Hooo-hooo....
A huge owl flapped his wings and flew into the night. Virginia cracked open her sleepy eyes.
She had a horrible headache and every muscle in her body was aching. Why is it so cold? Virginia asked herself.
"Wolf, quit hogging the blankets." She whispered.
Hooo-hoo......
"What the....?" Virginia sat up when she heard the owl. She groaned from the sudden
movement that jolted her head.
"Errr....where the hell are we? Wolf? Melody?" She called out and received no answer.
She cleared her eyes and looked around. The moon was still bright and full. She saw that she was all alone. There
were huge pumpkins that were even bigger than herself surrounding the area. Thick green vines spiraled in and out
of crevices creating deformed looking shadows all around the pumpkins. Virginia hugged herself to keep warm. She
stood up and looked around again and all she saw was an endless field of gigantic pumpkins of all shapes and sizes.
"Wolf?" Virginia called out. Something squirried past her and a branch snapped somewhere
behind her. She whirled around, her breathe caught in her throat.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
She didn't know which way to go. Every direction she turned to just showed endless rows of pumpkins.
"How in the world did I get here? Where is everyone?" She whispered quietly.
"Wolf! Melody! Hello?! Is anybody out there?!" She called out louder and her voice
echoed around her.
Something began stomping around the patch in heavy footsteps. She could hear leaves crunching
and twigs snapping. She couldn't tell which direction it was coming from.
"Hello?" She called out a bit hesitantly.
No one answered. Virginia was beginning to lose her courage. She started to remember the story
of the Pumpkin Monster who dwelled in the deserted pumpkin patch. Oh god, I'm going to get eaten by a pumpkin of
all things. She thought.
The stomping continued and Virginia quickly picked a direction and began running. I don't even
know which way I'm going in this place. I'm going to get even more lost than I was before. Her thoughts screamed
in her head. She made her way past enormous pumpkins of twisted shapes and sizes. Her foot suddenly caught in a
vine and she fell forward. But something reached out and grabbed her. Virginia raised her head up and saw the most
hideous grin carved in a huge pumpkin head.
"Oh my god! The pumpkin monster." She screamed.
On instinct she raised her right arm and swung as hard as she could at the pumpkin head. There
was a thunk and squishy sound. Virginia had a made a terrible dent with her small fist into the side of the pumpkin
monster's head. The pumpkin monster gave a shout and shoved Virginia away. She stumbled and fell to the ground.
The pumpkin monster began muttering to itself and put his hands up to his head.
"Now look what you did! You broke my head." Virginia thought she heard the monster
say. She peered closely at the thing and suddenly the head came off of it.
Virginia prepared herself to flee but she looked again and realized she was looking at a regular
human being. A tall handsome man who was frowning down on her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wolf bounded up the steps two at a time. He was in quite a good mood and he was bursting with
energy. He got into their room at the Inn and saw Melody sitting on her cot with a piece of paper in her hand.
She looked so worried and distressed that Wolf immediately sat down and gave her a hug.
"Huff, puff. What's wrong Melody? Don't mess up that pretty face of yours with a frown."
Wolf said. He was starting to like the way Melody felt in his arms. She was all soft and she smelled so good. Wolf
frowned to himself when he realized his thoughts. Cripes, where did that come from? He thought.
"Wolf, something's happened to Virginia." Melody finally confessed. Tears were slowly filling her eyes.
"It's all my fault. I should have stayed in the room."
"Where has Virginia gone?" Wolf suddenly realized that Virginia's scent wasn't around. But he hadn't
thought much of it. His sense of smell had gone berserk these past few days because of his terrible sneezing fits..
"Where did she go, Melody?" He repeated his question
"I don't know, Wolf. I found this." She handed Wolf a small piece of paper with crude
writing on it.
YOUR BELOVED VIRGINIA IS GONE AND SO ARE ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
TURN BACK WHILE YOU STILL HAVE A CHANCE OR THEY WILL ALL DIE!
Wolf clenched the note in his fist and his hand began to shake.
"Where did you get this?" He began to growl.
"It was right here on Virginia's bed when I came back upstairs. She had been sleeping when
I left and now she's gone." Melody began to cry.
Wolf saw her tears and tried to calm himself down so he wouldn't scare her.
"Cripes, my Virginia. Someone's kidnapped my sweet love of my life!" Wolf raised his
head up and howled into the small room.
Melody covered her ears and cried harder. "It's all my fault, Wolf. I'm so sorry. I should've
been here."
"It's no one's fault. Do you think you saw anything? I must find Virginia." Wolf began
to pace the floor of their room.
"But Wolf. The note says that if we don't turn back, Virginia and your friends will die.
What are we going to do?"
"Huff puff, I don't know. Let me think." Wolf read the note again to himself. Then
he crumpled it up and threw it against the wall. He was sure Virginia was alright. He could feel it. Nothing terribly
bad has happened to her yet. He must find her before something did. Who is behind this? He whimpered.
Melody was quietly sobbing on her bed and Wolf felt sorry for her. She was so kind and so sweet and now she was
stuck in a mess she didn't really even belong to. He sat down next to her and patted her hands that were on her
lap. All of a sudden, Wolf felt an urge to just kiss Melody.
He began leaning in but he immediately stopped himself. What in the world?! He thought to himself.
He scratched at his forehead absentmindedly. Virginia is lost and here I am wanting to kiss Melody. What is wrong
with me?! He had to get out of there to search for Virginia.
"Alright Melody. You're going to stay here in case someone comes back or something. I am
going to go out and search for her or any sign of her abduction around the village. I will return as soon as possible."
Without another word, he fled the room but most of all, he was fleeding Melody.
Prev