A Halloween Story

By Robyn Kaye

Matthew trudged along the path through the park, crunching through the leaves. He heard
the newsmans voice echoing in his head over and over there are no more pumpkins in
Britain! How could he possibly explain this to Alice, his 5 year-old sister. Tomorrow was
Halloween, and there would be no pumpkins to decorate. Granny had told him the stories of
all the holidays and festivals over the years, and then came the sad day when she had said
to him that she was dying and wouldnt be around to tell the stories to Alice, and had trusted
him to continue the tradition of Halloween and all the other holidays that she had so loved.
That was two months ago and he was sad every day when he woke up in the morning and
she wasnt there in the kitchen, getting breakfast ready for them. Mum had tried to keep
them going, but she was also sad. Matthew blinked as he felt the tears start to gather, but he
opened his eyes wide to stop the tears from falling. What could he possibly do to avoid the
disappointment that he would see in Alices eyes?
As he left the park, unthinkingly he turned left instead of right, and somehow found himself
walking along a road that he suddenly realised was not very familiar. He looked around and
saw that he was near the river, and then he started to panic because he couldnt remember
how to get home.
Ahoy there, matey! A booming voice echoed from the river. Matthew whirled about in
surprise as he saw the captain of the boat with his red beard and eye-patch. Youre a pirate!
he exclaimed, fearfully. Ha Ha! said the captain, no, Im only the captain of this glorious
ship as he gestured to the little boat!
The fear remained as Matthew looked around and realised that there was no one around. He
edged backwards, and was about to turn and run away, when the captain said, whats the
problem, matey?
Ium..er..I think Im lost, andum...we dont have any pumpkins for Halloween tomorrow,
blurted Matthew, and then clapped his hand over his mouth as he heard what he had said.
Ha Ha! Look behind you! laughed the captain, pointing to a field further along the path.
Matthew turned around and saw a small field with vegetables and flowers. He ran up to the
fence and spotted a pumpkin patch, with a pile of pumpkins scattered over it.
Its my allotment, and I grow the vegetables and flowers, and then I sell them in the stall
along the river near the town centre.

Why dont you tell your mum to bring you there

tomorrow and Ill save some special pumpkins for you. The stall is called The Captains
Table!
Aye Aye! Thank you, Captain, that would be wonderful, well have a wonderful Halloween
after all. Can you please tell me how to get back to the park? I can find my way home from
there.
The Captain turned his boat around, and pointed to a big tree further back alongside the
river and said, when you get to that big tree, youll see the stalls selling things and you can
see my stall with my wife and daughter selling vegetables, and then youll see the road
which leads to town. The park should be along that road.
Matthew ran down the path and then found the road leading to town. He raced past the park
and sped up the road to his house, eager to tell his mum about the pumpkins, and felt
happier than he had earlier in the day!