The Last Letter in the Pumpkin Patch - [One-shot]

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Young Hazel, a curious girl from the village, dares to sneak out to the patch after dark, following rumors of ghostly lights. She finds a pumpkin far larger than any other, with strange symbols etched into its skin. Nestled in its vines is an envelope, old and crusted with dark, rusty spots. Her hands tremble as she pries it open, unleashing a chill that seeps deep into her bones. The words within, scrawled in crimson ink, seem almost to bleed off the page.

The mist curled through the town of Hollow's End, winding between houses like skeletal fingers reaching for warmth. Tonight, Halloween's chill was more biting than usual, a cold that seemed to seep straight to the bones, and each breath came out like ghostly wisps in the air. The villagers had locked their doors, extinguished their lanterns, and whispered warnings to their children. They knew better than to roam too far on All Hallows' Eve, not since the night the last letter had arrived.

But Hazel's curiosity was stronger than her fear.

She crept through the village square, her eyes darting to each shadow as if they held secrets. Her lantern's small flame shivered in the night, casting a dim circle of light. She was heading toward the pumpkin patch, where the largest pumpkins grew, rumored to be the perfect hiding spot for things best left undisturbed.

Hazel didn't know why she was so drawn to that particular pumpkin patch. It could have been the stories, whispered in huddled circles by the older kids, of ghostly lights floating in the mist and shadows that moved on their own. Or maybe it was her family's stories about the last letter-a letter stained with blood, cursed to bring tragedy upon anyone who dared to read it.

As she reached the edge of the patch, a gust of wind almost extinguished her lantern. The patch stretched before her, rows and rows of pumpkins as far as she could see, each one swollen and ripe under the thin moonlight. She walked deeper, her boots crunching on the brittle leaves scattered across the ground, until her eye caught something strange-a pumpkin, larger than all the others, far at the end of the field. Its surface was knobby, its shape lopsided, and something about it felt wrong.

Curiosity pulled her closer.

This pumpkin was unlike the rest. Etched into its skin were symbols that she couldn't decipher, twisted and jagged as if carved by a trembling hand. Vines grew thick around it, nearly hiding a small, yellowed envelope nestled in the undergrowth. Blood-red stains dotted the crumbling paper, turning darker where the ink had bled into the fabric of the envelope.

The young girl reached down, her hand trembling as she took hold of it. The paper felt brittle, but cold, like it had been lying here for decades, waiting. She pried it open, her breath catching as she unfolded a single page, covered in a shaky script.

»By blood you seek, by blood you find, a curse that's bound, one soul entwined.«

The words seemed to pulse on the page, like something alive and breathing. Suddenly, the shadows around her began to lengthen, stretching like claws across the field. She looked up, her heart pounding, as the mist thickened, swirling faster. The once silent patch was now filled with a low, whispering chant, as if voices hidden in the fog were murmuring her name, calling her forward.

The mist curled through the town of Hollow's End, winding between houses like skeletal fingers reaching for warmth. Tonight, Halloween's chill was more biting than usual, a cold that seemed to seep straight to the bones, and each breath came out like ghostly wisps in the air. The villagers had locked their doors, extinguished their lanterns, and whispered warnings to their children. They knew better than to roam too far on All Hallows' Eve, not since the night the last letter had arrived.

But Hazel's curiosity was stronger than her fear.

She crept through the village square, her eyes darting to each shadow as if they held secrets. Her lantern's small flame shivered in the night, casting a dim circle of light. She was heading toward the pumpkin patch, where the largest pumpkins grew, rumored to be the perfect hiding spot for things best left undisturbed.