The Scarecrow

A boy was always scared of his grandpa's scarecrow. Until...

The Scarecrow

 

"Grampa! Grampa!" the little boy screamed, running as fast as he could into the strong arms of his grandfather. "It moved towards me!" The little boy pointed towards the dark-looking scarecrow, swaying in the wind. A crow in the air weaved towards it, gave a sharp cry of alarm, and immediately changed directions.

"Kenny," said the grandpa, "I've explained to you so many times, there's nothing about the scarecrow to be afraid of. Are you a scarecrow?"

Kenny shook his head no.

"Then you shouldn't be afraid of it. There's no way it can hurt you, it's not even a living thing. All it's meant to do is look kind of human because that scares the crows.  Now, go inside and help your grandmama with the cleaning."

So the little boy sprinted inside, forgetting--for a moment at least--about the scarecrow.

One day Kenny's grandma sent him down to the village to get milk and eggs for pancakes they were making. On the way back he met one of his friends, CJ, on the road.

"Hey, CJ," said Kenny brightly, banging into him in replacement of a hug.

"Hey, Kenny, how're you doing?"

"Pretty good. Hey, wanna play truth or dare on the way back?"

"Sure! Okay, your turn first."

Kenny smiled. "Okay, truth or dare?"

"Truth," CJ answered immediately.

Kenny thought for a bit. "Okay, did you really egg Ms. Crenshaw's house last Tuesday?"

"Shhh!" CJ said, furious. Looking around, he said, "Okay, yeah, I did it."

Kenny giggled. "All right, your turn."

"Truth or dare."

"Dare."

CJ considered his options and said, "All right, I dare you to run up to that old scarecrow in the middle of your grandpa's fields and touch it."

Kenny gasped. "No way!"

"Then you lose," said CJ triumphantly. "Pay me a nickel, that's our rules."

Kenny knew he didn't have a nickel, but the desperate hope that drives the truly doomed took hold of him. He shifted the eggs and milk under one arm and searched all of his pockets with feverish fingers. Nothing.

CJ had observed this with a growing smile. "You have to do it, Kenny. No money, no giving up."

Kenny groaned loudly. They were now at the fields. "Fine, hold these, then!" He shoved the milk and eggs into his friend's arms and strode into the beginning of the fields.

At the beginning Kenny strode boldly out, driven by the fury that his friend had inspired. But as he got closer he noticed the sun was going down. It had already been a little bit late when he had been sent, and now it was almost five. The scarecrow seemed tilted, as though it was stretching forward eagerly to reach him with its straw hands.

As Kenny got ten feet away he felt like bolting, but instead he stopped. He looked closely at the scarecrow, creaking and swaying in the wind. The creaking sounded rather suspiciously like laughter. He started walking again, but much closer. His thudding heart masked all other sound.

Eventually, he got close enough to touch. He reached out to touch the scarecrow.

Suddenly, there was a loud growling sound, and from behind the scarecrow leapt a wolf. There were some mountains behind Kenny's grandfather's fields that, when it rained, supplied a lot of water for his corn, barley, and other plants. Wolves and other predators lived up there, and they were a constant danger. But this was the first time he had met one.

It hit him but its leap was badly judged. Instead of pinning him underneath its claws it merely spun him around. Kenny fell on his butt and began crawling backwards. The wolf strode slowly towards him with its hackles raised, growling all the while. Kenny passed the scarecrow and barely recognized it. And then something happened.

The reason the scarecrow was bent over was because of the constant winds that had been pressing on it for years. It had finally reached its breaking point--literally.

There was a sharp crack like a gunshot and the scarecrow, the evil scarecrow, the scarecrow Kenny had been afraid of his whole life, toppled forward and crushed the wolf's body. The wolf was dead as soon as the scarecrow fell.

In a state of shock, Kenny ran back to his grandfather's house and yelled, "Grampa Grampa I was playing truth or dare and I went out to the fields to touch the scarecrow and a wolf attacked me but the scarecrow cracked, Grampa, the scarecrow cracked and fell and killed the wolf and I'M NOT AFRAID ANYMORE!"

 

And thus, Kenny lost his fear of the scarecrow, and in fact he was out in the fields repairing it with his grandparents the very next day.

 

End.

Author's Note

Did you have fun reading the story? I sure had fun writing it!