The Boy Who Stole Halloween
He waited anxiously for dad to come home with a Jack O’Lantern, but as he half expected he had forgotten. He controlled his anger and said nothing, but then he had a brainwave: The Knights, two houses down the road had arranged 6 really tasty and extra sized beautifully carved pumpkins, two at the ends of each of the three marble steps outside their house. He’d sneak in making sure no one was around and steal one. The smallest. All he wanted was something to celebrate halloween, it did not have to be the largest or the prettiest.
He knew that there were risks.It was well-known that something terrible will happen if you steal a pumpkin head. The spirit of Halloween would exact its revenge, so what? This thought made him hesitate, but finally he thought it was worth doing it.
It happened as he had hoped, a torrential October downpour made the street empty. He picked the one on the lowest step and lightning quick and bolted. He locked himself in his room. Mum and dad can have their daily fight in peace. He would light the candle, stare at Jack and enjoy it. He struck a match, but this not only lit the candle, but sparked a beautiful thought in his head. If the spirit of Halloween was going to show its anger against his larceny, it might happen in interesting ways. It might thump the walls, it might make real flames shout out of the carved outlets of the lantern. It might set the room on fire. That would be fun, with fire engines blaring and shooting their jets of water to put the fire out. The face might become more human-like and he might scream and swear at him. He might be punched by invisible hands.
That would be fun. It would really make his day. He’d have so much to tell his mates. He sat opposite the stolen head, placed his hand outside a carved star to feel the heat, and removed it hurriedly in case the revenge was a severe burn, but he had a second go. All he felt was pleasantly warm, and nothing happened.
An hour passed and still nothing. He fell asleep and woke up, the candle had burnt out, but still nothing happened.
They were right, it was a terrible revenge. What a let down! Nothing happened.
