Eleven-year-old Timmy had always been fascinated by the immaculately carved pumpkin perched outside grim ol’ Mister Raleigh’s doom-laden house. The spectral flicker from its hollowed eye slits cast eerie shadows, fluttering like ghostly butterflies each Halloween.
This year, plucking up the courage, Timmy decided he would swipe the famous jack-o’-lantern. As the moon hung low, casting a milky glow over the season’s last fallen leaves, the daring heist was afoot.
With cat-like stealth, he darted towards the haunted house. As he reached out to claim his prize, a cold hand touched his shoulder. He whirled around, expecting the wrath of Mister Raleigh, but there stood… the pumpkin!
Smiling wide, cosy firelight twinkling from its hollow interior, the grand jack-o’-lantern towered over Timmy. The pumpkin roared with laughter and the whole street erupted in a chorus of chuckles. Phantasmal street lights flickered in delight as the neighborhood specters cackled alongside.
Timmy blushed bright as an apple bobbing in a Halloween bucket, his comical fright forever etched in the town’s legends. Moral of the story? On Halloween, beware—the jack-o’-lantern might just steal you instead!