but his skin turned black as coal and his form became less solid. Charles Orchard wasn’t a human from the Autumn forest, he was a shadow fiend from the Haunted forest. It was entirely possible that he was the only friendly shadow fiend in the world. He delighted in seeing others smile and laugh and if he grew rich from it, then it was even better. While other shadow fiends fed on terror and pain, Charles was nourished from being around happiness and good will. The love of the Autumn carnival and the fun from the rides was enough to feed Charles for an entire year. 

            Shadow fiends didn’t care about hurting humans but Charles didn’t want to see anyone suffer, so he came up with a plan. He would make a Halloween Carnival that would scare AND delight humans once a year. By creating scary rides on the edge of the Haunted forest, the human fear would feed the Shadow fiends and keep the humans safe all at the same time. He would also be able to get a second, smaller meal of happiness and good will each year. He would use this extra energy to strengthen his magic, making it easier to teleport and maintain his Autumn and Halloween Carnivals. 

            Charles smiled warmly as he saw that production was ahead of schedule. His almost featureless face curled into a smile that would send most running for the hills but it was hard to look warm and lovable when he was in his true shadow form. Villagers of Hallows End and even monsters from the Haunted Forest pitched in the help to build the Halloween Carnival. For the residence of Hallows End the carnival would spread more Halloween fun throughout the land, the spirits and wraiths of the Haunted Forest only saw the carnival as a means to be well fed every year. Regardless of motivation, Charles was happy to see so many people working together. 

            The Czars of Halloween stepped out from a pumpkin shaped tavern holding beer mugs. They were both smiling and their smiles widened when they saw Charles. “Charles my friend, how are you?” asked Nyx who was dressed in a black and orange suit, a long sword was strapped to his back, the pommel was in the shape of an angry looking Jack-o-lantern. Poe waved “Hey”. Poe wore a black and white suit and had a large scythe shaped axe strapped to his back. No one was expecting trouble but the Czars of Halloween were not only chill Halloween loving dudes but also the fierce protectors of Hallows End. 

            “Boys! Everything is going wonderfully! We almost have all of the rides ready and when the construction is complete I will be able to teleport everything on the human side of the Haunted Forest” Charles said excitedly.

            The Czars of Halloween were in their late twenties and were still mostly human, but were often referred to as boys by the older inhabitants of Hallows End. Some monsters, including Charles, were hundreds of years old. For the Czars be relatively young humans and still be so respected, was quite a feat.

            Days passed since that day and Halloween was right around the corner, the Halloween Carnival had been completed and all was ready for the grand opening.

            This Halloween day promised to be one that no one would forget any time soon.

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.