Jack in the Meadow

I sat on a lounge chair at the edge of my backyard which overlooked the luscious green meadows behind my house. Fields that bloomed with wildflowers. Clusters of milkweed and black-eyed susans and daisies. Being the middle of June, at only 10 in the morning, the weather was already beginning to warm.

I found this time of day peaceful and the meadow especially so. The soft greens, purples, yellows, and blues were soothing to my eyes. I sat at this same spot nearly every morning catching glimpses of wild life passing by. A starling pecking for food. A deer in the far off distance.

I closed my eyes and leaned back in my lounge chair, a cold lemonade at my side.

A crow cawed somewhere in the distance over the field and I opened my eyes in an attempt to search for it. Like some for seeking game.

My eyes moved across the field, keen, but not as keen as the crow's must be.

I shielded my eyes from the sun as I spotted it circling in one particular area of the meadow.

I looked below the circling crow and saw something that made me freeze my gaze. Something large, round, and orange lying in the meadow partially concealed by the tall grass and wildflowers.

Was it a stray ball a child lost that blew into the meadow?

I blinked. No it wasn't the right kind of round. It was more of a plump kind of round. The kind of round that's not perfect. It looked more like a ...

No. It couldn't be.

Was it the sun's rays playing tricks on me?

"What is that?" I said to myself as I walked closer to the edge of the meadow for a better look.

The bright orange stood out now more than ever. I took a step closer drawn to it by curiosity. I saw ridges and bumps.

This was not a ball and most definitely not a pumpkin. But what my eyes were seeing told me otherwise.

I was now just a few feet away as I stared at the pumpkin, sure I was hallucinating.

I brushed the tall weeds away from the strange sight that laid before me. This made absolutely no sense. It was the middle of June.

There were not only bumps and ridges but cuts made from a knife that went around the top perimeter of the pumpkin. The same kind of cuts one would make when carving a jack o' lantern.

No, that was impossible. I grasped the pumpkin with both hands, one hand's grip on the stem, and turned it over.

A hideous face carved into the jack o' lantern stared back at me. Its grin was sinister with teeth that were carved out jagged and sharp.

I startled and dropped the jack o' lantern from my grasp as it made a thud back into the tall weeds. My heart pounded fiercely. The sinister carved out smile made the jack 0 lantern look like it had come alive. And not the kind of alive we playfully imagine on trick or treat night. Actually alive! Like it had a soul or was possessed by a spirit. I half expected a sinister cackle to come from the sharp and jagged grin.

I felt a chill in the air and not just the kind of chill when the hideous jack o' lantern stared back at me. A chill that comes as summer gives way to autumn. When the first of the autumn leaves begin to change. I rubbed my arms feeling goosebumps. No, this was June.

I pushed the jack 0' lantern back over so its sinister grin was facing the ground and ran out of the meadow. It wasn't until I was back in my yard, facing the edge of the field, when I dared another look.

The orange round form in the meadow only looked unusual and out of place but not the horrifying sight I had just seen.

Was it some disturbing kind of prank? No. The flesh of the pumpkin was fresh, the jack o' lantern face freshly carved. There wasn't anything artificial about it.

The day went on and night fell across the meadow. Illuminated by only the moonlight, the jack o' lantern looked only like a dark round mass in the meadow. But I knew what was out there. Something sinister.

A new day arrived. The jack 0' lantern was still in that meadow. I stared out at it in deep perplexity but never took a step beyond my yard. Not after what I saw yesterday.

I had no nearby neighbors as witnesses or to show as proof. Who would believe a jack o' lantern freshly carved was lying about in the middle of June?

The morning dragged into the afternoon and the jack o' lantern remained in the exact spot I found it.

I forced the sinister smile out of my mind. I didn't even want to look at it. Even from a distance. Surely it would eventually rot away into nothing as all pumpkins do. The deer would make a feast of it. Sinister smile and all.

But no deer ever went near it. Even the birds stayed away.

I caught a glimpse of something as it fluttered and landed on the green summer grass. My breath caught in my throat as I reached down to pick it up.

A crimson red leaf with flecks of gold.

I snapped my attention to the nearest tree. Most of the leaves were still green but some were already turning shades of fiery reds and burnt orange. That wasn't possible! It was only June.

I let the leaf fall from my grasp as I felt another chill in the air. A sudden wind picked up lifting the leaf off the ground. My gaze followed it as the wind carried it beyond my yard and towards the meadow. The moment it fell beside the jack o' lantern, I knew it was an omen.