2017 Halloween Party

Tags: Death

The tolling of the bells echoed through the town. Luther froze, as did everyone around him. They all knew what it meant. The time had come to build the town scarecrow to keep away the Crows of Marth. If left unchecked, the giant black birds would raze the city, burning everything and devouring any poor souls they came across. They fed off life and destruction. Across the city everyone was putting down their tools, laying aside whatever job they had been at, this was more important than anything else they could be doing.

Hundreds of people marched to the sound of those horrible bells, and once they had all gathered in the town square, the mayor stepped up to speak.

“Halloween is almost upon us. It is time to draw the name of the person who will be making the scarecrow this year.” The mayor’s assistant stepped forward with an old wooden box. Inside this box was the name of almost every citizen in the town over 5 years old. “The person whose name I draw will get the honor of constructing the scarecrow that will keep us all safe for another year. I don’t have to tell you how special it is to be picked, but to keep it fair I will blindly pick a name from the lottery box.”

Except his own. Luther remembered the one year the mayor had picked his own name. The chaos from the mayor not being in office brought about a change in the rules. Doctors, political leaders, teachers, people whose time could not be taken were now left out of the box. It was just the normal folk that were now tasked with making the scarecrow, those that could leave their other work to construct it. It took a couple of weeks to make, so time and profession mattered.

The mayor’s hand slipped inside the box, and after a few tense seconds he pulled out a slip of paper. He cleared his throat. “Luther Varden! Where are you Luther?”

Oh, fantastic. That just figures. His steps felt heavy as he walked to the small stage. Even the cheers, and pattings on the back from the crowd didn’t quell his irritation. Not like my time matters, I wasn’t in the middle of something or anything. With a roll of his eyes he stepped up beside the mayor.

“Congratulations my boy, we look forward to seeing what you come up with this year.”

With another sigh Luther dropped his bag inside the door of the builder’s hut. It was an honorary room set up with the basics of what a person might need during their time here. He walked outside to check the construction site. Here he would create a new scarecrow, and the week before Halloween it would be placed in the pumpkin patch to ward off the demon birds of Marth. Lots of straw, cloth, metals, and different woods were placed in labeled bins, making it easy to get on with his tedious task.

“Well, the strength of anything is a good foundation.” After selecting the wood to make the pole that would hold the scarecrow, he began to work.

A week later he wiped the sweat from his brow, and let out his breath. “Time to put it all together, the council will be here shortly to install everything.”

As the new scarecrow was being erected, the children of the village placed carved pumpkins around the area to light it up and scare away the birds. Luther watched them from his post, and when the time came, he decided to close his eyes. The knife was swift as it slashed across his neck, and the world grew cold as a smile crossed his face. At least my time was worth something.

The crunch of the bones of the previous scarecrows could be heard as one by one the townspeople drew away from the bloody scarecrow.

The night of Halloween, the crows flew over the town, but the sight and smell of the bloody rotting scarecrow made them fly on.

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