Autumn Adventures

     Eleanor the Elephante waved her arms dramatically, waiting for her friend to spot her in the distance. Clover’s face broke into a smile as she spotted Eleanor standing outside of the Plushie shop. The Acara raced across the path, leaves crunching under her feet until she embraced Eleanor with a laugh.

     “Hey girl, how have you been?” Clover grinned.

     “Not too bad! Just doing some shopping…” Her voice trailed off and she leaned in conspiratorially. “They’re saying Neopian Central’s starting to go grey. So I figured, check out the places I can before… you know…”

     Clover nodded solemnly. The Plaza, which was usually bustling with activity at this time of day, was eerily quiet. Neopians everywhere were scared of the rapidly spreading grey curse, Eleanor included. She was constantly checking over her shoulder and looking at the sky for signs of the invading shades, and looking at herself in the mirror before bed, making sure there wasn’t a spot of grey on her.

     “I understand.” Clover said quietly. She took Eleanor’s arm and the two began to walk down the path away from the shops, watching peacefully as crisp autumn leaves floated in the breeze around them.

     “Actually, if you’re looking for a bit of a distraction…” Clover said slowly, a grin spreading across her face.

     “Yeah?” Eleanor said, her interest piqued.

     “I’ve heard some rumours of a haunted pumpkin patch just over the hill that way.” Clover gestured down the path. “Could be fun to check it out?”

     Eleanor considered the idea. It did sound interesting…

     “Okay, I’m in!” She squealed, her heart already racing in anticipation. Clover squeezed her friend’s arm in glee and began to guide her down the path.

     The two chatted amicably along the way, catching up and discussing the latest Neopian gossip, when suddenly they rounded a corner and found themselves under a dense cover of trees. The temperature immediately dropped, giving both girls goosebumps. A bird cawed from overhead and the friends squinted their eyes to see ahead of them in the sudden darkness. Eleanor gulped dramatically.

     “It should be right through here. What, you’re not afraid, are you?” Clover half-teased, but Eleanor could hear the slight tremor in her voice. Her friend was scared too. Eleanor shook her head stubbornly and the two slowly came to the edge of the trees and were greeted by a large clearing.

     There were pumpkins as far as the eye could see, hundreds and hundreds of them! Some were still planted, some stacked into large piles teetering high towards the sky, others haphazardly scattered in the dirt. Big pumpkins, small ones, misshapen ones! Eleanor couldn’t believe her eyes as she took in the field. She looked over to see that Clover’s jaw had also dropped.

     “See? This isn’t so scary.” Clover joked, both girls’ confidences being raised by the sheer shock of it all. Eleanor spotted a haggard wooden sign next to what looked like an archway made of pumpkins.

     “Enter the Pumpkin Maze Here.” Eleanor read out loud. The two looked at each other suspiciously then made their way over to the entrance.

     “I’ve never seen a maze made entirely out of pumpkins before, have you?” Clover asked. Eleanor shook her head. Then again, she’d never seen so many pumpkins before in her life!

     “Shall we?” Eleanor motioned for her friend to walk ahead. Clover gave one last look over her shoulder, then the two entered the maze. The pumpkins were stacked into walls that were at least three times the girls’ height. It’s quiet here, Eleanor realized, shocked that not a single other Neopet would be at this pumpkin patch exploring with them.

     “I don’t get what’s so scary about this.” Clover mumbled but she still hesitated after each bend in the maze.

     “Clover, whoever told you this place was haunted was probably just messing with you…”

     “OOOHHHHHH!”

     A high-pitched squeal rang out, echoing through the maze. Clover and Eleanor froze in fear.

     “What was that?” Clover squeaked out.

     “OHHHH! SCARED NOW CLOVER?” The shrieking voice cackled again. Pumpkins began to rumble and shake on either side of them and Eleanor feared that the walls were about to collapse.

     “Run!!” She yelled and the two took off through the maze. Other ominous voices began to echo and shout as they sprinted, the sounds coming from all around them. Eleanor’s heart pounded in fear. She didn’t dare look behind her to see what was happening as she heard thumps coming from all directions. Were the pumpkins falling? Were they going to get squished?

     Finally, they rounded a bend and nearly crashed into a towering wall of pumpkins in front of them. They looked at each other as the realization dawned that they had run straight into a dead end. The voices continued to echo louder and louder as they both considered their options.

     “What do we do??” Eleanor wailed.

     “HOW DARE YOU DISTURB OUR PUMPKIN SLUMBER!” A booming voice called. Eleanor and Clover hugged each other as they waited for their doom.

     “We’re sorry pumpkins! We didn’t mean it, we’re so sorry!” Clover cried.

     “Please don’t hurt us!” Eleanor yelled.

     “YOU LEAVE US NO CHOICE. THE ONLY THING LEFT TO SAY IS…”

     “Gotcha!”

     The two girls watched in shock as two feet popped out from the middle of the pumpkin wall. The pumpkin rotated in its place to reveal its face as it popped out of the wall and landed delicately on its feet.

     “What…” Eleanor breathed.

     “You’re not a regular pumpkin. You’re a Pumpkin Jubjub!” Clover exclaimed.

     The Jubjub doubled over in laughter, echoed by other laughs coming throughout the maze. These sounded much less menacing than before… Eleanor thought.

     “Surprised? We’ve been planning this epic pumpkin prank for months!” The Jubjub yelled through its laughter. “You should’ve seen your faces!”

     “Wait… so all of these pumpkins here are just Jubjubs?” Eleanor asked in a daze.

     “Hey, we’re not just Jubjubs! But no, of course most of these are real pumpkins. Just some harmless fall fun is all.” The Jubjub shrugged.

     Eleanor and Clover looked at each other in shock. As the relief set in, Clover began to giggle uncontrollably.

     “Okay, that is pretty funny!” She admitted. Eleanor could feel herself start to laugh too. The relief was overwhelming.

     “Glad you had fun! But you have to agree to never tell anyone the truth about our little maze, alright? Otherwise it won’t be any fun for the other Neopets that come through here. Suddenly this pumpkin patch won’t seem so haunted and nobody wants that surprise ruined.”

     Clover and Eleanor nodded in agreement.

     “Our lips are sealed!” Eleanor assured the Jubjub. He nodded, satisfied by their answers.

     “Alright, good. Now, let me show you ladies the real exit to the maze. And make sure you spread the word! This is the spookiest, most haunted maze in all of Neopia!”

     “Why wouldn’t you set up in the Haunted Woods then?” Clover asked.

     “Are you kidding?” The Jubjub guffawed. “That place is ACTUALLY haunted! No way, we’re much safer out here.”

     Clover and Eleanor laughed as they followed the Jubjub out of the maze. When they found the exit, the two waved goodbye and began to head back home. They laughed the whole way, planning what they were going to tell their friends, and how they would warn them about the most shocking pumpkin patch they’d ever seen.

     The End.