Fall Frenzy Writing Contest

The Gnomes of Halloween

By Bethany Friend

A tiny gnome sprints past me. 

Stunned, I remain by my campfire and watch him head towards the woods.

I rub my eyes and look into the blazing flames. Was the smoke distorting my vision? I stand up – and almost step onto another gnome! She too is running towards the woods.

Squinting, I see that behind her is a whole train of gnomes, each one spaced several seconds apart from the next.

I decide to follow them as they silently – and determinedly – run. 

We come to the forest’s edge. 

Several trees deep into the forest there is a jack-o'-lantern. The line of gnomes is headed toward its rotting carcass. 

Being the night of Halloween, the pumpkin isn’t the surprise. 

What astonishes me is what is happening to the pumpkin. And for that matter, the gnomes.

A muscular gnome stands beside the pumpkin. As each gnome approaches the jack-o'-lantern, the large gnome lifts the lid and the other gnome jumps inside. 

As soon as the lid is replaced – POOF – black smoke explodes out of the jack-o'-lantern’s eyes, nose and mouth. 

Gnome after gnome jumps into the pumpkin, each one vanishing into smoke. POOF!

What type of Halloween magic is this?

Credit: Unsplash via David Lincoln

This was a fun writing contest!

Fall Frenzy is run by Kaitlyn Sanchez and Lydia Lukidis, creating connections between writers. There were several photos to choose from for inspiration (see mine above!).

The word count maximum was 200 and I wrote 199!

I think I will forever associate gnomes with pumpkins from now on.