of the punk After eating most of his dinner Nick excused himself from the table and ran up to his room to gather a few items He shut his door surprised his parents didn’t question his early departure from their nightly dinner ritual Not even an evil eye glanced his way from his mom That had certainly made him feel better No need to get on Mom’s bad side There was another good reason to venture out and start his investigation to be far away from his sister She was trouble Besides there was a mystery to solve the case of the missing pumpkin and he figured he’d start by checking to see if any of his neighbors were missing their pumpkins The new mystery reminded him of the stories he’d heard among his classmates the urban legend of the Pumpkin Thief He’d cut out an article about this legend from the school’s newsletter a few years ago when he’d first heard the story intrigued by the creepiness of it all Nick wanted to read the article again He went to his desk and rummaged through his stack of papers until he located the piece of tattered print written by some kid a Jeffery Beamer in the Journalism Club He’d certainly done his research on the urban legend Nick re-read
the whole thing while standing Legend of the Pumpkin Thief by Jeffery Beamer One thing that truly amazes me is urban legends I’ve heard a few good ones over the years some from watching TV others from Googling urban legends So when some of my older friends in school shared with me the Pumpkin Thief legend I just had to do a little bit of research And this is what I found Legend has it that around Halloween this evil creature the Pumpkin Thief a tall green-bean-thin figure in a black suit and large orange tie with a massive orange pumpkin for a head and carved-out eyes nose and jagged mouth would sneak into a town of his choosing and snatch up the pumpkins at night He’d collect as many as he could hold then he’d carry them away to a secret location Why did he snatch up all the pumpkins Well my dear readers folklore said it had to do with him trying to stop the townsfolk from using them to ward off evil spirits You see without the pumpkins to protect their homes they were prey to all the ghosts ghouls and goblins that float around on Halloween having fun on the one night when they get to celebrate all things horror They run amok and frighten trick-or treaters It’s their night and the Pumpkin Thief does what he can to allow
them to have fun on this special night Now although the urban legend has been discredited I was able to retrieve some stories from people who said they have evidence that he is indeed real It appears that a few local towns had confirmed that this Pumpkin Thief visited them They had their pumpkins stolen and on Halloween night weird things happened to a few of the townsfolk Some said they saw ghosts peering into their homes through the windows One person claimed that floating chased about his bedroom Another said his doorbell kept ringing but no one was there I even found a few photos from a nearby town that showed strange large orb-type lights floating above their homes on Halloween night Of course experts discredited these allegations It seems no one had concrete evidence of a Pumpkin Thief caught red-handed grabbing pumpkins nonetheless the legend continues Which town will be next Nick stopped reading He had enough to go on One missing pumpkin certainly did not qualify as a visit from the Pumpkin Thief But it was kind of cool getting all worked up the night before the holiday a special holiday devoted to celebrating evil and dead things And the article intrigued him Maybe I should look into this some more find out
who else might have been visited by this legend since Jeffery wrote the article I need to track down this kid I’m sure he’s got more to tell He replaced the article on the pile of papers and went to pack his jacket pockets with all the detective tools he’d need for tonight a flashlight cell phone and a small pair of binoculars Those were all he had so far He’d ordered some other items out of one of his detective comic books but they hadn’t shipped yet He loved all the detective gadgetry He knew what he wanted to do when he grew up He wanted to be a detective with the police department He wasn’t sure how to get there but between his parents teachers and those guidance counselors they had in the big high school he’d be eventually attending he’d find his way Once he had the title of detective and access to all that high-tech gadgetry he’d seen on his favorite TV shows he’d be happier than an ant in a picnic basket And now that his family’s pumpkin had gone missing most likely stolen he’d been given the perfect opportunity for an early taste of detective work Just the thought of it excited him as he began preparations for tonight’s quick investigation Nick sat on his bed for a moment longer still imagining how one
