One bright day, in the middle of the night, as the sun rose over the horizon, I was abruptly awakened by a knock on the door. I looked over at the clock which displayed 3:21 a.m. in bright ominously red numbers. A count down, but to what? And who would be knocking on the door at this hour?!

The bright sunlight flooded into the room through the windows nearly blinding me as I headed to the front door. Why was it so bright in the middle of the night?! Something definitely wasn’t right in the world. I answered the door to find a pumpkin boy standing there acting a little lost. He didn’t speak, and without eyes, I couldn’t tell if he was really looking at me or not. He just stood there expectantly.

“Can I help you?”, I asked.

He nodded and started hopping about excitedly. He pointed to where his mouth should be, scrawling a smile with his fingers, then pointed to me.

“You want me to carve you a mouth?”, I said.

He nodded again.

“OK. Hold on while I get a knife.” I headed to the kitchen and came back a few moments later with a knife in hand.

“Are you a happy kid?”, I asked. He nodded enthusiastically. “OK then, a nice smile for you! Uh, this won’t hurt you will it?”.

He shook his head NO.

I carefully carved him a smile. I had barely finished when he spoke, “Oh thank you, sir! I’ve been wanting to speak since I first came awake!”

“Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Yes sir! If it isn’t too much. I would like some eyes so I can see!”

“Triangles or moons.”, I asked.

“Triangles, please! I don’t think I would feel right with moon eyes.”

“Very well. Hold still and we’ll have you seeing in no time.” And so I carved a couple of triangle eyes.

“It’s beautiful! The world I mean. So many colors in the trees! And would you look at that bright blue sky!”

“Well, that actually has me a little unsettled. See, it’s the middle of the night, the sky should be dark.”

“But isn’t it just beautiful! Oh wait, I think I hear my mom calling. Thank you, mister. I have to go!”

And with that he took off down the driveway, waving goodbye as he ran, then vanished before reaching the street. Darkness returned fast, the night once again a normal dark, stars glittering in the sky. The sun no longer rising and me standing on my porch in my pajamas in the middle of the night. Awkward!

[The End]

Need more comfy pajamas? If so, find the perfect ones at Amazon.

This is my entry for Day 28 of the 31 Days of Halloween writing challenge (begin a story with ‘one bright day, in the middle of the night’) hosted at Flutter by Literature. I am all caught up now!

For my earlier entries click these links:

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