October Writing Prompts- Pinterest List by ZellyKatArt
October 18- Scarecrow
The kids laughed when they saw the new scarecrow their dad had made to stand in their field of corn. They threw rocks at it and made fun of it. Doug sighed and looked at his wife, Natalie.
“Do you think Willy looks too silly?” he asked and helped Natalie wash the potatoes for dinner.
“Willy? Did you seriously just name the scarecrow?” She laughed at him. “Why do you name the scarecrows you make? And why can’t you have someone make them scarier for us? The ones you make are ridiculous.” She shook her head and grabbed the potatoes from her husband. “Go take that thing down.”
Doug shook his head and left the house, headed out to the field. He yelled at his kids and told them to get back inside. He stopped in front of the scarecrow and stared up into Willy’s face while he listened to the kids retreat. “I’m sorry, Willy. I guess I goofed again and I have to take you down.”
He walked behind the scarecrow and untied his legs first. When he went to untie the hands, Willy moved. Doug stepped back and watched Willy for a moment, but the scarecrow stayed still. He shook his head and went back to work, taking the scarecrow down. Once Doug placed Willy on the ground, he wiped his brow. The sun was hot, and he had put the scarecrow up and had taken him down.
“I’ll be right back, Willy. I need to get something to drink.” Doug patted the scarecrow on the shoulder. “Again, I’m sorry, Willy. Natalie and the kids think you look goofy and not scary enough to scare away the crows.” Doug sighed and made his way out of the field. As he walked to the house, he heard rustling behind him. He stopped and listened, but it was gone. Doug shrugged and headed into the house.
“Did you take it down?” Natalie asked, not looking at him. She was slicing the potatoes now and tossed them into a bowl next to her.
“I’ve taken it down, but it’s still in the field. I need something to drink.” He opened the fridge and looked around. “Where is the lemonade?”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “The kids finished that just a minute ago.”
Doug stood up. “Well, can you make some more? I didn’t get to have any.”
Natalie laughed. “I’m making dinner. I’m not going to stop what I’m doing just to make you lemonade, Doug.” She spat out the words at him before she slammed the knife into a potato. “I’ll make it when I make it.”
Doug looked down at his feet and got himself some iced water instead. Natalie scoffed and went back to slicing the potatoes. “I could have married Jimmy. At least he has money and he would know how to make a proper scarecrow if he went the farm way.”
Doug took his glass of water outside and sat in his rocking chair. He watched the corn wave in the light breeze and a sound reached his ears. He sat his glass down after taking a gulp, then headed out back into the field. Doug walked around the field, but couldn’t find the source of where the sound was coming from. He spun around when he heard something running away from him.
“Hey, who’s there?” Doug waited for an answer, but no one answered him. “Who’s there?” he yelled louder. No one answered still, but the running continued. It sounded like whoever it was, was running for his house. “Natalie!”
He rushed through the corn, doing his best to ignore when he got slapped or felt a cut from the stalks. He burst out of the cornfield and looked around. There wasn’t anyone around. The screen door to his house slammed shut, and he turned his worried gaze to it. He ran to his house, shouting his wife’s and kids’ names.
Doug stopped just inside and looked around. He slowly walked over to the kitchen and peered inside. Natalie was nowhere to be seen. “Natalie?” He didn’t hear anything, so he continued to walk through the house. It was deafening silent in his house. Usually, he could hear his wife yelling at him about something and his kids being loud as they played. But there was no noise. It made him feel uncomfortable. “Natalie? Kids?”
Doug finished looking around the first level of their house, then headed upstairs. He checked each room, but there was no one there. Doug walked back downstairs and out onto the front porch. He watched the corn sway in the breeze when something caught his eye. Doug looked towards the field and saw Willy was back up on his pole.
“Willy?” He ran out into the field until he was at the foot of the pole. Sure enough, Willy was back on the pole, strapped to it as if he hadn’t done anything. Doug backed away from the pole. “Willy, how did you get back up there?”
Doug moved closer and kicked something. He looked down and saw the ground was splattered with something red. He knelt and looked at it closer. Doug moved the fallen stalks until he saw a hand. He pushed it back, his eyes grew wide, and he screamed. Above him, Willy the Scarecrow grinned down at him, his eyes flashing red.